My company has a thoughtful policy to give employees a giftcard each birthday. For my birthday last month, I chose a Barnes & Noble giftcard because I’m an avid reader (although lately, more crafting than reading). While purusing the craft section, I found several great books – more than could be afforded with my freebie allotment – that made it to the wishlist.
The first is called A Greener Christmas, a perfect buy for getting started on Christmas decorations and gifts. It’s a hefty hardcover book with beautiful photos and instructions for any number of projects (some of which don’t necessarily have to be used during the holiday season) from ornaments to food gifts to garlands to plants. And, as the name suggests, all items focus on the use of natural or recycled items for a beautiful Christmas that’s good for the environment, too.
A Greener Christmas by Sheherezade Goldsmith
If you’re a big craft blog reader, you’ve probably seen many links to the new Handmade Nation book, recently released. Focusing on professional craftsters and their work, it’s a great book to inspire any creative person and, like A Greener Christmas, has lovely full-page photos.
Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design
Next up is Home Sewn for those of you who, unlike me, know how to do more than turn a sewing machine on. Actually, I’m not even sure I can do that. Still, it made me wish I knew a little bit more about it and it placed some urgency on those sewing lessons Fnur promised me. Check it out for some fun projects for around the home.
French General: Home Sewn
While all those books nearly made me salivate with their crafty goodness, the book I settled on was Remake, Restyle, Reuse by Sonia Lucano. It has absolutely gorgeous around-the-home projects that involve restyling items you already have. From updated sheet and towel designs to glass etching, dish painting, and monogramming – this book has so many options. And they all look easy and relatively inexpensive! She even includes stencils (and they are truly stunning, modern designs). I knew I had to take it home when I realized I wanted to do 90% of the projects listed.
Remake Restyle Reuse by Sonia Lucano
I haven’t started any of the projects yet (how to decide where to begin?) but I’ll be sure to update The Neatery with my progress.
