 Hi, I'm Xandria. Hi, I'm Liz. And this is Art Lab, a place to explore and create with art. Let's go. In this episode of Art Lab, we will be exploring pattern by creating your own paper weaving. Weaving means to move back and forth, up and down, or in and out, like weaving through a crowd. But weaving is also a method or pattern of lacing together strands of material, in our case, paper. Ever wondered how the cloth for your pants or shirt was made? Or how a basket or rug was created? They were woven. How you weave your paper strips will determine what your weaving will look like. You might already know how to weave, and you don't even know it. If you've ever braided hair, then you've already learned one weaving technique. Weaving is one of the oldest art forms on Earth. Archeologists have found evidence of baskets and braiding that dates back to the Paleolithic era more than 25,000 years ago. Weaving is usually done on a loom. A loom is basically a frame to help us weave our paper together. There are many different types of looms that have been used all over the world. Now it's your turn to make your own. Let's get started. Next, let's gather our supplies. You'll need scissors, half-inch paper strips. This can be old, hallmark, junk mail, magazines or construction paper, tape or glue, and we'll need a loom. You can download our template from the description down below, or you can make your own. To make your own loom, you're going to need a sheet of paper, a pencil, a ruler, and scissors. Take your sheet of paper and draw a one-inch border at the top and bottom of the paper. Next, mark one-inch increments along the width of the paper. Fold your paper hamburger style and you're going to cut the one-inch markings you made, making sure to stop at the borders we made earlier. Now unfold your paper. Your loom is complete. If you want, you can carefully erase the marks you made, or you can turn your loom over and hide the marks. Now that we have everything we need, let's get to the weaving. To prepare our template, we need to cut along the dotted lines. To do this safely, we're going to fold our paper in half hamburger style and cut along the folded edge, but be sure to stop with the line's end. Now take a look at your paper strips. Decide how you want to create your pattern. Begin weaving your first strip under, then over, under, then over. Repeat this, alternating each row. Over then under, the next row will be under then over. As you weave more rows in, push your strips together. This will make sure your weave is tight and your paper doesn't move around. Your loom is filled, but we need to take care of the parts hanging off of the edge. Turn your loom over, fold your strips, and glue or tape them down. Don't forget to sign and date your artwork. Once you've completed your paper weaving, find a place to hang your art. If you enjoyed making a paper weaving, try making another by making your own loom. Make as many paper weavings as you like. Experiment and have fun. What can you use your paper weavings for? How does the size of the strips change the way the pattern looks? Why not try weaving with different types of paper? Try using your color wheel to help you pick out colors for your paper weaving pattern. Try weaving in the other direction, up and down, not just over and under. Try weaving under two strips instead of just one. How does that change your pattern? Turn your weaving into something like a bookmark or a picture frame. Or a card or a flag. The possibilities are endless. Take a moment and appreciate what you've created. Not a single other paper weaving is exactly like yours, and that's special. Find a place to keep your weaving and let it inspire you. If you try this out and want to share, we'd love to see what you come up with. Use the hashtag LBPL Art Lab and don't forget to tell us your process. We want to try it as well. That's it for today. If you'd like to explore more about paper weaving, check out the link in the description down below. This has been Art Lab, brought to you by the Long Beach Public Library. See you next time. Bye!