It’s cold outside and love is in the air, so it is the perfect time to snuggle up with a great book brimming with DIY inspiration. Whether there’s a craft you already adore or just something you’re curious about, the library has loads of maker titles to keep your mind and hands busy this winter. Here are some recommendations from the ideaLAB team to get you started:
Crafty Kid’s Guide to DIY Electronics by Helen Leigh is packed with fun crafty projects for kids, teens, and adults to explore electronics, all designed to make electronics easy to understand while also encouraging creativity. This book is an ideaLAB favorite, and you can make your own light-up card like the one you see above by following the directions in the chapter on paper circuits.
You can also make a similar card with us by watching our YouTube video, or reading through our step-by-step instructions on Instructables.
Print Pattern Sew by Jen Hewett covers the basics of block printing, including how to design a block, planning out repeating patterns, and printing on fabric, and then applies those techniques to simple projects you can sew to show off your newly customized material.
Joyful Mending by Noriko Misumi encourages embracing a mindset of treating breaks, flaws, or tears in clothing as an opportunity to create beautiful repairs that can extend the life of garments and recognizing that the joy that comes from working with your own hands.
The Big Book of Makerspace Projects by Colleen and Aaron Graves, both school librarians, have created this guide to a wide range of maker activities that will appeal to kids and teens. We have used projects from this book as inspiration in the ideaLAB, so it can be a way to bring the makerspace experience home!
If you want another way to learn about a new maker topic, check out our ideaLAB page for more information about what we’re up to. Every month we will have a new virtual program with an optional hands-on maker activity kit (available for pickup at ideaLAB branch locations in limited quantities while supplies last), and new content will be added to YouTube and Instructables.