TPiB: Renovate Your Room – and more Duct tape crafts! (inspired by Where’s My Stuff? The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide)
One of my favorite programs I have ever done was called Renovate Your Room, and it is exactly what you think it is, a program to help teens do a quick but fun room makeover.
To help with this program, I invited a local interior decorator to come and talk about things like colors, space design and layout, and even things like Feng Shui. Then, we did a couple of quick and easy crafts to create unique elements for their room. Where’s My Stuff: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide is a good companion book for this program (and your teen area). Written by Samantha Moss and professional teen organizer Lesley Schwartz (who even knew there was such a thing), Where’s My Stuff? has an entire section on organizing your room. It includes helpful tips such as how to maximize a small space, how to decide what to keep and what to toss, and how to create cheap storage.
For example, here are some of the storage on the cheap ideas they recommend:
Turn an old wicker basket into a magazine storage bin
Use a juice glass for make up brushes
Organize art supplies in a silverware tray
Turn a wooden milk crate on its side and use it to hold CDs (page 99)
Your Dream Room Activity
What, exactly, would your dream room look like? Why not have teens tell you. You probably have a ton of discarded magazines laying around (I save them). Teens can create a collage space of their dreams using a piece of cardstock, discarded magazines and some glue. This will help your teen participants get an idea of their personal taste so they can make some good choices for the craft activities below.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Here are 5 sample craft activities you could do for the hands on portion of your Renovate Your Room program. The Internet is full of great craft ideas, so don’t limit yourself to these, but I have done these and recommend them.
Craft Activity 1: Pen or Make up Brush Container
Supplies:
Empty (and washed) frosting container
Duct tape of your choice
Have a party and share cupcakes with your friends. After you eat all of the frosting, wash that container out, cover it in duct tape, and voila – you have an awesome pen or make up brush holder. Cheap, easy and can be completely personalize to your room.
And here’s a bonus tip: You can use the duct tape to cover your light switch plates to coordinate your look. Be sure to ask for permission, just so parents don’t come complaining. For a library program, you can even provide plates and duct tape (purchased from a local hardware store).
Craft Activity 2: Dry Erase Boards
Supplies:
Piece of cardboard
Clear report covers/clear contact paper, clear transparency film
Duct tape of your choice
Some type of ribbon to hang it
To make this dry erase board, cut your piece of cardboard to a size that is slightly larger than your transparency. For example, your transparency will be 8 1/2 by 11, so cut your cardboard to about 9 1/2 by 12. If you use clear contact paper, the size of your cardboard does not matter and you can make it any size you would like.
Then, cover your piece of cardboard with a solid color of duct tape. Then, lay your transparency over this in the center. Here, I taped my transparency film on using a patterned tape around the edges to give it a little bit of flair. Be sure you wrap your tape completely around onto the back to give it a smooth outer edge. If you don’t have a transparency film, you can simply cover your layer of Duct tape with clear contact paper.
Supplies:
A piece of cardboard
A layer of foam batting
Material
Ribbon
Buttons
Follow these instructions. I have done this as a craft activity with my teens. It takes a little bit of time, but is very rewarding.
Craft Activity 4: Sharpie Tie Dye Pillow Cases
Supplies:
White pillow case (Have teens bring their own)
Sharpies in a variety of colors
Rubbing alcohol
Paper towels
Follow these instructions. This is one of my go-to crafts to do with teens, though typically with t-shirts.
Craft Activity 5: Cool Garland
Supplies:
Balloons
Yarn
Mod Podge
Sponge brushes
Follow these instructions to make Mod Podge Easter eggs, but instead of making Easter eggs you’ll just be making cool shapes to create garland. You can also use pieces of scrapbook paper and decorative punches to make this garland.
Bonus Craft: Wall Art
You can make canvas wall art simply by either printing off pictures or making collages using discarded magazines, Mod Podge and a blank canvas. Simply Mod Podge your pics (or collages) onto a canvas (you can buy them in bulk at all craft stores) and create one of a kind wall art. Another craft that is great to do with all those discarded magazines.
Collage on the left, Photo on the right |
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
This is actually one of my favorite projects at the moment and I have done a ton of these to decorate the Tweens room. I like to make photo collages in Microsoft Publisher and then print them out on regular copier paper to decoupage, that seems to work best. They also make great gifts.
Take 5: Room Decorating Craft Books
Other Craft Ideas:
Instagram crafts (coming on Friday)
Poster Frenzy, make original posters to decorate your room
Story Terrariums to decorate your room
Make Fairy Gardens to decorate your room
Better Homes and Gardens Back to School Bedroom Crafts
Don’t forget to search on Pinterest for other cool room decorating craft ideas.
But wait – THERE’S MORE
The first section of Where’s My Stuff? is all about organizing your school stuff. Think about what a great end of summer program this would be. And we already have a ton of great back to school craft ideas for you here. For example, you can modify this craft – magnetic tin bins – for the bedroom or locker and use my new best friend Duct Tape to tie it all together. You can also create your own marble magnets or magnetic poetry kits for lockers.
Pair this with a couple of sessions on studying techniques and this Library Bootcamp, modified for a single program, and you have some great school success prep programming.
A final note about the book. As with all Zest Books, Where’s My Stuff? has a fun and engaging lay out and design. It’s compact, just around 100 pages, so it’s not too intimidating. The only drawback for library collections is it does have some space that it asks teens to write in, but I personally have never found this to be a problem in any of the libraries I have worked at and it doesn’t overwhelm the book. There are, in fact, lots of good tips and information in here to help teens get organized in school and at home, and some good information for you to incorporate into a program. Whether you are looking for a book to help your teen or a book for your library collection, this is a good addition.
Where’s My Stuff?, published by Zest Books in 2007. ISBN: 9780977266050
Filed under: Back to School, Crafts, Locker Crafts, Programming, Room Decorating, TPIB, Uncategorized, Zest Books
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Read Aloud Hall of Fame #18: ROOM ON THE BROOM
Happy Dia de los Muertos! Duncan Tonatiuh Joins Jolene Gutiérrez in Conversation
The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All, vol. 1 | Review
The Seven Bills That Will Safeguard the Future of School Librarianship
Gayle Forman Visits The Yarn!
ADVERTISEMENT
Anonymous says
I LOVE THOSE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!! And the ideas but as a book addict so I naturally zeroes in on the books.
Anonymous says
That is cute.