Crafternoon w/Library | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Dunbar Library hosted a “Crafternoon” event in which students could indulge in delicious crafts by decorating creepy cupcakes for Halloween.
Demonstrations
The event started with a demonstration by Library employees Maggie Perry and Grace Ethier as they showed students how to decorate the presented cupcakes.
One cupcake was meant to represent a mummy; Ethier explained how to apply the candy eyes and frost the cupcake in a zig-zag motion so that it would create the wrapped bandage effect that is iconic with horror mummies.
Students could also sprinkle on edible silver glitter to complete the look.
Perry presented the second cupcake, which had a pumpkin patch design. To make this cupcake, students had to lay a thin strip of parchment paper across the cupcake before decorating it with purple or orange frosting. They could also add Halloween sprinkles– which included black, gray and purple sprinkles, as well as white sprinkles shaped like bones.
She finished off the cupcake design by taking off the parchment paper– revealing a clean strip across the middle of the cupcake– and dotting three orange pumpkins on top. A few pre-chopped bits of pretzels were added to the middle of each dollop of orange, completing the pumpkin patch look.
Afterwards, students were officially able to begin decorating their own cupcakes.
Ethier was excited to collaborate with other Library members to hold this event.
“We want students to bring their whole selves to the library, and that can look different day-to-day. Sometimes that looks like having a good study session or scheduling a research appointment, sometimes it may be playing a board game with friends, and other times it means having space to be creative. So, we organized a Crafternoon series,” Ethier said.
The Library staff teamed together to plan different ways to encourage students to come to the Library, and the Crafternoon series was the result of this plan.
The event offers students the opportunity to relax and be creative while they learn more about the library, which is exactly what happened during the first Crafternoon.
Decorating the cupcakes
Students gathered in groups of eight at each station, which provided the materials for each cupcake separately. There, they chatted and joked around as they all decorated their cupcakes, making positive comments on everyone’s attempts as they worked.
Victoria Lambert, an earth and environmental science major, was one of the students who attended this event.
“I really enjoyed the event, it was fun and different from most events on campus. I will definitely attend more library events,” Lambert said.
They enjoyed being able to attend an event that allowed for students to get creative and relax during the stress of college– especially around midterm season. Working on the cupcakes was one way to settle down and be creative.
Once these edible works of art were complete, attendees scattered around the library’s group study room to continue chatting. Many held off on eating their cupcakes as they were too distracted by the creativity of their snacks.
Some students threw in a creative twist on their cupcakes, including unique eyes on the mummy and varying the colors on their pumpkins.
Once everyone was done with their decorations, Perry and Ethier guided students to gather around for a group picture.
Future Crafternoons
Dunbar Library hopes to host a monthly Crafternoon for the entire school year, with events like a collage night already prepared for this semester.
Students who want to learn more can visit the Library’s Events & Workshops page.
The Library also encourages students to check out their Library of Things, a program that offers students supplies to pursue new hobbies or to check out local museums.
“Are you ready to explore a new hobby? Do you enjoy visiting area museums? Would you like to try new board games? The library has you covered! Our Library of Things collection allows you to borrow kits, fitness tools, museum passes, photo and video equipment, technology tools, and more—all free of cost,” the Library of Things page states.
The Dunbar Library has lots to offer students, from fun events to interactive activities to borrow. Be sure to check them out more often!
