pinholes & popsicles

Just a quick post about a couple new fun books that just arrived at the shop– Perfect Pops by Charity Ferreira (Mango Lassi popsicle, anyone?)  and Chris Keeney’s Pin Hole Camera Do it Yourself Guide.

This book teaches you how to make a pinhole camera out of A N Y container! Coffee cans, cigar boxes, suit cases, and as it says on the cover…. even a pine nut! Just imagine– you could whip up some homemade Mexican Papaya Agua Fresca pops, and then enjoy them on a sunny day while out taking pictures with your homemade pinhole camera! Now where is our sunny summer weather, Los Angeles?

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picture this!

Yesterday we said farewell to our good friend, Kenny the Bookworm. Kenny has retired from public view for now, although if you’d like to give him a new home let us know! We’d love to find him a new home if you’ve got some place he can go, just contact us at the store.  We now introduce you to our new window friend, the Diana camera!

We’ve got a new focus at The Library Store right now– film photography. Keeping the Diana Mini cameras company we’ve also got a nifty DIY Pinhole Camera Set, a Fisheye camera, the Pop 9 camera (in gold!), and the Oktomat camera!

We’re pretty hooked on the idea of documenting this spring and summer through real film photography, and as we take those pictures they’ll be featured in the display.  Hope this inspires you to take some pictures of your world too!

Washi tape for all!

We’ve gone Washi tape crazy here at The Library Store. I have to admit, the lure of Washi tape hadn’t really hit me until I started doing research for this blog entry. Man, the options are really limitless when it comes to this adorable crafty tape! For those not in the know, Washi tape is craft tape, with a softer fabric feel to it. It isn’t quite as sticky as normal tape so it can be easily peeled off any surface you choose to stick it to. It comes in a dizzying array of colors, patterns, stripes, you name it! So what do you use it for, you ask? Well, that’s up to you, and only limited by your imagination! Here are some pretty neat DIY uses I came across on the web…

Like these adorable Easter eggs! You just take plain hardboiled eggs, make sure they’re really dry, and start covering them with Washi tape in whatever design you wish. The photo was taken by David Prince, and great step by step directions can be found here.

Amazing Washi tape on tiny books! You know we’re gonna go crazy over anything to do with books (we are The Library Store, after all.) Find the project instructions to make your own little Washi books (cute kitty not included) over here.

If digital art in more your style, this free clip art download found at Pugly Pixel is just for you! I used it to up the Washi factor on our images for this blog post, and it was a ton of fun! I can only imagine how much fun I’ll have when I try my hand at the real deal!

So come on in and check out our new selection of Washi tapes here at The Library Store. Stay tuned for an upcoming Crafternoon event as well– maybe we’ll be making the tiny Washi books in the store, and you’ll be invited to join in!

springtime wonderland!

We’ve made good use of this quiet Monday in the library, by creating a verdant wonderland in one of our jewelry cases!

And what better to pair with a fresh green landscape than fresh new jewelry! These creations come from Polli Jewelry, based in Australia. Their designs are fun, whimsical, and creative which really shines through in this latest collection.

I left my heart in the….

It’s that time of year again… the boxes of new items are tumbling in. We’ve got new plans, new ideas, and new inspirations galore for the store. In the haste of getting all these new fun things out onto the shelves, I wanted take a minute and share possibly our FAVORITE new item! Right in time for Library Lovers Month (which is February, in case you didn’t know!), and the lovey dovey holiday on the 14th, we present the I Left My Heart in the Library card! Handmade here in LA especially for The Library Store. $5.00 each, available in store and online too!