How-To Holiday is scheduled for November 16, 2024 this year. This is our major fundraiser of the year, and has been a big success every time we’ve done it!
We are looking for leaders of stations for this year, and we’d like to offer some new items. If you have any ideas, would be willing to volunteer, or can be talked into running a station, let me know!
Reply here or email lex@lansingmakersnetwork.org
I’m planning on doing something, not sure which idea I want to go with yet.
I’m planning on doing something in the forge area, whether simple ornaments or something else
I can do the treasure chest/boxes.
I may have an idea, but would like more info on how this event works. What happens at the stations? A demonstration only–or guests participate? Maybe a couple examples would help. Thanks!
Hi, David! The stations are set up in a make & take style so guests are able to have the hands on experience in making their gift for giving or keeping. In the past, the jewelry metalsmithing area has offered copper hand stamped charms that were added to a necklace. Last year we offered hand stamp copper & brass gift tags. I hand fabricate & pre prep all the blanks so they’re ready to stamp. I demo how to hand stamp & the guests stamp their own charms + punch a hole into their charm. When we’ve made them into necklaces, we had jump rings available, some sort of cord & someone to make adjustable knots on the cord so it could be worn as a necklace, or as some chose, a bracelet. If you look in the glass & wooden case, in the jewelry metalsmithing area, you’ll see the gift tags & maybe, a necklace. I’ll try & find a couple of photos to share here as well.
Hi David!
Some other stations that we have this year so far:
Some stuff still in the works:
We try to keep costs of materials for item down to $5, so that we’ve got some donations coming in for the $10 tickets.
Happy to chat about your ideas! Thanks!
hey lex,
last year we did laser cut wood ornaments. i created a couple of lansing designs, we could do that again
I was going to ask if you would be willing to design another one, and this is better than I could have imagined! Yes please to the Lansing designs.
Were you also interested in running that station during the event?
I’ve been thinking about what could be done involving ornaments, decorations, possibly gift items with papier mache, decoupage, painting.–but the possibilities seem endless. And the take-away aspect is a challenge, considering dry time. Anything like this done before? Ideas? I plan on being at the workshop Sat. and Sun. afternoons this week for ukulele work, and will stop by the hobby store beforehand to see what is available there (like ready-made decoration blanks for decoupage, for example). Would you be around this weekend at all to discuss stuff? Or possibly some other time.
How many projects should we be able to run in parallel? I have an idea for how we might be able to do glass mini-ornaments (though i’ll have to do a little experimenting)
@Heather if this sounds workable to you in terms of safety, I think I’ve worked out a way to do a borosilicate bead/charm/ornament decorating station:
Beforehand, I make a bunch of plain borosilicate beads of various shapes and colors (leaving them on mandrels) and also make a bunch of stringers
Have each guest choose a bead and a stringer to decorate with
Me / other helper sticks the the bead in the torch flame for them, they hold the stringer and draw on on it (dots, lines, whatever). I tested on one of the jewelry torches and it was perfect for the job: got just hot enough to get the stringer goopy and the bead fused to it, not hot enough to have to worry about the bead itself changing shape.
Guest comes back when their bead is cool (took a few minutes with my test bead cooling in air) - we’d need someone to either clean beads or help guests clean their own
I love your idea!! And know we can make this work. My only concern is having the proper safety glasses for the sodium flare…assuming you were using the Little Smith torch w/ propane/oxy. We do have an ultrasound cleaner to clean the beads.
Awesome! Good call on eye protection. When I tested I was using the other torch with the single fuel, though I think the little torch would work too.
Ohhh, good…then we don’t need to be concerned w/ the sodium flare or having specialty safety glasses! I’d love to have you set up in the jewelry area…plenty of room; especially, since you’ll be using one or both of the acetylene torches. I think this make & take will be fun & well received! I know I’ll be making at least one! If you have samples ready, I’d like to photograph them to share on social media. When could I meet you at the makers space? I’ll be in Wednesday afternoon if that happens to work for you. The other option, is to leave them somewhere…maybe, at the front desk? Let me know what will work for you. 
Great! I can come by after work any day this week, so if you’ll still be there around 6:30 on Wednesday I can meet you then.
I’m planning on attending the board meeting so, I’ll be there around 6:30, 6:45.
Great - see you Wednesday!
I am so sorry that I missed this!
I’d love to chat about your ideas, but also have a couple of stations that have everything needed and are still looking for volunteers if you are available. I’ll be at LMN all day Wednesday, and can be there Friday before 4pm if you’d like to chat in person.
Hi, Maria! I sent you a PM.
