Author Archives: GPL

At Home with The Studio: How to Make Paper Flowers

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I love the idea of fresh bouquets, but I don’t like that they often fade quickly and that you have to remember to change the water. Paper flowers solve both of those problems! I’ve had a great time creating some different looks with paper flowers to make a cheerful bouquet.

These are very simple to achieve, and don’t require much in the way of supplies.

 

Materials needed:

  • Construction paper in 2-3 colors
  • Glue or glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Paper straw
  • Hot glue gun and glue
  • Hole punch

 

Directions:

  1. Cut 5-6 identical hearts out of the main color you’d like your flowers to be. Five is enough, but 6 will give you a fuller look.
  2. Cut the same number of smaller hearts out of your secondary color.
  3. Cut out a small circle. If you are only using 2 colors, I would suggest making this the same color as your smaller hearts. If you’re using a third color, use it for your circle. I have a circle punch that is just right for this (about 1”), but you could also trace the lid of a glue stick, and it would be the perfect size.
  4. Glue your smaller hearts onto the bigger hearts. Line up the creases at the top.
    Tip: If you traced your hearts on the paper before you cut them out, make sure to put the side with the pencil marks on the bottom.
  5. Use your hole punch to make a hole near the bottom point of each heart. Make sure to not get it too close to the edge, because you don’t want it to rip.
  6. Test your flower by fanning your hearts out while making sure that all of the holes you punched line up. If you feel like you need more or fewer hearts to get your desired look, you can add or remove as needed at this point.
  7. Put down one of your hearts. Then put a small amount of glue on the bottom of just one side of another heart. Place it on top of the first heart at the angle you want. Continue to do this until you get all the way around.

    Tip: Make sure you only put glue on the underside of the hearts – if you try gluing on the top, any extra glue will really show as it dries. Try to keep the glue only in the space where the arrow is in the above picture. Also, keep checking to make sure that your holes are lined up!
  8. On the final one, you will need to put a small amount of glue on both sides of the heart’s underside.
  9. Place your flower upside down on the table. Place your straw in the hole and hold it flush to the table. Use hot glue to glue around the base of the straw to hold it in place. This will keep the straw from poking through too far at the top.
  10. Once dry, flip your flower over and use another small ring of hot glue around the outside of the straw. Stick your small circle on it.
  11. You’re done!

 

There are a lot of variations you can do with this! In the picture below. I used identical hearts and did everything exactly the same until step 5 – when I switched to punching the holes at the top of the heart. I then followed the rest of the directions exactly. This gives you spikier looking flower, and a kind of swirl effect in the middle.

You can also do it with just one color for the petals, and a second color for the circle, like the light blue one in the picture below.

Or, you can switch to gluing the smaller hearts to line up with the bottom points of the heart, like the pink and yellow one above.

These are really fun and fast to make! I hope you enjoy it enough to try out a few variations and make yourself a whole bouquet.

 

Have you met Lynda?

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Lynda.com is a great (free!) resource you can use to improve your professional and personal skills. I’ve had family members use it learn about coding and digital photography. I’ve found it very helpful for brushing up on my tech skills including Microsoft Excel and Zoom…you may have heard of that online meeting platform of late :).

 

To use Lynda.com for free with your GPL Evergreen Indiana library card, you do have to follow a few steps:

 

  1. Start at the library’s homepage: www.greenwoodlibrary.us
  2. Next click on the yellow and black Lynda.com button below the slide show OR click on Find Stuff on the top left, swing over to the Research column, and then Online Databases. Scroll down the alphabetical list to Lynda.com and click the image or the link.
  3. Type in your Library Card barcode and PIN. If you don’t know your PIN…which is the same as the password you use to log into Evergreen to place holds and do renewals, contact us.
  4. On the welcome page: click I’ve had an account if you’ve used Lynda in the past and want to transfer previous course history and certificates of completion OR click No, I’ve never had an account and then enter your name and email address. Click Save.
  5. Now you’re ready to look for courses! Near the top, you can browse the Lynda library to find a skill you’d like to learn or improve or do keyword searching in the search box.
  6. If you find a course you’re interested in, be sure to add it to your Playlist so you can find it easily in the future.

 

Happy learning!

 

Review: Above the Bay of Angels

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Above the Bay of Angels
by Rhys Bowen
4 stars

Isabella Waverly is a servant girl in London, and is afraid she’ll be doing this the rest of her life.  Then, on her one afternoon off, she observes a young woman get hit by an omnibus.  As the woman is dying, she thrusts an envelope into Bella’s hands.  It is a job interview for a cook at Buckingham Palace.  Bella knows how to cook, and feels that this might be her only opportunity to escape her current situation.  She gets the job and assumes Helen Barton’s rightful position.  All is going well–she is learning a lot and enjoys cooking for Queen Victoria.  She is chosen to accompany the queen to France for the summer, and can hardly believe her good fortune until she is blackmailed by Helen’s brother and a member of the queen’s royal party dies from possible food poisoning.  Since she cooked the last meal, she is under suspicion of murder.  How could one little lie possibly get her into this much trouble?

Read alikes

An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey

Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks

 

Carissa’s Top 9 Books from 2019

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I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on books in the several weeks! Last year I broke a personal record and read 123 books!  Here are my top 9 books that I read last year.  

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield:  Beautiful, haunting, a very dysfunctional family, and a Gothic mystery.  Such a sad, but fulfilling read!  So many amazing quotes that I highlighted about reading, family, love, and grief.  Definitely my top read of the year! If you like mysteries, historical fiction, and atmospheric novels, read this book!  

When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales.  

 

Wild Game:  My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur:  This was an awesome memoir that kept me hooked.  I believe I read it in one sitting.  If you like memoirs, drama, and stories of resilience, read this book!

A daughter’s tale of living in the thrall of her magnetic, complicated mother, and the chilling consequences of her complicity.  

 

 

The Institute by Stephen King:  King is one of my favorite authors.  I know when I pick up one of his books I’m in for a wild (sometimes scary!) ride with well written characters!  If you like Stranger Things, read this book!

A supernatural thriller finds an abducted youth imprisoned in an inescapable institute, where teens with psychic abilities are subjected to torturous manipulation.  

 

 

The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie:  I just adored this book.  It made me nostalgic thinking of all the books I read as a child, and realized the importance of reading aloud to my kids today.  Sarah Mackenzie also has a podcast that is amazing!

Connecting deeply with our kids can be difficult in our busy, technology-driven lives.  Reading aloud offers us a chance to be fully present with our children.  It also increases our kids’ academic success, inspires compassion, and fortifies them with the inner strength they need to face life’s challenges.  Reading aloud long after kids are able to read on their own can deepen relationships in a powerful way.  

 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren:  This was my first book by this author duo!  I quickly sought out more after reading this one.  If you love romantic comedies, this book is for you!

Partnered with a nemesis best man on a paradise honeymoon when her bride twin gets food poisoning, a chronically unlucky maid of honor assumes the role of a newlywed before unexpectedly falling for her companion.  

 

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris:  If you enjoyed The Tattooist of Auschwitz, this is the sequel and based on the true story of Cilka.  The notes at the end are a must-read!  If you like historical fiction, books based on true events, and stories of resilience read this book!

Follows a Russian woman who is forced by a concentration camp commandant to become his lover and is subsequently sent to Siberia after being found guilty of collaborating with the enemy.  

 

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves:  I loved this book!  I really related to the main character in many ways; her love for animals, awkwardness in social situations, being an introvert, being a librarian, and even her looks.  Such a great character!  If you like romance,  quirky female characters, and multiple perspectives, read this book!

A tumultuous but tender love affair between a socially awkward chess club member and a courageous, quirky girl is shattered by an unforeseen tragedy that forces them to confront respective anxieties when they reunite a decade later.  

 

Things You Save in A Fire by Katherine Center:  This was my first book by Katherine Center.  I’ve read a couple more since and I’ve loved them as well.  This is one I wanted to pick back up and read again.  Great characters!  It even made me tear up a few times.  If you like romance and strong female leads, this book is for you!

When a family emergency compels her move from Texas to Boston, a skilled firefighter becomes the only woman in her new firehouse and navigates discrimination, low funding, and her private edicts about falling in love with another firefighter.  

 

Winter by Marissa Meyer:  Winter is the last book of the Lunar Chronicles my Meyer which has four novels and several novellas.  I read the whole series in one month, which is no small feat considering Winter is over 800 pages!  If you love fairy tales, sci-fi, fantasy, and teen, read this series!

The science-fiction/fantasy mash up, set on a plague-ravaged future Earth, retells the stories of four oppressed, but empowered, fairy tale heroines.  New characters are woven into each book creating a seperate but layered story connected to Cinder, a cyborg version of Cinderella.  The stakes are high as each heroine fights for a happy, and romantic, ever after.  

 

Book descriptions taken from NoveList.  An amazing reading tool that is free with your library card!   http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=cpid&custid=s8331846

 

A Making Journey with Kanopy

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Have you heard about, or even been to, our makerspace, The Studio? Undoubtedly you know about all of our kits, equipement, and resources available for free through the library (if not, check it out). You might not be able to visit The Studio right now but you can explore the world of makers, crafters, and DIY aficionados through Kanopy from the comfort of your home. So grab your library card and let’s go on a making journey! 

Maker: An Exploration of the Maker Movement in America

Available on Kanopy

From the producers of the internationally acclaimed Design & Thinking, MAKER is looks into the current “Maker” movement in America – a new wave of Do-It-Yourself and Do-It-Together culture fueled by passion and powered by the advent of new technologies.

Running time: 66 minutes

 

A Time For Making

Available on Kanopy

Nine artisans on secluded Gabriola Island in Canada reveal the differences between mass manufactured and authentic locally handmade crafts through intimate portraits of their work and lifestyle.

Running time: 59 minutes

 

Craft In America Series

Available on Kanopy

A three part series, Craft in America explores the vitality, history and significance of the craft movement in the United States and its impact on our nation’s rich cultural heritage. Capturing the beauty, creativity and originality of craftsmanship, the film highlights artists and explores the inter-relationship of what they do, how they do it and why they have chosen a life of creating art.

Running time: 170 minutes

 

Handmade Nation

Available on Kanopy

Handmade Nation documents the new wave of art, craft, and design that is capturing the attention of the nation. It is the feature film debut of director, author, artist, and curator Faythe Levine. Levine traveled to 15 cities and covered more than 19,000 miles to interview artists, crafters, makers, curators, and community members. Today’s craft world has emerged as a synthesis of historical technique, punk culture, and the DIY ethos, also influenced by traditional handiwork, modern aesthetics, politics, feminism, and art. 

Director Faythe Levine captured the tightly knit community that exists through websites, blogs, and online stores that connect to the greater public through independent boutiques, galleries, and craft fairs. Interviews were conducted on-location in artists studios, homes, boutiques, offices, and craft fairs, giving the public an exclusive and rarely seen look into the lives of these creative individuals. 

Running time: 66 minutes