El Reno Carnegie Library’s

Teen Crafts for Summer Reading 2020 How to Make Coffee Filter Dancers

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

2 Coffee Filters

2 Pipe Cleaners

1 Rubber Band

5 Beads

Here’s what you need to provide:

Washable Markers

Scissors

Spoon or Eye Dropper

Piece of cardboard or cookie sheet or just something to put under your coffee filters while they dry

You’re going to want to use both coffee filters, one on top of the other for this craft. The colors from the

top one will bleed into the bottom one and you’ll end up with two nearly identical pieces to make the

dresses for your dancers.

Flatten out the coffee filters as best you can before you get started.

If you want the dresses to have strong colors, make sure you cover a lot of the coffee filter with marker,

leaving very little white space. The more marker you add, the darker the colors will be.

I highly recommend using colors from the same color families for each of your coffee filters.

If you add too many random colors you could accidentally end up with brown coffee filters.

Using an eye dropper, or a small spoon, carefully drop water all over the coffee filters until it’s

completely soaked through. They should be completely wet, but they shouldn’t be sitting in a pool of

water.

Once it’s completely soaked, stop adding water because you don’t want to flood it and tear the filters.

It will look not-so-great while drying (like a mess), but let it dry.

And here they are after they were dry:

There are a few ways you can dry your coffee filters:

1. You can let them air dry overnight. This is easiest, but I’m incredibly impatient so I’d really rather not

wait so long!

2. You can set them out in the sunshine on a warm day to dry. This method works really well, and they’ll

dry in about half an hour in direct sun. But be careful, because the minute they’re dry, they tend to blow

away with the slightest wind, so you have to keep a close eye on them!

While you’re waiting for the coffee filters to dry, you can make the form for your person.

Start by bending one of the pipe cleaners in half. But don’t pinch the fold in the middle. This will be the

head of your dancer and it looks better when it’s not squished closed. Add 3 beads in the middle for the

person’s abdomen.

Line up the second pipe cleaner behind the one that’s folded in half, a little below where the “neck” of

your dancer will be.

Wind the two “arms” around the middle pipe cleaner several times to make a body. Keep winding until

you have about 2.5 inches of pipe cleaner left on both sides. Make sure when you’re finished winding

that the arms come out right below the head at the position of the neck.

Bend the bottom pipe cleaners at a right angle to make small “feet” for your dancer. Loop the feet into a

circle formation and secure with a bead.

When your coffee filters are dry, you can separate them. See?? Two nearly identical, beautifully colored

coffee filters for the dress!

Fold one of the coffee filters in half.

Then keep folding it in half until it’s about the size below.

Cut a tiny point off from the tip. Make sure it’s small – you’ll be surprised how much bigger the hole gets

when you open up the coffee filter again!

Unfold the coffee filter until it’s only folded in half. Cut two small slits about 1/4 inch away from the

middle hole. These will be the holes for the “arms” to go through. (Like where the arrows are).

Bring the pipe cleaner “arms” up over the doll’s head.

Then carefully slide each arm through one of the small slits you cut into the coffee filter.

Carefully pull the coffee filter down over the body. The head should easily fit through the bigger hole in

the coffee filter.

Bunch the coffee filter around the doll into the shape of a dress. Wrap a rubber band around the dress,

roughly at the position of the waist so that it looks like a belt.

Cut a small hole into the center of the second coffee filter (fold it in half a few times then snip off a tiny

piece at the tip, just like you did with the first coffee filter).

Then slide the feet through the hole in the second coffee filter.

Push the dress up to the waist of the doll, shaping it into a beautiful, frilly gown.

You can bend the arms of your coffee filter dancers however you like. And with pipe cleaners, you can

change the arm shape again and again!

SOURCE: https://onelittleproject.com/coffee-filter-dancers/

Dragon Eyes Craft

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

2 flat clear marbles

Here’s what you need to provide:

Sharpie marker or black paper

Other color permanent markers or acrylic paint

Paintbrush if using paint

If you are using paint, make your pupil thin. I used a piece of black construction paper for the pupil slit. If

you’re using regular paint for your edging you can use a toothpick to make dots, if you want them. Allow

your outlines and dots to dry before moving on.

Allow to dry thoroughly before handling.

Now you can add the paper for the background and cut to size, or add your paint. You can even turn it

into a piece of jewelry!

Source: https://craftyourhappiness.com/2015/09/08/dragon-eyes-dragon-craft/

Unicorn, Castle and Dragon Jars

Make your own magical jar lantern with a fairytale spin!

Here’s what you’ll use from your kit:

Glass jar

Bag of colored tissue paper squares

Black silhouette of your choice: dragon, unicorn or castle

Here’s what you’ll need to provide:

Glue

Paintbrush (optional)

Battery operated tea light/strand of Christmas lights (optional)

Glue your silhouette onto the jar, facing outward. Press firmly and let it dry.

Turn your jar upside down, and begin applying the tissue paper squares. If you are using Elmer’s glue or school glue, press the tissue into it and you can even brush some on top to seal it with a paintbrush.

Be careful to only apply one layer of tissue over your image–more than one layer of tissue distorts the image.

Continue decoupaging tissue onto the jar until it is completely covered. Let dry. Now you can add your tea light or a strand of lights. You can also tie ribbon, yarn, or whatever else you desire, around the neck of the jar, and hang a charm down to further embellish your jar.

Switch your light on, and enjoy the magical glow!

Source: http://thinkcrafts.com/blog/2017/08/28/unicorn-dragon-jars/

ARM CUFF BRACELET

Here’s what you’ll use from your kit:

Paper towel roll, pre-cut

Construction paper, pre-cut

Here’s what you’ll need to provide:

Scissors

Glue

Any rhinestones, paint, duct tape, ribbon, sequins or clip art you want to add

Design ideas…

For these two designs above, hot glue was used to create a design. Once dry, paint was added.

Original idea source: http://timetravellerkids.co.uk/

Other sources: http://www.pinterest.com

Dragon Mask Craft

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

Dragon head paper

Fire paper

Colored paper (dragon’s crest/spike)

Here’s what you need to provide:

Glue

Markers, colored pencils, water color paint or crayons

Color the dragon head and fire. Glue or tape the crest behind the head. Hang up on your wall!

Coat of Arms

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

Coat of arms template paper

Clip art and magazine pieces

Here’s what you need to provide:

Glue

Scissors

Markers, colored pencils or crayons

Color the coat of arms. You can Google the meaning behind certain colors if you want to make it

symbolic. Cut out items that represent you or just design a cool coat of arms.

Clay Gnome

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

Clay in a tiny container

Here’s what you need to provide:

Nothing! But if you want you can use acrylic paint and/or a toothpick.

Use your hands to sculpt clay into a gnome. You can use a toothpick to add details if you want. Let it dry

for 2 days. You can add paint if you want to. You can also look up other photos of gnomes online to get

inspiration.

Gold Crown

Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get out of your kit:

Gold paper strip

Here’s what you need to provide:

Scissors

Glue

Stapler or tape

Any rhinestones, paint, duct tape, ribbon, sequins or clip art you want to add

You can cut triangles out of the gold strip. If you want to decorate it, you can. Measure it to your head

and then staple or tape it to size.

We would love to see your creations on our

social media!!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElRenoCarnegieLibrary

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elrenolibrary

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elrenocarnegielibrary/

Or email us a photo at: library@elrenolibrary.org

Any questions? Email our librarian at twinkle@cityofelreno.com

or call us at 405-262-2409

Thank you to our sources for giving us permission to share!