Summer Reading!

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Friday, January 15, 2010

Teen Craft Idea: Etching Glass

An amazing craft idea from 4YA. I want to do this!!!


Teen Craft Idea: Etching Glass:

As you may already know, I'm a total Etsy.com fangirl. I visit almost everyday to search for project inspiration, to window shop, and yes to occasionally indulge myself. One of my favorite shops is Placidrain, who specializes in geekery and cookery. Placidrain etches video game and anime characters onto glassware as shown in the pictures above. I've been very curious to see just how this is done, and thanks to Craftster, I have found a really easy tutorial that uses puffy paint and etching cream. With endless possibilities, this super easy and affordable project, would be great activity for youth groups. If you can, try to use blue glass drinking glasses. The results are even more stunning.

Check out the links below for tutorials and inspiration.

Craftster tutorial by Skarinja that uses pint glasses
A slightly more detailed Craftster tutorial by Onyxnox that uses glass canisters
Placidrain's Hi-O Etsy store with pictures of really cool video game and anime glassware
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Best YA Reads

I don't want to become a blogging failure, so let's resuscitate this thing with a list of my favorite YA reads this year. Some are 2008, I know, but it took me awhile to get to them. I don't want you to make the same mistake!

In no particular order...

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Taylor tries to work out the connection between her Mother who left her, her relationship with Hannah, a mysterious military man, a boy who visits her dreams, and the story of five friends who lived on the Jellicoe Road years ago. This was one of those books that you just can't really figure out for the first 100 pages and then after that you can't put it down and then when you finish it you want to tell your friends to read it, but you don't know how to explain it to them.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
This is the sequel to The Hunger Games, so I won't reveal a lot about the plot, but Katniss has inspired a revolution and the Capitol is pissed. An amazing series.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house for years. One yellow-eyed wolf is different. He is her wolf. Sam lives two lives. In Winter, he lives with the pack. In summer, he gets his chance to be human until the cold turns him wolf again. Grace and Sam meet and must fight against the chilling temperatures that threaten to take Sam away forever. This book is your Twilight antidote.

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block
Francesca Lia Block has been my favorite author since I was thirteen. I own and have read every book she's published. I know vampires are the thing right now, but this book is a must-read because it is FLB's Los Angeles vampire-style. These vampires drink good wine, eat good food, and have regrets. This book is a return to FLB's Weetzie-era form.

Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Jenna wakes up from a coma and doesn't remember her life. As memories slowly return, so do more and more questions. Is she still the same girl she was before the accident? This book makes you consider some big issues: the human soul, medical ethics, religion vs science. How far would you go to save someone you love?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Listening Library - Fantasy Road Trip Contest

Listening Library - Fantasy Road Trip Contest

I'm not sure if I have any teen readers, but anyone who reads this who knows a teen who is creative and reads should encourage said teen to enter this contest. (Especially for the Libba Bray books...those are AWESOME!)

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

The obligatory RIP John Hughes post

Duckie was the one. Andie should've never picked Blane. A smart girl should always pick the Duckie!


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Ultimate Showdown @ Your Library THE ULTIMATE CHAMPION

And the Ultimate Champion, by a vote of 21-16, is...





Jellyfishing, meowing pet snail, friends galore, on-air longevity, employment...all reasons the kids used to decide that SpongeBob was their Ultimate Champion!

We had an amazing Showdown and an amazing summer! Thank you to everyone for participating. We can't wait to do it again next summer!!! We're dreaming of a bigger and better Ultimate Showdown! Get excited!

The Ultimate Showdown @ Your Library FINAL FOUR RESULTS

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Today was the finale of the FLYP summer program and it ended with so much fun! We had a No Contest Talent Contest and the performances were amazing! We also had two final rounds of The Ultimate Showdown...the Final Four and the Championship Round!

We decided to shake things up a bit for the final battles. We knew the voting would be tight, so we had volunteers stand up and advocate for their champions.

Final Four Battles...

Phineas & Ferb vs Curious George

"Phineas & Ferb use their imagination and they bother their sister."

"Phineas & Ferb build things."

"Phineas & Ferb have a pet platypus."

"Curious George visited the library and Phineas & Ferb didn't."

Phineas & Ferb move on! Sorry, George!

Aslan vs SpongeBob

"SpongeBob is friendly."

"SpongeBob lives in a pineapple."

"Aslan defeated the White Witch and rules Narnia."

"Aslan is very brave."

SpongeBob goes to the championship battle! Goodbye, Aslan!


As I said, WOW! There you have it! Your championship battle is decided...

PHINEAS & FERB VS SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!!