New Jersey Makers Day @ HFPL
Welcome to the Hillsdale Free Public Library’s New Jersey Makers Day archive.
The first New Jersey Makers Day was held in 2015, but the Hillsdale Library embraced the idea even earlier and held precursor exhibits in 2011 and 2104 as part of its Think It, Make It, Share It (TMS) activities. Each Makers Day has been unique with different makers exhibiting and activities planned. Some years have included “best in category” voting and others had no judging, encouraging just enjoying. Below you will find information and photos from Maker Days by year from the start to today. You will be amazed by all the local maker talent!
The Hillsdale Friends of the Library sponsor our New Jersey Makers Day events and all of the library’s TMS activities.
Learn about the 2026 NJ Makers Day here.
The Hillsdale Free Public Library hosted a one-day exhibition of creativity and craft. We thank all of the participants for sharing what they make. Awards were presented to the category favorites at the Library Board of Trustees in April 2025.
Makers Showcase Gallery
Click on images to enlarge.
The Hillsdale Free Public Library hosted local artists, crafters, makers, and inventors for a one-day Makers Day exhibition of creativity and craft. Other activities included a seed-starting station run by volunteers and members of the Pascack Valley High School Environmental Club, a twisty balloon sculpture station, a tri-pendulum harmonograph, and Hillsdale’s largest Kaleidoscope.
Makers Showcase Gallery
Click on images to enlarge.
Best Thing That Moves: Fluid Art by Alla Sergienko.
Best Reuse of Materials: Growing Up Hillsdale T-shirt Quilt by Robin Payne.
Best Thing That Can Be Worn: Dreaming of Summer Dress by Krystal Szabo.
Best Group Entry: The Upper Room by the Children of Woodcliff Lake Congregation.
Most Artistic/Creative (tie): Hidden Beauty Vaseby Pavle Ancevski.
Most Artistic/Creative (tie): Godzilla Origami by Antonio Casale.
Most Artistic/Creative (tie): Paper Squishies and Crochet Items by Alejandra Locke,
Embroidered Dollhouse Rug by Sue Romanoff.
Suzi Gerace – Newspaper Collage; Forget-Me-Knot Scarf; Natural Bird Sounds; Origami Paper Earrings; and Ceramic Clock.
Hand-knit sweater and shawl by Bette Anne Sheganoski.
Handmade Jewelry by Leilani Hefa.
Jenga lantern by Barbara Davella.
Not Your Mother’s Needlepoint by Linda Pleyer.
Seven Days of Creation Embroidery by Sue Romanoff.
Turned Square Plate by Len Satmbler.
Stickers by Daylan Hefa.
Wood Turned Vase-in-Vase by Cyndi Boyd.
Bead Embroidery by Julie Askins.
Seed-Starting Table, PVHS Environmental Club.
Makers Showcase Gallery
Click on Images to enlarge.
The Hillsdale Free Public Library invited local artists, crafters, makers, and inventors for a one-day exhibition to showcase their creativity and craft. Visitors from the local community attended to view the exhibits, meet their creative neighbors, and find inspiration for their own making. Demonstrations of the library’s tools, e.g. button machine and laser cutter, were also held.
Makers Showcase Gallery
Click on images to enlarge.
Visitors to the Hillsdale Free Public Library’s Makers Day were treated to activities, including a Hudson Valley Wood Turning Association workshop (where participants used a lathe to make a wooden pen), button making using the library’s button machine, seed-starting to get the library’s garden started, and more.
Makers Showcase Gallery
Visitors also got to enjoy the work of local Local artists, crafters, makers, and inventors in a “No Judging, Just Enjoying” showcase.
Click on images to enlarge.
The Hillsdale Free Public Library celebrated the 2018 New Jersey Makers Day with a local makers’ showcase.
Many attendees also participated in:
- The Hudson Valley Wood Turners Association pen-turning workshop
- The seed-starting station conducted by the Kids 4 Earth organization. (Seeds were later planted around the library!)
Makers Day Winners and Entries
Best in Show: Straw Bridge Transporter by Ben Gulleyan.
Winners and entries continued. Click on images to enlarge.
The 2017 New Jersey Makers Day at the Hillsdale Free Public Library with a number of hands-on activities and a makers’ showcase of artists, crafters, inventors, and other creative folk.
Activities included:
- Wood Pen Workshop, sponsored and supervised by the Hudson Valley Wood Turners Association, where participants created a fully functional Cross-style wood pen using a woodturner’s lathe
- Tri-Pendulum Rotary Harmonograph, where participants created their own, unique spiral design with paper and pens (Two of the harmonograph’s pendulums swing perpendicular to each other, and the third moves in any elliptical direction.)
- Yarn Monsters, where young makers created their own make-and-take monster
- Will It Fly?, where participants use paper, tape, cups, and scissors to made an object and tried floating it in a vertical wind tunnel
- DIY Kaleidoscope, where participants made a kaleidoscope with mirrored plastic and petri dishes
- All Geared Up!, where visitors could turn a small gear to put this large suspended sculpture in motion.
Makers Day Winners
Best in Show
Hearing Assistance by Collin Tofts. Collin used littleBits to create an assistive device for the hearing-impaired. He was interviewed by Lew Weiss of Manufacturing Talk Radio about his invention.
Best Thing That Makes Sound
A Short Film by Ashley Shaaf. Film digitally shot and edited.
Best Reuse of Materials
Rusty Toad by Rick and Jack Svorec. Old, rusty trash was transformed into a Steampunk robotic frog, too rusted to move. This frog looked as if it was discovered in the ruins of a mad scientist’s abandoned barn!
Best Thing That Could Be Worn
Whimsical Flower Headband by Maya Tate. Made with plastic headband, glue, and flowers.
Best Electric Thing
The Garbage Guy by Tyler Minneker and Kyle Syslo. A machine designed to venture further than humans can go to collect trash and move rubble.
Best Moving Thing
Super Speedy 8,000 by Mason Herzog and Andrew Hershkowitz. Small (9″L x 7.5″W x 3.5″H) motorized car with clay driver.
“Surprise Us!” Winner
Science Experiments by Isabella Shaaf. Oobleck, slime, Playdough, and stressballs – all narural materials.
More Makers Day Entries
Click on images to enlarge view.
The 2016 New Jersey Makers Day at the Hillsdale Free Public Library included a variety of activities and a makers’ showcase.
Activities included:
- Attending a robotics workshop hosted by the Sylvan Learning Center
- Learning about the art and craft of lace making at a demonstration by the Metropolitan Chapter of the International Old Lacers
- Constructing a marble run on peg boards, sponsored by the Paskack Junior Woman’s Club
- Crafting a paper object and getting it to float on a jet of air in a wind tunnel
- Making a race car and timing its speed on a test track.
Makers Entries and Winners
Best in Show and Best Electronic Thing: Color Sensing Robot by Collin Tofts.
Created to assist children with colorblindness. The robot identifies the color of a block and sorts it into the correct bin.
Other winners and entries are showcased below. Click on images to enlarge view.
The Hillsdale Free Public Library held its second Maker Faire, which was aligned with the inaugural statewide New Jersey Makers Day. Local makers were invited to share what they create, and demonstrations of some of the library’s MakerSpace tools were on display. Among the demonstrations and activities were:
- Make a button with the library’s button machine
- Will it fly? Create a flying invention and test it in a wind tunnel
- Try the LED marble run, using track designed by kids in the library’s MakerSpace program
- Make your own light bulb using electricity and graphite
- Put simple physics to work in the Balancing Toy Challenge
- Watch the 3D printer in action
- Learn about the Silhouette Cameo that cuts paper, cardstock, heat-transfer vinyl, and more
- Create a robot using LEGO bricks (robotics sessions offered by Sylvan Learning Center of Hillsdale)
- Make a car out of spare parts and see how fast it can travel down a test track (Speed calculated using an Arduino Uno!).
Click on images to enlarge view.
Makers Entries and Winners
Events and Activities
The Hillsdale Free Public Library hosted a Maker Faire in 2014, showcasing local makers’ invention, creativity, and craft.
Makers Entries and Winners
Best in Show
Jack Carlsen, 11, and his friends Johnny Mayo, Kyle Icovelli, and Alex Yakir took the $250 Grand Prize for their creation of Hillsdale within Minecraft. Minecraft is a multiplayer sandbox game where participants build with 3D building blocks. The project started as a way for Jack to create his own world on a separate computer server. He and his friends set up their own form of government to manage the workload and to settle disputes among players.
“When I was thinking about the Maker Faire, I noticed that some parents dislike Minecraft because they only think of it as a game. It is so much more!” declares Jack. “It allows kids to collaborate and work together, so I thought that if I made something that they would connect to, I could show everyone that Minecraft really lets kids ideas fly.”
Best Reuse of Materials
Nick Metz won the category Best Reuse of Materials. His Undersea World was also a crowd favorite. The fish were constructed from pizza tins and soda cans. The jellyfish were crafted out of clear plastic water bottles.
Best Thing That Could Be Worn
Abby Atkinson won this category with her handcrafted jewelry.
Best Electric Thing
Yilan Xu won this category with his Angry Birds Robot set up using Legos and an NXT brick.
Best Thing That Makes Sound
Colby Van Dyken’s Bird Call won this category.
Surprise Us! Winner
Oliver Somers, age 7, created the “Juicinator” with his grandfather. His clever device permits the easy pouring from a two-liter bottle with the pull of a rope.
More Great Entries
See these additional great entries at the 2014 Maker Faire below:
- Neil Stewart’s Portable Workspace
- Embellished T-shirts by Julie Van Dyken
- Trash Totem by Kids for Earth
- Hugs Necklace by Lacey June Hill
The Hillsdale Free Public Library community was invited to share its creativity at a one-day exhibit called “Imagipalooza” on April 21, 2012, following the start of the Think It, Make It, Share It program in 2011.
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