CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Registration is open for fall workshops and open studios at The I.D.E.A. Store, Central Illinois’ only “Eco-Edu-Art Creative Re-use Marketplace.”

The store, located at 28 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, will offer a full roster of one- and two-part art and craft workshops and open studios that emphasize the repurposing of materials from the store’s diverse inventory of items donated by individuals and area businesses. Participants can learn to make beads, using paper and fabric scraps; design jewelry from repurposed household and office items; create hand-made paper and books from discarded materials; assemble tote bags from billboard vinyl; design collages and lampshades using plastic scraps; and fashion coil baskets from VHS tapes, ribbons and other odds and ends.

Participants can even learn to create functional and decorative items from “plarn.” Plarn is made from plastic and functions like yarn.
“It amounts to cutting plastic grocery/department store bags into narrow strips and joining them together to make a length of plarn,” said retired Unit 4 visual arts teacher Shauna Carey, The I.D.E.A. Store’s new education coordinator. “Then you just crochet it together.”

Instruction begins Sept. 6 and 13 with the two-part evening workshop “Repurposed Pieces for New Jewelry Creations.” That workshop and two others will be repeated later in the semester. All workshops will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. in the store’s newly expanded, renovated classroom space adjacent to the retail sales and display areas. All materials and tools needed will be supplied and are covered by the workshop fee unless otherwise indicated.

Registration fees range from $10 to $40; advance registration is required and can be completed online or at the store. A complete list of workshops and more information is available online at http://the-idea-store.org/product-cat/workshops

In addition to specific, structured workshops, the store will offer drop-in “deconstruction” and “reconstruction” open studios for children and adults on alternating Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to noon, beginning Sept. 3.

“Our plan is to have folks explore deconstruction by taking apart items – from books and keyboards to shoes and blue jeans – and use those parts to create something new the next week,” Carey said. “They can do this without real ‘instruction.’ We will have somebody there to answer questions if needed.”

Open studios also are planned in December from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, beginning Dec. 1, for adults and children wishing to make paper boxes, collage cards, origami and other “take-aways.”

Deconstruction studios are free; the cost for reconstruction studios is $5 per person or $9.50 for a studio pass covering both sessions offered in a given month. December open studio fees are $5 per session or $25 for a studio pass good for all eight sessions. Participants can pre-register or pay the day of the studio. More information is available online at http://the-idea-store.org/product-cat/open-studios.

The I.D.E.A. Store also will continue to offer birthday parties for all ages, craft parties and tours of the store with added options. To arrange a private party, contact the store staff at 217-352-7878.

More information about The I.D.E.A. Store, an earned-income enterprise of the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation, is available on the store web site, http://the-idea-store.org.