Be Creative! Make or Invent Something

There are lots of ways to be creative: scrapbooking, quilting, photography, drawing, beading, writing, building, and inventing things. If you are looking for a creative outlet, the library staff has collected the following resources to help you with ideas, local clubs, and books at your library to help you CREATE!


Books at Your Library
Clubs in Fayetteville
So You Want To Be An Inventor
Government Resources
Contests!
Noob Goldberg
Books at Your Library
Crafts Find art and craft books in the 740 to 750 section of your library.
Inventions Find books about inventions and inventors in the 609 section of your library.
Science Fairs Find books about science fairs and experiments in the 507.8 section of your library.
Clubs in Fayetteville
. Cumberland County Master Gardeners
  Gardening is considered our nation's most popular pastime, yielding fresh fruits and vegetables for the dinner table, a cleaner environment and aesthetically pleasing landscapes. North Carolina Cooperative Extension helps gardeners learn more about new plants, native plants and environmental stewardship. Extension-trained Master Gardener volunteers are instrumental in these efforts, sharing their knowledge of plant selection, cultural practices and pest management with fellow gardeners, school students and others.
. Fayetteville Card Makers and Scrapbookers
 

Meet other local card-making enthusiasts and scrapbookers. Get together to share ideas, tips and techniques, make cards, crop, make friends and have fun! This groups is for beginners or experts - the idea is to play together and learn from each other while having a thoroughly good time.
. Lafayette Scale Modelers
  This is a great way to spend quality time with the family working on a project. The club sponsors an annual contest.
. North Carolina Quilt Guilds
  Find out where the local quilt guilds are located; this site offers contact information if you want to join a club and make a quilt.
. North Carolina's Writers' Network
 

The North Carolina Writers' Network serves writers at every stage of development through programs that offer ample opportunities for professional growth in skills and insight. The Network builds audiences for literature, advocates for the literary arts and for literacy, and provides information and support services.

. Piedmont Aeromodelers Club
  There is nothing like the satisfaction of building your own model plane and then flying it. The Piedmont Aeromodelers Club flying field is just off route 95 at exit 58.
 

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Government Resources
. Kids.gov/Inventors and Scientists
  Kids.gov is the official kids' portal for the U.S. government. It links to over 1,200 web pages from government agencies, schools, and educational organizations, all geared to the learning level and interest of kids. Kids.gov is maintained by the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC), those folks in Pueblo, CO 81009. You can learn more about FCIC by visiting www.pueblo.gsa.gov.
. U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Science
  The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing more than 40 percent of total funding for this vital area of national importance.
. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  For over 200 years, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution).
 

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So You Want To Be An Inventor
. Inventor Education
  InventorEd focuses on inventor-ENTREPRENEURS, with the emphasis on the entrepreneur part. We are interested in the inventors who want to make money, inventors who are contributing to society by creating jobs.
. Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation
  Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation presents "Inventing your Future". The goal of this web site is to take you through the steps needed in becoming an inventor and creating an invention, from getting an idea to patenting and marketing an invention.
. Official Rube Goldberg Site
  Around 1930 an aspiring young cartoonist began creating illustrations of the most wonderfully convoluted machinery. These "inventions" often involved an elaborate set of arms, wheels, gears, handles, cups, and rods, put in motion by balls, canary cages, pails, boots, bathtubs, paddles, and live animals, all designed to take a simple task and make it extraordinarily complicated. The cartoonist's name became synonymous with such devices and today Rube Goldberg Machines are more popular than ever. Check it out!
 

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Contests!
. Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County
  Find out where local competitions, classes, workshops and auditions are taking place. The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumbrland County lists a number of local art organization resources, providing many different artist opportunities.
. Cumberland County Fair
  The Cumberland County Fair is coming! Whether you plan to enter an exhibit, display or just enjoy the rides, food and entertainment, mark your calendars now for a great time.
. North Carolina Student Academy of Science
  NCSAS holds competitions at the District and State levels for students who have completed research projects, requiring both a paper and an oral presentation, and providing an opportunity for them to receive personal feedback from research scientists in their field. In addition, NCSAS offers mini-grants to student researchers to encourage their efforts.
. Rube Golberg Machine Contest
  So you're a pro now, huh? Time to show the world what you can do. Sponsored by Rube Goldberg, Inc., the official Rube Goldberg Machine Contest has been running since 1988.
. State Region IV Science Fair
  UNC at Pembroke hosts the State Region IV Science Fair for the 30th year in 2011.
 

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Noob Goldberg
. The Incredible Machine
  Arguably the greatest Rube Goldberg games ever, The Incredible Machine series is still much beloved despite being released over fifteen years ago. The original game can be downloaded by using the link above.
. Armadillo Run
  A popular variation on the Rube Goldberg theme is the transportation game where the object is to transport an object (usually a ball) to another location via the Rube Goldberg machinery. Armadillo Run is a modern favorite of this type.
. Fantastic Contraption Game
 
Another great variation is the horribly addictive Fantastic Contraption which can be played online. This link will let you build outrageous devices to solve some incredible puzzles. Download the game for even more levels and challenges.
Updated TAH, 03/2011

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