In partnership with Denton’s Literacy Awareness Month, North Central Texas College invites the community to attend a series of a free literary event on February 3, 10 – 11am at the NCTC Denton Campus. The event Lion Tales will feature a book reading of Luna, The Flower Who Waited to Bloom by author Sarah Leal, celebrating storytelling, literacy, and the power of books to inspire readers of all ages. Books available for purchase and author signing.

All events will be held in Room 212. Free parking is available in the campus garage.

In this fun workshop we will be starting with a 22x30 piece of mixed media paper and transforming it into a 5.5x7.5 mixed media art journal. We will begin with intuitive collage work then move into wet and dry medium using acrylic inks and water soluble graphite. Finally, we will magically transform this large paper into a 16 page journal ready for more of your creativity. These books are great for drawing, painting and writing.

There is usually time in the workshop to make a second smaller book as well!

All Materials are supplied for this workshop.

Join us for First Friday on Friday, February 6th from 5-8pm This is a fun, come-and-go evening of creativity, community, and late-night shopping.

This Month’s Craft:
We’ll be recreating our favorite book covers for charms, magnets, or pins! We will draw or trace our favorite covers onto shrinky dink paper, shrink them down to charm size, and finish them with the finding of your choice! We will have all the materials needed and supplies to make a bag charm, magnet, or pin.

What to Expect:

• A craft activity for all ages

• 10% off all in-store purchases during the event

• Other nearby businesses open late, so you can enjoy the whole neighborhood

No sign-up or checkout is required (and please do not complete checkout on our website for this event).

Simply stop by anytime between 5–8pm and join the fun. Bring friends, make something beautiful, and enjoy an evening in our creative community.

Friends of the Denton Public Libraries

**Information for our first-ever Members Only Friday Afternoon Preview can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2056430358539273/**

You are invited to the first Big Book Sale of 2026, hosted by the Friends of the Denton Public Libraries on Saturday, February 7th at the North Branch Library located at 3020 N. Locust Street.

**Admission is $1 or FREE for current members of the Friends of the Denton Public Libraries**

The sale hours are 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM, however all current Friends of the Denton Public Libraries members will be allowed to get in earlier starting at 9:30 AM.

**We now accept cash, local check, Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards, Google Pay and Apple Wallet. We no longer accept Paypal.**

Most hard cover books will be priced at $2, and most paperback books will be only $1 each. Our Friends book bag can also be purchased for $20 at the sale and may be filled for free. These book bags can also be used for our future book sales and refilled for only $10 each time.

**Important Note for Book Vendors/Resellers:**
Due to space limitations, book vendors/resellers with scanners will ONLY be allowed into the book sale starting at 2pm, regardless of their membership status. And as always, for everyone's safety, book carts will not be allowed in the sale room but can be kept in the lobby.

Proceeds from this sale go to the Denton Public Libraries and will be used to cover the costs of library programs, materials, and equipment that otherwise would not be funded.

Please mark your calendars to visit our book sale on Saturday, February 7th where you can enjoy the many bargains and support our Denton Public Libraries. We hope to see you there!

Create original watercolor post cards and bring back the art of the handwritten love letter. A simple, meaningful way to show someone you care when you take the time to sit, to think, to write. Participants will create three to four original watercolor postcards using watercolor paints, masking and stencil techniques. Finished post cards can be completed with hand written sentiments to be sent in the mail. No experience necessary. All materials provided, including postage!

Instructor Bio: Linda is a retired visual art teacher who works primarily in watercolor and fused glass. After receiving a BA in Art Education from the University of Cincinnati in 1992 Linda spent the next thirty years teaching workshops, art camps and visual art in public schools in Pinellas County Florida. She also organized and worked with local artists over the years to collaborate on many permanent art murals, installations and projects in her community. She has always been intrigued with the effect of sunlight on objects and surfaces in nature. This curiosity is often the inspiration for subject matter in her paintings and experiments in fused glass that play with color, light, and textures.

More Info and Register here

In this workshop we will create a journal for writing, drawing, painting, documenting travel or anything you like! We will use vintage book covers and various papers to construct the book and learn about the structure of a book. (Signatures, spine, binding, end papers) Students will learn to stitch the binding together with waxed twine and decorate using beads and charms. We will also create a clasp to hold in all your treasures.

All materials included- book covers, papers, twine, canvas, beads/charms, glue, awl, bone folder.

More Info and Register here

Join TWU for a cup of tea and discover practical tips on creating delicious budget-friendly plant-based meals that make hosting and meal prep easier and healthier.

Shadan will share her approaches to simple ingredient swaps and efficient meal planning that save both time and money!

Topics:
• Healthy, affordable plant-based meals
• Meal prep ideas
• Hosting tips/tricks

Author: Shadon Kishi Price
Author of Cookbook Club: Plant-based Recipes for Entertaining

Feb. 10 - 2pm
Library Rm 101

In this fun workshop we will be starting with a 22x30 piece of mixed media paper and transforming it into a 5.5x7.5 mixed media art journal. We will begin with intuitive collage work then move into wet and dry medium using acrylic inks and water soluble graphite. Finally, we will magically transform this large paper into a 16 page journal ready for more of your creativity. These books are great for drawing, painting and writing.

There is usually time in the workshop to make a second smaller book as well!

All Materials are supplied for this workshop.

More Info and Register here

Discover the art of paper making in a hands-on workshop that brings history to life! Prof. Chaguinian will introduce you to the fascinating origins of paper and the various techniques used for paper-making through out the ages. Afterwards, you can experience the process yourself as you create your own handmade sheets.

Christophe Chaguinian is a professor of French at UNT. He specializes in medieval literature and manuscripts. Soline d’Haussy was bookbinder and conservator in a previous life. She now teaches ceramics at a small private school in Denton.

www.sol-ceramics.com

In this workshop we will create a journal for writing, drawing, painting, documenting travel or anything you like! We will use vintage book covers and various papers to construct the book and learn about the structure of a book. (Signatures, spine, binding, end papers) Students will learn to stitch the binding together with waxed twine and decorate using beads and charms. We will also create a clasp to hold in all your treasures.

All materials included- book covers, papers, twine, canvas, beads/charms, glue, awl, bone folder.

More Info and Register here

✨ LIGHTS OUT TO LITERACY ✨

A BYOB paint-for-a-cause event you won’t want to miss 🎨📚

Join us Sunday, February 15th from 2:00–4:00 PM for a special collaboration with Painting With a Twist Denton! Choose from one of the three Into Darkness Series cover designs to paint while supporting literacy in our community.

🖤 A percentage of proceeds will benefit Denton READiculous Book Palooza, supporting local literacy initiatives, bookstores, and libraries 📚💖

🎟️ Ticket Required
Your ticket includes:
✔️ Your spot in the Painting With a Twist guided paint class
✔️ Your choice of one featured design
✔️ An officially licensed Lights Out Fred Bag

🍷 BYOB (per Painting With a Twist guidelines)
⏰ Check-in begins at 1:45 PM | Painting starts promptly at 2:00 PM
🔞 18+ event

📍 Painting With a Twist Denton
📍 208 W Oak St, Denton, TX

Snag tickets on our website
www.theplottwistbookbar.com/events

Event Disclaimers & Policies:
•All tickets are non-refundable
•Events are 18+ unless otherwise stated
•One ticket = one person

Learn about the magic of making YOUR unique voice heard through ZINES! What is a zine? Pronounced ‘ZEEN’ like the end of ‘magazine,’ they are tiny booklets you can create your own stories in! We’ll go over the 8-page mini zine folding technique using only one sheet of paper. You’ll be self-publishing in no time with Orion’s help over the course of this 3-hour workshop for all ages, kids especially welcome! All supplies are provided, including simple printer paper, scissors, markers, stickers, scraps and more. Bring yourself and a friend to join the zine revolution! This month, the zine making workshop will focus on how zines can change the world around us in positive ways. You can use zines to start conversations about difficult topics, and help the world become a better, kinder place! Join us in the zine revolution! All materials are included besides 10 copies of your zine scanned and printed for you to trade and share. 

Orion Fern is the two-time award-winning artist of ‘THE FOX WHO BECAME A GIRL’ a queer fairy tale comic written by Chloe Bear that has been supported by The Greater Denton Arts Council and the Comics Advocacy Group. As a form of ‘ARTivism’ (a term coined by his art hero Keith Haring), he runs Ovaettr Art & Zine Distro writing and drawing lots of informative zines that help the world! Orion believes in the act of self-publishing as a path to liberating the self and he is eager to share how to do that with you! 

More Info and Register here

Join North Central Texas College for the event Paws and Pages on February 17 from 10:00–11:00 AM at the NCTC Denton Campus. This engaging literacy event invites participants to enjoy coloring and story pages featuring Leo the Lion, encouraging creativity and early literacy in a fun, relaxed setting.

The event will be held in Room 212, with free parking available in the campus garage.

Fictive Art typically refers to visual artworks that have a supporting fictional narrative in addition to their physical aspects. This seminar will give an overview of Fictive Art through examples of James’ two major fictive art projects along with inspirations and examples of work by other fictive artists. Attendees will also be guided through a quick exercise to imagine their own possible fictive art project...

Students can just bring something to record their ideas (pad of paper, tablet, laptop, sketchbook, etc.)

More Info and Register here

Do you want to write poetry but just can’t find the words? Try blackout poetry instead! Blackout poetry is when you take existing words in a text and black out most of them, leaving some words visible to form a poem. The text can be anything from a receipt or a book page to a newspaper article and you can black out words with markers, pens or colored pencils. No matter what your skill level is, blackout poetry is for everyone!

Dr. Jeanette Laredo will give a talk on the history of blackout poetry and demonstrate different techniques for obscuring words. This will lead into a workshop where participants will use the following provided supplies to create their own poems:

Pages from books, magazines, newspapers and other texts

Markers, pens, colored pencils

Rulers, stencils, and washi tape

You’ll leave this workshop with a one-of-a-kind poem and a new skill to continue developing your poetry practice.

Dr. Jeanette Laredo received her Ph.D. in English from the University of North Texas where she studied monsters and Gothic literature. She is also a mixed-media artist known for her large-scale sculptures of creatures made from garbage.

More Info and Register here

Celebrate literacy at North Central Texas College at Lion’s Shelf with an evening book reading and review of the adolescent fiction novel Steelwing by Matthew Rollins on February 19, 6:00–8:00 PM at the NCTC Denton Campus. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the book, explore its themes, and engage with the author.

The event will be held in Room 212, with free parking available in the campus garage.

What could be more appropriate than having your own bookmark made from pages of book?!? Thurmanite is a layered material made of recycled paper and plant-based resin, invented by James. In this workshop, premade blanks of Thurmanite will be shaped and polished by the students to create their own unique bookmarks.

All tools and materials are provided. Just bring a playful creative spirit!

More Info and Register here

Learn how to make your very own handmade notebook with local artist Syd Webb of 4 Acre Press! This workshop is perfect for beginners—no experience with bookbinding required.

Syd will teach you a simple, beautiful technique called stab binding, where you sew the pages together along the spine to create a sturdy, decorative book. You’ll work with loose sheets of high-quality 100% cotton paper and a folded cover, then stitch everything together using a five-hole pattern.

By the end of class, you’ll leave with a handcrafted, elegant notebook (about 4.5” x 6.5”) that you can use as a journal, sketchbook, gift, or keepsake.

What students receive:

• Materials to leave class with a completed book. Syd will provide a variety of colored linen thread and decorative papers for students to choose from.

• Tools to use during class (tools are not available to take home)

• Guided assistance from our instructor

• 2 glasses of wine, sparkling cider (non-alcoholic), or sparkling water to enjoy as you create

• 10% off coupon to use in our store!

This workshop takes place in our sunny Denton storefront located at 118 E McKinney St, Denton, TX.

If you are signing up 2 or more people, get 10% off with the code LEARNTOGETHER at checkout!

Questions? Visit ourWorkshop FAQS page or email savannah@dimehandmade.com anytime.

Meet Your Instructor:

Syd Webb is the artist behind 4 Acre Press, a local printmaking studio specializing in letterpress, screenprint and bookbinding. Since earning her MFA, she has worked as an adjunct professor and taught many studio workshops. Syd loves all things print and paper and finds joy in teaching.

Get your tickets here

What could be more appropriate than having your own bookmark made from pages of book?!? Thurmanite is a layered material made of recycled paper and plant-based resin, invented by James. In this workshop, premade blanks of Thurmanite will be shaped and polished by the students to create their own unique bookmarks.

All tools and materials are provided. Just bring a playful creative spirit!

What could be more appropriate than having your own bookmark made from pages of book?!? Thurmanite is a layered material made of recycled paper and plant-based resin, invented by James. In this workshop, premade blanks of Thurmanite will be shaped and polished by the students to create their own unique bookmarks.

All tools and materials are provided. Just bring a playful creative spirit!

Brontë Evening Tea Party - inspired by Wuthering Heights

Join us for a cozy evening filled with tea, treats, and a touch of Wuthering Heights magic!

Join us for a Brontë Evening Tea Party - inspired by Wuthering Heights!

📅 Event Date: February 27, 2026 at 6:00 PM (Central Time)

📍 Venue: 221 W Oak St

Presented by Three Roses Tea Room & Gifts & Denton's READdiculous Book Palooza! A portion of tickets sales are being donated to the non-profit Friends with Benefits Denton.

Come immerse yourself in the world of Emily Brontë's classic novel with a delightful evening filled with tea, scones, and lively discussions about love, betrayal, and revenge. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just curious, this event promises to be a cozy and engaging experience. Don't miss out!

Other Details!

• Traditional sit down tea service

• Open seating

• MENU - 5 tea sandwiches, 2 scones with clotted cream & jam, 4 pastries, 2 hot teas, & 1 mocktail

• Dressing up is HIGHLY encouraged

• No gluten free option available

What could be more appropriate than having your own bookmark made from pages of book?!? Thurmanite is a layered material made of recycled paper and plant-based resin, invented by James. In this workshop, premade blanks of Thurmanite will be shaped and polished by the students to create their own unique bookmarks.

All tools and materials are provided. Just bring a playful creative spirit!