Twilight Ball

Well, I survived my big Ball! We had almost 200 teens show up for our dance/trivia contest!!! I can't even begin to describe how successful this program ended up being. The kids loved the trivia...although they knew the books way too well; they could even answer this question, which I thought was my most difficult - What was the street number of Renee's house in Scottsdale? Smart kids, huh?

The costume contest was also a big hit - though hard to judge. They especially loved that I had signed copies of Twilight as the prizes...you should have heard the winners' screams. The teens were already asking that we do a Harry Potter Yule Ball in December...we'll see about that.

Twilight Ball

This summer, I'm going to throw a "Twilight Ball" at my library....the only thing is that I need help! Any good ideas about what to do to keep the teems occupied?

I'm thinking that I'll begin with punch and cookies (or something like that.) Then, I want to have a trivia contest over the 3 books...with hard questions! (What year did Edward "die"? Where did Edward and Bella have their first date? etc.) I'm thinking I'll give copies of the books for prizes. After that, I'm thinking of getting pizzas and playing music for awhile. Oh, I'll also end with a costume contest with two prizes....one for best dressed and another for the person with the best character costume.

So far, that's my program? What do you think? Do you think the will teens enjoy that? Would they actually dance? I'm completely open to ideas/suggestions!

Traveling Pants

I put on a Traveling Pants program for the teens at my library today. We watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants while the girls decorated a pair of jeans they brought from home. (I loved the books by Ann Brashares, although by the 4th one, I was like, enough already.) I say "girls" because, although the program was very well attended, no boys were in attendance. And I guess a program called Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is not really much of a guy magnet. Anyway, people were supposed to register in advance so I would know how many supplies to purchase. I only had 5 people register. 18 teens showed up (and 2 parents). It got a bit tight on supplies, but it was good in that it forced the teens to get more creative, as well as to mix with the other girls instead of sticking to their own social groups. I noticed that the fabric swatches were a big hit. The girls would cut out shapes and use the fabric glue to attach it to their pants. They also really liked the iron-on patches. Although I provided a small iron, most of the teens just chose to glue the patches on. The fabric markers did not show up very well on the jeans, but the Tulip fabric paint was very popular. I also has a thing of glitter that many of the girls put on their pants. This program was a lot of fun. We didn't even need to watch the movie because everyone was so intent on decorating their jeans that no one really watched the movie. It provided a nice backdrop, though. I would say this program has been one of my favorites, although cleanup is a real pain.
p.s. This program really was in my pants!

Food Fear Factor!

On Monday, I put on a Food Fear Factor program for the teens. I have to say, it was one of the most fun programs I have done. I could not stop laughing, groaning, and cheering. We had about 15 teens show up, but only 4 would actually participate after seeing the food on the tables. Let me tell you, those 4 were troopers! They totally blew through the rounds (although we had a few close calls where I thought the nearby trash cans would be put to use). I began to worry that I wouldn't have a clear winner ( I had only two prizes - $10 McDonalds' gift cards). The final round, though, knocked out two of them. I let the "losers" pick out a book to keep, but then I was thinking. What kind of message am I sending when I use books as a consolation prize? Oh well, here are the rounds:

Round 1: spaghettios topped with chocolate syrup and pancake syrup (a la Buddy the Elf)

Round 2: room temperature Spam

Round 3: beets

Round 4: whole oysters (boiled)

Round 5: baby lasagna mixed with vanilla pudding

Round 5: sardines (plain)

Round 6: pickled pigs feet (this is the round that did them in)

All the food was set out in advance and we did not tell the kids what they were eating. I thought Rounds 1, 2, and 5 would be the easiest, but one girls had a really hard time with Round 1 and the mysterious texture of Round 5 grossed a few out.

Necklace Craft

Since my fellow blogmates raved so much about this book, I decided to check out Hardwear with the hopes of forming a cool program. I was really impressed with the book, but a lot of the projects seemed like they would be too expensive to actually work for a craft program. However, one project that really stuck out was "nut" necklace featured on the the cover.

Based on my calculations, this project would cost about 50 cents per necklace and take about 25 minutes to complete. (I would guess this could stretch to 45-60 minutes with young teens, snacks, and music.) I would however advise you use embroidery floss (I started out with a thin rope that kept raveling whenever I tried to make the knots.) I also recommend using triple knots rather than double knots - ESPECIALLY on the top two nuts....since they are only supported by one thread. The only other thing I feel the need to note is that each participant will probably need one whole thing of embroidery floss (the kind that cost about 25 cents.)