Getting into the holiday season at the Bartlett Library
On Sunday, Dec. 10, 98 adult patrons attended the Bartlett Library's "Artsy Adulting" event where they got to paint wine glass candle holders, paint on a canvas and make a no-sew sock snowman. Then, 102 youth patrons and their caregivers attended the drop-in family event called the "Family Fun Quest," which took place on the same day.
The adult event took place over two time slots, and during both times the patrons had a fun time exploring their creativity. The painting wasn't instruction based, so the patrons were able to run with whatever they wanted to make. Samples of a few possibilities were shown for them as a starting point, but they all put their own spin on all the crafts.
One craft they made was a no-sew sock snowman, which consisted of part of a sock filled with rice and decorated with a felt carrot nose and a colorful sock that was cut up to look like a small hat, jacket and/or scarf. Patrons were also able to hot glue an array of colorful buttons onto the snowman for that extra pop of color.
The next craft patrons made was a wine glass candleholder. They picked from three different styles of glasses to paint: Martini, champagne or white wine. Once the patrons had their glasses, they had fun painting snowmen, penguins, white tree branches, stars, swirls and more on the surface. Some patrons even chose to paint the wine glass as normal, so that they could take them home to bake in the oven so that they could sip wine out of it rather than use it as a candleholder. For those that stuck with the holder idea, the Library gave out tea lights for patrons to take home and place on top of the glass.
The final craft patrons did was the canvas painting of a snowman. Just like with the wine glasses, there were examples for patrons to look at, but they still did their own thing. Some people added bows on the snowman hat or they painted swirls in the background rather than a solid color.
The variations were numerous, and everyone had a great time walking around to see what everyone else had done with their own crafts.
Aside from the "Artsy Adulting" event, the Library put on a "Family Fun Quest" for youth patrons and their caregivers to go around the building to various stations to complete holiday-themed activities.
At the stations, patrons were able to make paper mitten wreathes, fish out candy canes, complete a winter word scramble sheet, color in snowmen, make reindeer antlers out of paper, create birdseed feeders out of paper towel rolls, peanut butter and birdseed and then when they were all finished, patrons were able to enjoy fruit snacks and Capri Suns.
If you missed these programs, an upcoming holiday program at the Bartlett Library is the "Bittersweet Christmas Band" on Sunday, December 17 at 2 p.m. The holidays are a mixed bag and so is the Bittersweet Christmas Band! Artists Phil Cooper, Kate Early and Margaret Nelson join forces with songwriter Susan Urban for a show that presents every possible perspective on the holiday season from the reverent to the ridiculous. Two to four-part harmonies and masterful instrumentation on guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, hand drum and other percussion instruments make the Bittersweet Christmas Band an act not to be missed!
For more information and a complete listing of scheduled programs, call 630.837.2855 or visit www.bartlettlibrary.org.