• Pages

  • 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.

Spring Into A Book – Origami Spring Display

Posted on August 13th, 2020 by Anita

Spring is in the air  

The days are longer, the light is brighter and trees around the country are bursting with life, showing white, pink and ruby blossoms.

Helen Muxlow, Library Manager of Te Awa o Tupu, Karori West Normal School, created this fantastic Tree full of Origami blossoms using pages of culled books. She kindly gave me permission to put it on this website. Thanks a million Helen, I love the display and it fully resonates with my philosophy that you don’t need a large budget to create the most beautiful displays……

An outstanding job using discarded materials, a lot of labour and beautifully executed.

Here is Helen’s description of how she did it:

‘I used library books which had been retired from circulation (no usable books were injured in the creation of these flowers).

The pages were trimmed into various sized square sheets and folded into the petal shapes.

I found using a hot glue gun was the most successful means of connecting the petals.

Attaching a partially undone paper clip with a hot glue gun gave me a firm means of positioning and attaching them to the wall with a wall stapler.

Origami Flowers – how to make them: 

The flowers are called Origami Kusudama Flowers

Here is a Youtube video which shows you how to make them

And here is a series of images showing you how to make them:-

What a fantastic way to display your collection!

Filed under: Celebrations, Flora and Fauna, Literature, Nature

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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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