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  • Activities and Competitions

    Organizing activities and competitions can be fun but there are times you need some fresh input. In the activity drop-down menu below, you can find heaps of ideas. What about a Photo Shoot Competition of You and Your Favorite Book? Or You and Your Poem?

  • Activities

  • TIP: Don’t overdue it!

    Too much text, images or books on display too close together will distract the eye. It all becomes a blur. Each object needs its own space. Think of a shop window that is more than full with appliances, you can’t distinguish one object from the other, while carefully placed objects will grab your attention.

  • TIP: Think inside the hat!

    Party hats, store-bought or made from pages of an old book or scrap paper are very useful for a display. You can staple the hat to the board as a container for whatever you want to showcase. Or hang them in front of the board filled with little notes, poems, toy animals or whatever takes your fancy

  • TIP: Create a 3D effect!

    Create a 3D effect by hanging objects in front of the display board, like fish in a Sea Life display or lanterns in a Spring Display. A bare branch with some faux flowers works a treat.

  • TIP: Staple at an angle

    Removing old display items will be much easier when you hold the stapler at an angle when you tack items to the board. The staples will stick out at one side - perfect to get hold of and pull them out when you change displays.

  • TIP: Use a glue gun

    Glue guns are fantastic tools for creating displays. You can attach all sorts of materials like hard plastic, metal, fabric and everything else you can think off. Be careful with your fingers (blow - blow) the glue is very hot and you easily get blisters.

Dance of the tigers – Drama and theatre

Posted on May 8th, 2019 by Anita

                   Striped yellow / pink fabric

Red curtains pulled to the side

tiger masks

Welcome to the theatre

       where dreams   

    are possible…..   

” Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forest of the night

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry? “

William Blake

This display is a slightly different version from the ‘Dance, Divas and Drama Queens‘ display I’ve made a couple of months ago. Just add some new materials and within 1/2 an hour you give the display a refreshed look

What you need:

  • Red velvet fabric for curtains
  • Pink shiny fabric for the edge of curtains
  • Striped fabric for the background – matching the colours of the curtains (I bought it at an emporium for a couple of dollars)
  • Wrapping paper – reddish-purple for background and curtains
  • Black card for the second half of the title at the middle of the stage
  • Tiger masks (emporium)
  • A4 sheets with wood pattern for floorboards – Google images / Creative Commons
  • Title – I used the title from the previous display

What to do:

  • Make the title. Use letters from previous displays or use Word and print new ones. I had to do a bit of ‘crafting’ to create all the letters I needed. A couple of letters were not available but with a bit of imagination, double-sided tape and a pair of scissors I got it sorted…
  • Staple the purple/pink wrapping paper to the board. Top and left and right part only
  • Cut the red velvet fabric into 10 cm wide strips – 4 on each side
  • Cut the pink shiny fabric into 10 cm wide strips – 1 for bordering each curtain
  • Fill the spaces between the velvet strips with crunched wrapping paper – staple to the board
  • Fill the middle part of the ‘theatre’ with the striped fabric. I stapled it right over the background of the previous display (see photo below)
  • If you use letters from previous display titles as I did, get all the titles (or letters) out of the boxes and sort them. I had to craft the A and the plus sign because they were not available. With a little imagination and the help of double-sided tape and scissors I quickly fixed that problem….
  • Add the title to the bottom part
  • Staple the floorboards to the bottom of the stage
  • Cut the curtains to just under the top part of the floorboards
  • Staple the striped fabric to the board between the pink curtains
  • Staple the masks to the board – I used a series of the same masks but contemplated a variety as well (am still a bit dubious about my choice)
  • Staple the fabric in a knot under the tiger’s chin to give it motion
  • Put the bookshelves in place and arrange the books on them

This is a great display to show books on art – dance – music – celebrities – theatre – filmstars etc.

Get your creative juices flowing and go ‘on-stage’

Filed under: Animals, Celebrities, Cultural - art, Dance

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  • TIP: Use old umbrellas as a display unit!

    Old umbrellas without the fabric but with a good frame are fantastic as a display unit. You can hang whatever you want from it, fold fabric over it and let it rotate or stay static. Why not hang origami birds from it, or butterflies. (Check out our Butterfly display) Shiny fabric draped over the frame will give it extra cachet.... let your imagination run free and experiment! Three on a row or in a group are even better. Now you just need to get some old brollies and there you go.

  • TIP: Keep an action list

    I am not particularly good at it myself - I'm an ad hoc person - but it is one of my recommendations when I give display workshops. It helps you keeping track of what you're going to do. Make a rough sketch of how the display will look like and write down what materials and tools you're going to need Create a time-line / checklist: This week copying and laminating - Next week: buy or beg materials - Two weeks: covering display boxes with matching paper - Three weeks: collect books matching the display etc. till you reach D-day and start getting nervous....

  • An idea for your next display? WHAT BUGS YOU?

    Keep on the lookout for unusual, funny or cartoon-like images in magazines, on internet or in the daily paper like the image above. Cut or copy them and store them for when you need inspiration.
    One of those unusual images can be the basis for a great display. You don't need to do the whole design yourself.

  • Or what about this one? PORTABLE TRAVELLING…

    Don't forget to check out our page on Travel The World From Your Lazy Chair. Or maybe the New Zealand History one. With the borders are closed, you can easily adjust it to Travelling in NZ, Art & Culture in NZ or Where to go in NZ.

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