Looming Danger
Sure, we’ve made some beautiful things here, but not every weaving experiment goes well. Sometimes… well, sometimes this happens. If our strings aren’t strong enough, they’re liable to break, shred or be otherwise completely messed up. Here are some other problems, surprises, and discoveries: DENSITY Sometimes you can really tell who was doing the weaving! Every visitor who works on…
Monster Pet Workshop
Shortly before Halloween, Amy and I ran a “Monster Pet” workshop. We had two hours and the entire workshop to help visitors through the process of brainstorming, designing, planning, and construction using both hand and machine sewing techniques. We began by brainstorming what makes a monster a monster. What kind of words would you use to describe your monster? Where does your monster…
Weaving Experiments Ahead
Weaving is a repetitive process, and we do a lot of it, but we love it and want to keep it fresh and interesting. So every time we start a new project, we start a new experiment! Sometimes it’s special colors, an unusual pattern, or turning it into something exciting. Our two most recent experiments are two of my all-time favorites….
Explaining Things Through Animation
I have been having a good time playing around with animation in MAKESHOP. Our stop-motion program allows you to create a simple movie by taking pictures of object while moving them around. A couple of days ago we had some of our conductive play-doh out for visitors to explore. The conductive play-doh acts as a conductor that can be used…
Youth Maker Night
In November, MAKESHOP hosted the first ever Youth Maker Night. Kids, ages 10 to 15, were given the opportunity to visit MAKESHOP after hours without their parents. We had a lot of electricity activities for the youth to make things and explore. The circuit blocks were out with some conductive play-doh. We also had LED lights and conductive tape, and…
Ready to Glow!
Every month we have a different theme, putting in activities that are new and different. December’s theme is GLOW. We’re preparing a whole lot of new activities like blacklight drawing and glowing putty, and keeping in some favorites like light painting and stop motion! We might even have real glowing mushrooms (proven non-toxic non-poisonous.) There will also be GLOW activities…
Making a very big costume…
I’m not an expert at anything, but I am really good at asking questions. I wanted to make a JEDI KNIGHT robe for Halloween. Problem: I have never sewn anything this big or complex before. Thankfully, I was able to ask Rebecca, a fellow Teaching Artist, and Lea, one of our interns, for help. They showed me the importance of sketching…
Meet a Maker!
Rounding out the veterans of MAKESHOP is Kevin, who has worked at the Children’s Museum for over five years. Whether you need help using a new tool, lifting something heavy, or need to hang out with someone who exudes patience, he is the guy to find! Name: Kevin Favorite color: Black How long have you worked at Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh: 2007…
Marble Maze
What can you make with an over sized hole punch? A couple of days ago a visitor created a really cool marble maze puzzle type thing. He spent a long time just tinkering with all of the different pieces of recycled materials in MAKESHOP. He eventually settled on using several tubes and a cardboard box that already had some holes punched out…
Stop-Motion…What else can it do?
We are still continuing to test our stop-motion prototype. I tried out a couple of different techniques using our current setup. I was able to rig the camera into a position that allows it to see the entire MAKESHOP. We made a pretty simple animation of Nick while he was cleaning up one of the tables. Experimenting with animation in…