Thanks so much to Shelly Collins Fuerbringer from the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire for these inspiring ideas!

This summer we offered a CD weaving project with the idea of stringing all the finished products together to create a beautiful wall hanging. We took kits out on the BookBike to distribute and also had kits in the library along with yarn for customers to take home. Supplies are minimal – a CD, yarn, plastic needles, basic instructions and baggies to put the supplies in. (I included the half sheet of basic instructions to this email as well as the detailed instructions that we posted near the kits). We did make the CD looms so customers didn’t have to, but you wouldn’t have to do that. Our Friends helped a lot! We had weeded a lot of CDs so those were easy to come by. The Friends put out a call out for yarn donations and between those and what our staff donated, we had MORE than enough! The only items purchased were 3” plastic needles and baggies.

  CD weaving: the finished product

Close-up view

To complement this project for people who wanted an easier project, the library also provided a craft stick project, as well, allowing participants to decorate a craft stick (or more than one) to contribute to quilt squares.  Originally, they offered this project for kids who might find the CD weaving to be too much, but it turns out many adults were also enthusiastic about making a craft stick.  Shelly created quilt squares and put them on black mat board.  Another inexpensive project that appealed to a very broad age range, and look at the gorgeous results!

Craft stick quilts