Megan Nicolay of Generation T has more than scissors up her T-shirt sleeve! Here are four spring craft projects that you can do right now in time for the Easter egg hunt. Just click on each image to follow along with the video tutorials.

Star Wars week continues on the Workman blog! As we continue exploring our favorite galaxy far, far away, we have some new activities to get you in on the action.

Learn to fold your own Boba Fett by clicking here — or watch the video below as our pal Maggie takes you step by step through the folding of your favorite bounty hunter:

For other Star Wars activities (or to host a Star Wars party!), click here to print, color, and fold your own origami light saber (make one for Darth, Luke, Yoda, and Obi-Wan!) or print, color, and cut out a Yoda bookmark or two — or twelve.

Because speaking of books, don’t forget that Star Wars Reads Day — #starwarsreads — is on Saturday! We’re going to be celebrating by curling up and paging through our own Workman library of Star Wars titles including Star Wars Scanimation, Star Wars Origami, and Star Wars Fandex.

I should warn: This is a bit of a selfish blog post. Seeing as I will be starting college this fall, I have been gathering as much information as I can about classes, activities, social life, etc. Unfortunately, this means that I spend an unhealthy amount of time on College Confidential and Rate My Professor. This obsession is also why a book entitled College in a Nutskull caught my eye while I was perusing the book room a few days ago. If you’re not familiar with this book, it is essentially a compilation of hilarious factual errors and is quite simply, sublime.

As funny as this book is, I had expected a how-to book and was surprised when it turned out not to be. So I figured, why not seek how-to advice about college from Workman people? The following is a short list of great advice. You may not be in college anymore but hopefully you find this pertinent to some aspect of your life (for example, knowing how to do laundry is very important).

Some wise nuggets:

I think anyone would agree—this is sound advice. Workman people must be pretty smart!

Also recommended to me for my college transition were The College Cookbook  and The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything, which may conveniently go missing right around the time I leave Workman for school this fall…

 -Zatio (Rising Frosh)

“I couldn’t help but think that — as is the case with fresh-squeezed orange juice — [this] tonic would stand up well to a slug of vodka.” –John T. Edge, about Nancye Benson’s “Grapefruit Fizz” (from the Moxie Rx trailer, RIP) in The Truck Food Cookbook

Well, once John T. put it out there, we just couldn’t stop thinking about adding that slug of vodka. So we decided to try it, and used our BEA-weary friends in the publishing world as our guinea pigs when we served it alongside the spread of snacks at the annual Workman Open House party. Long story made short, it was a success. Adding a healthy splash of alcohol proved a worthy endeavor, and by popular demand, here’s the recipe (we’ll leave it to you to add the vodka and multiply the recipe as desired):

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Grapefruit Fizz
(Makes 2)

1 grapefruit
3 basil leaves
2 teaspoons agave nectar
Ice
2 pints soda water

Juice the grapefruit and add the basil. Pour the mixture into a blender and whir until the basil is pulverized. While the blender is running, add the agave nectar. Place ice in 2 pint glasses. Pour the grapefruit juice mixture over the ice, dividing it evenly between the 2 glasses. Top each serving with soda water, setting the remaining soda water aside for another use. Quaff.

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Happy Monday from your friends at Workman!

In anticipation of Earth Day on Sunday, we’re offering a free project  via Etsy’s How-Tuesday from forthcoming book, Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper by Kayte Terry. So before you practice the third of the three Rs (Recycle), dig through that bin and practice the second R — reuse that cardboard box by transforming it into a Modern Fete Silhouette Chandelier!

And there are plenty more where that came from… 100 more projects, to be exact. So dig into your stash of candy wrappers, wall paper scraps, junk mail, leftover wrapping paper, and old office materials — and get making! (Forget Earth Month, I have a feeling Earth Day might turn into Earth Year…)

With some editorializing, here’s a summary of Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry’s excellent advice for writers putting together nonfiction book proposals. There’s guidance regarding fiction proposals in the book as well, but nonfiction proposals are definitely the more mysterious of the two. So here goes:

1. Mind your format. Nonfiction book proposals follow a pretty standardized form—you’ll need a table of contents, an overview, a bio, an audience section, a look at the competition, a sample chapter, and more. Check out their book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, or the free chapter, below, for details.
2. Mind your voice. The sample chapter isn’t the only piece of the proposal that should speak to your writing chops. Even the nuts-and-bolts sections should sparkle.
3. Create a cohesive pitch. It’s not enough that all the pieces of your proposal be equally well-written. They should also be equally relevant to the task at hand—that of selling your book. In other words, your bio is not just your bio. It’s an answer to the question, “Why should this guy write this book?”
4. Identify your audience. It may seem obvious to you that there’s a huge untapped audience yearning for information on extreme fly-fishing, but your potential publishers might be generalists who need you to spell out the opportunity. Numbers and data are key here.
5. Show that you know your stuff. Use your proposal as a showcase for your depth of knowledge in the area you’re writing about.
6. Show that you’re not afraid of hard work. (Arielle and David don’t say this outright, but I know they agree.) A well-researched, carefully structured, and well-written proposal doesn’t just make a better case for your idea than a hot mess—it also shows publishers that they can expect to sign on with a hard-working author. These days, that’s more important than ever.
7. Leave ‘em wanting more. As Arielle and David put it, “The less information you can give and still make an airtight case, the better. Why? Because publishers live off HOPE. Hope that your book will be reviewed in top-tier newspapers and magazines. Hope that your book will speak to Terry Gross and, for that matter, that she’ll speak to it. Hope that it will quicken the pulses of buyers at bookstores. Hope that it will spread on the World Wide Web like a virus. Hope that it will beat the odds and become a big fat juicy bestseller […]. 95% of the time, publishers are more likely to shell out good money if they read a dazzling sample chapter or two to get the voice and point of view. More than that is rarely necessary. Indeed, doing too much writing can both harm your chances (if it strays from the agent’s or publisher’s idea of what the book should be) and waste your time (because the publisher or agent who takes on your project may want you to change large parts of it).” (Note: There are several exceptions to this rule, the most notable of which is memoirs.)

There are no official statistics on how many people get engaged on Valentine’s Day, but I’m going to guess it’s a whole lot.

This time last year I was planning my March 2011 wedding and working on Mindy Weiss’s newest book THE WEDDING PLANNER & ORGANIZER which was very convenient, because I had no idea what I was doing and Mindy knows everything.

I wouldn’t say that I loved planning a wedding–but Mindy’s guidance made it tolerable. And in the end, it was an awfully romantic evening.

So, all of those newly minted fiancés out there, listen to an old married lady and do yourselves a favor: let Mindy help.

(You can also download Mindy’s e-short, DREAM WEDDING ON A BUDGET, for absolutely free until February 29.)

Congrats you crazy kids.

As a publicity intern at Workman, my regular work includes putting together press kits and mailings. But every once in awhile, I get a task that’s a little more out of the ordinary! Like when I was recently asked to find a snake piñata for a Splendid Spotted Snake event.

After some brief research, I became determined to make a piñata myself. When I left work that day, I had my mind set on a large, snake-like balloon and papier-mâché piñata, which I would then paint and cover with crepe paper. Once I arrived home and consulted my mother, however, my plan quickly changed after she wisely reminded me that papier-mâché has never been my artistic medium. (To bring you up to speed,  I’ve had some scarring formative papier-mâché experiences: Picture a bespectacled third grader attempting to make a festive paper bowl with just a balloon, newspaper, glue, and a dream. Now imagine a loud balloon pop, a crumpled blob of gluey newspaper, and a newly disillusioned third grader. You get the picture.)  Not to mention, my mother was also careful to point out that the piñatas of my youth were radically unsafe (thanks, Mom), and that newer piñatas are equipped with colorful strings that, when pulled, open a secret trap door in the body of the piñata. The candy is then released into the ecstatic and, most importantly, uninjured group of waiting children. Oh, the wonders of modern piñata technology!

My very splendid, very spotted piñata!

I decided to go to Home Depot to look for a wide pipe of sorts that I could cover with a splendid spotted exterior. Luckily I found one that was lightweight and somewhat flexible. The downside: it was black and ribbed. I bought it anyway, took it home, and cut a hole for the trap door in its “belly.” To cover it, I wrapped it in a taut layer of plaster (the type used to make casts for broken bones — this can actually be found in craft supply stores). This step got rid of the ribs, giving me a splendidly smooth snake body, and covered the black exterior. For the head, I used this same plaster over a balloon (almost too close to the aforementioned bad experience for comfort) and for the tail, I wrapped the plaster over a freehand newspaper cone. Then I waited patiently for these parts to dry and attached it all with yellow duct tape.

Instead of painting it, I decided to give the snake texture by wrapping it in yellow crepe paper. I sprayed the snake with adhesive and then wrapped the snake in strips of the crepe paper.

Lest you think it was ALL about the piñata...there were lots of activities to keep kids entertained!

So now I had a yellow snake with a big hole in its belly! I crafted the spots and face out of felt, and glued them all on with tacky glue. To keep with the theme, I then filled the snake with: gummy worms (like little snakes), gold and red Mardi Gras-type necklaces, and confetti (aka flying spots).

Spots, spots, and more spots! Kids decorated their own spotted snake art.

SPOTTED at the event: Authors Betty Ann Schwartz and Alexander Wilensky!

To seal the great beast’s belly, I sewed one ribbon onto a big sheet of felt, and taped 15 or so ribbons to that same sheet. These were the trick ribbons! Only the magic ribbon would unleash gummy worm joy onto the children. So once the snake’s cavity was stuffed, I fitted the felt into the hole and my snake was complete!

After about 7 hours of crafting, a few haunting childhood memories, and a major glue meltdown, I was done! I  drove my masterpiece into the magical land of New York City, and led it into the magical offices of Workman Publishing, where my efforts were recognized with the  esteemed title of “Intern Extraordinaire”!

The Splendid Spotted Snake piñata made its grand appearance at an event at McNally Jackson in NYC on Saturday, November 5, 2011 where it was a big “hit”–or pull, as the case may be. Thanks again to everyone involved in the success of this event!

Dogs, dogs, dogs! We can’t get enough of them here. And as all dog people know, your most important responsibility is making sure your pup is in tip-top shape. After all, a healthy dog is the happiest dog! In the final installment of our family-friendly My Dog! video series, author and dog expert Michael J. Rosen takes you through a basic 60-second check-up to make sure your pooch is feeling fabulous.

Simple, right? Give it a try — and then go whip up some Liver Lover’s “Brownies” to thank your dog for being so awesome. Trust us, despite your human “eww-that-sounds-gross!” bias, your dog will love ‘em!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

We’ve already established how much we love dogs. But you know what we love most of all? Pictures of pups (either of the gorgeous or hilarious variety)! You, too?! Want to elevate your canine picture-taking game? Let’s turn once again to dog expert, and author of My Dog!, Michael J. Rosen for some picture-perfect tips.

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Got it? Now get out there and start snapping some cool canine pics!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.