Our friend, Mare, stitched and donated 124 bookmarks this year. The lion’s share went to a school in northern NJ, and the rest went to her local library.

Wow is right! But wait . . . there’s more!

Mare met with her local librarian and did a bookmark demo for her, suggesting it be part of the library’s summer teen reading program. A few of the kids in the teen program walked in during the demo and were curious. When they saw Mare’s completed bookmarks, the kids went nuts.

There were 2 or 3 girls and one guy. They wanted to make one. The teens texted their friends about doing them as part of their weekly library/craft group and created a buzz. Kids texted the librarian asking when they were going to be able to do them.

I had the librarian stitching one as we discussed it. She was very happy to see the kids so excited about it. So I am teaching 25 kids at the end of July.

The theme of the summer reading program is travel and different countries. The country she wants me to promote is Africa so I’ve read up on African weaving, the dyeing of the reeds, and what the colors signify. I will talk about dyeing fabric and threads with natural produce (beets, onion skins, tea, coffee, kool aid, berries, etc.) as we stitch. The ribbon yarn I’ll be getting will be vibrant.

How fun is that? How generous is that?

Does your local library have a summer program where you might be able to do a demonstration or make-it-take-it? Mare made up her own project for her program, but if you’re not comfortable doing that, I’ll be happy to help. I’m sure Mare would be, too. Let us know!