Tag: crafts

Guerilla Furniture Design by Will Holman

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guerilla furniture designGuerilla Furniture Design is an innovative collection that features 35 simple, inexpensive projects that you can make from salvaged and upcycled materials — cardboard, metal, plastic, and wood.

The projects include tables, shelving units, chairs, lamps, and more, in a variety of styles. Many are stackable and easily portable, most can be made in a weekend, and all include instructions for disassembly and disposal when you’re ready to repurpose the materials.

If you’d rather make than buy, these low-budget, high-style designs are just what you’re looking for. (description from publisher)

Novel Living by Lisa Occhipinti

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novel livingIn this digital age, the fate of physical books remains in question. Even the concept of curling up with a good book conjures new images. But there remains a sensory thrill to physical books–to seeing and feeling them, to turning their pages – that makes many of us value them even more as digital reading grows in popularity.

In Novel Living, artist Lisa Occhipinti celebrates her love for physical books by presenting us with her unique ideas for collecting and displaying them, for conserving and preserving them, and for crafting with them. Guided by Occhipinti’s artful eye, you’ll be inspired to build and display collections based on your personal passions and to use books for crafting, either by deconstructing or by copying favorite elements. Amazingly, most of the projects – ranging from easy shelving to a headboard constructed of book spines to napkins composed of scans of favorite text passages from books–require no special skills or supplies. (description from publisher)

Let’s Sew Together by Rubyellen Bratcher

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lets sew togetherDon’t just sew for your kids. Sew with them!

Simple sewing techniques make craft time fun for kids and grown-ups alike in Let’s Sew Teogether, with ideas for vintage-inspired clothes, accessories, quirky home decor, cute toys, and sweet gifts designed by the mum behind the popular parenting and craft blog Cakies.

Rubyellen Bratcher has invented 30 simple projects that encourage families to spend more time together through DIY activities. This mum of four learned how to sew at her local fabric shop, but soon found that her daughters were her greatest source of inspiration. Documenting her family’s daily life and DIY adventures online, Rubyellen’s blog, Cakies, has steadily grown into a destination for parents and crafters of all ages. In her first book, she offers 30 projects for kids and grown-ups to make together, including a handpainted skirt, scribbled placemats, a robot friend, easy felt party garlands, overstuffed dollhouse pillows, a gorgeous world-map quilt, and much more. Each chapter also includes no-sew projects, educational activities, play ideas, and reading suggestions to encourage imagination and learning. (description from publisher)

A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman

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beautiful mess happy homemadeStep inside the world of Elsie and Emma, the sisters behind the décor blog A Beautiful Mess.  With tiny budgets and a crafty, can-do attitude, they overhauled each room in their first homes with DIY projects using family photos, vibrant fabrics, flea-market finds, and affordable furniture. Now, you can learn how to paint, craft, and decorate your way to a happy, bright space with distinct personality. In the same upbeat spirit and modern style found on their blog, you’ll find fresh, all-new projects including:

• An inspired geometric-pattern coffee table made of balsa wood
• A hand-lettered statement wall featuring your favorite quote
• A quick and easy electrical tape update for your refrigerator
• A set of beautifully designed serving dishes
And more!

Packed with bonus styling tips from hanging the perfect gallery wall to making mismatched furniture work, Happy Handmade Home is design inspiration for personalizing your own space. (description from publisher)

ProjectKid by Amanda Kingloff

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project kidPerfect for crafty parents who are eager to get their kids excited about DIY, ProjectKid is everything you could want in a craft book: 100(!) stylish, inventive projects; step-by-step photographs; tips for the novice crafter; easy-to-follow instructions; and a fresh, modern look.

What really sets these projects apart are the unexpected, ingenious ways Kingloff uses everyday objects and materials. (Did you ever think a body-wash bottle would make a perfect rocket ship?) And these are projects for things kids want to make – and keep – from a juice-box owl to a pirate ship to a curio cabinet for displaying all of their treasures, plus games, jewelry, and more.

Also included in the book are basic crafting lessons (such as pom-pom making and weaving) to help children of all ages build a DIY arsenal, a handy guide to must-have tools and materials, and a source directory. (description from publisher)

Handmade for the Garden by Susan Guagliumi

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handmade for the gardenThe DIY craze has moved beyond the craft room and into the garden!

Relying on easy-to-find, inexpensive, and repurposed materials, Handmade for the Garden is a treasure trove of original projects that not only make planting and growing efficient and successful but also add a personal touch to the gardenscape. Among the myriad projects in this hardworking book are mini hothouses; painted, stamped, and stenciled terracotta planters; hypertufa and cement pots and decorations; rustic and formal fencing and trellises; plant markers and stakes; and sieves and baskets.

With Handmade for the Garden to inspire them, gardeners of all skill levels will be empowered to experiment with form and function to discover creative, artful ways to personalize and beautify their gardens with handmade objects. (description from publisher)

Sweet Paul Eat & Make by Paul Lowe

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sweet paulIt began as a little blog highlighting the recipes and crafts of the Norwegian-born food and prop stylist Paul Lowe. Six years later, Sweet Paul is an online magazine followed by millions and a print quarterly sold nationwide in specialty stores. Praised by the New York Times as “a trove of seasonal delights”, it is turning heads with its easy, elegant food and style-setting aesthetic.

Divided into Morning, Brunch, Noon and Night, with color palettes to match, Sweet Paul Eat & Make includes breakfast dishes like Morning Biscuits with Cheddar, Dill and Pumkin Seeds and brunches like Smoke Salmon Hash with Scallions, Dill and Eggs. For lunch, there’s a super-quick Risotto with Asparagus and for dinner, Maple-Roasted Chicken and a stunning Norwegian specialty, The World’s Best Cake.

Rustically chic craft projects – paper flowers make out of coffee filters, a vegetable-dyed tablecloth and a trivet from wooden clothespins – will captivate even those who are all thumbs. (description from publisher)

The $50 Home Makeover by Shaunna West

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$50 home makeoverStunning and easy projects for less than $50 each!

With The $50 Home Makeover, you can finally turn your living space into your home. This inspiring book offers 75 fun and creative ideas that will help give your place the stylish, modern look that you’ve always wanted – without having to spend a fortune. Each of these imaginative ideas cost less than $50 to bring to life and will beautify your space in unexpected ways. From an Antique Door Table to Reclaimed Wood Wall Art, each crafty home makeover project includes: step-by-step instructions with full-color photographs, a key to denote how long a project takes, how much it costs, and the level of difficulty and before-and-after photos of the finished product.

With the trendy yet inexpensive projects in The $50 Home Makeover, you’ll finally get to make those big improvements that you’ve been dreaming of, all while saving hundreds of dollars! (description from publisher)

Just Us Girls by Cindy Ann Ganaden

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justusgirlsExplore and nurture your mother-daughter bond and create a keepsake that you’ll cherish forever with Just Us Girls.

This highly-illustrated craft and activity book includes 48 heartfelt, earth-friendly projects to make together. These projects include making: dolls, press books, wreaths, crowns, earrings, handmade fossils, dreamcatchers, wands, garland, and much, much more. The projects mix and explore themes of beauty, magic, and appreciation for the natural world, while moving through the seasons of the year. Many projects incorporate up-cycled materials, objects from nature, and simple home ingredients. Activities are broken up into sections by season: spring, summer, fall, and winter, providing you with a year’s worth of fun and memories. Each activity is designed to bring you closer to each other and to the world around you.

Part scrapbooking, part memory-making, Just Us Girls makes a great gift for moms, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters – women of all ages. (description from publisher)

The Print Making Book by Vanessa Mooncie

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printmaking bookImagine sending a thank you note on beautiful stationery you made yourself. Or decorating your kitchen with an imaginative print that you created. Or even accenting your bedroom with cushions that have your “stamp” of inventiveness.

The Print Making Book is a complete introduction to the art of hand printing, a technique used for creating all kinds of interesting and useful items for in and around the home. Crafters will be guided through a plethora of techniques that include relief-, screen- and mono- printing – all using tools and materials that are easy to source and use at home in your kitchen, bathroom, or garden. There are easy-to-use templates, step-by-step illustrations, and full-color photography throughout. Vanessa Mooncie’s beautiful original designs include printed greetings cards, crockery, cushions, bag, plus many more inspirational projects for fashion and home.

With 23 projects in all, covering items for the home, clothing, and accessories, The Print Making Book will show how to create artwork that is truly display-worthy. (description from publisher)