Life is very fast-paced and can get quite overwhelming with busy schedules. It seems like no one takes the time to sit back, take a deep breath and create something! I am talking about making good-old fashioned crafts. What ever happened to those days? When my children were little, I was very much into tole painting, sewing and making pretty hand-crafted items to decorate my home. I miss those days. Everything nowadays is too hi-tech. Everyone has their eyes glued to their phone screen, and families no longer interact with one another.
I have made a New Year’s resolution (one of many) to learn a new skill or two. I really want to get back into crafting. I want to have at least one night per month where my family sits around the kitchen table and have a crafting night. I think I am on the right track thanks to Dover Publications. They have a book for just about anything you could possibly want to learn how to make. The end result is something that will have bonded your family closer together. You can choose to sell the items for a possible family vacation, or you can proudly give them as gifts. The possibilities are endless.
I selected several of my favorite crafting books from Dover Publications that I would like to share with you to hopefully spark your creativity!
The Art of Stone Painting: 30 Designs to Spark Your Creativity
Transform ordinary stones into colorful works of art with this easy-to-follow guide. Popular stone artist F. Sehnaz Bac, a seasoned archaeologist who markets her painted Sassi dell’Adriatico (Stones of the Adriatic) on Etsy, presents step-by-step instructions for creating 30 fantastic designs. Full-color photographs accompany directions for painting themes that range from trees, flowers, and animals to mandalas, geometric patterns, holiday motifs, and more.
Starting with the basics — including finding and choosing stones as well as tools and materials — the guide offers a variety of techniques, including painting stones with colors or inks, painting on natural stone, and sealing the finished work. Projects range from simple to advanced and include suggestions for indoor and outdoor display, as well as instructions on how to style wearable objects such as pendants. A complete selection of templates provides motifs for every project as well as ample inspiration for developing your own designs.
Contemporary rather than traditional, these easy-to-make wreaths look great in any setting or season — and you can make them in a day. A mix of materials, including paper and fabric, offer a pleasing variety of colors and textures. Even if you’ve never made a wreath before and have no previous crafting experience, you’ll find it a snap to create these simple but striking-looking ornaments. They make lovely gifts, too.
Each book in Dover’s Make in a Day series presents 15 projects with illustrated step-by-step instructions. The beginner-friendly projects are ideal for anyone wishing to whip up something simple but special. Creating your own wreaths adds a personal touch and a dash of handmade charm. Supplies are easy to obtain and readily available at major craft stores.
Victoria Hudgins is the mastermind behind the crafting website “A Subtle Revelry” and believes that crafts inject a bright dose of fun into an ordinary situation.
The Art of Leather Burning: Step-by-Step Pyrography Techniques
Legendary wood and leather crafter Lora Susan Irish focuses solely on leather pyrography techniques and projects for the first time in this book. She presents instructions for a dozen easy-to-make projects, including jewelry, wallets, journals, and belts, in a spectacular array of patterns ranging from American West and Celtic motifs to wildlife and tattoo-inspired imagery. The completed projects are perfect for gift-giving or personal use.
Moving from tools and supplies to pyrography and leather crafting basics; pattern techniques; leather selection; and the projects themselves, the book includes detailed, step-by-step directions with full-color photographs. Sidebars and tips offer helpful hints. This invaluable guide is ideal for experienced crafters as well as those who wish to acquire leather-crafting and leather-burning skills.
Easy to Make Doll House Quilts
Add the perfect “Home, Sweet Home” touch to your dollhouse with these easy-to-make miniature quilts. This expert guide offers step-by-step instructions for foundation piecing, a machine-sewing technique widely used in the late nineteenth century and revived by today’s busy quiltmakers. With foundation piecing, you don’t need to handle tiny patches of fabric, so creating your 1″-scale masterpiece is remarkably easy.
Ten gorgeous patterns appear here: Watercolor Weaves (a variation of the ever-popular Log Cabin pattern), Southwestern Skies, Midnight Stars, Springtime T’s, and six others. Blocks range from 1″ to 1 1/4″ square. Helpful layouts will assist you in determining color values and placement.
Even beginners can follow these simple instructions, and experienced quilters will savor the opportunity to try some lovely variations in a miniature format.
The Art and Craft of Handmade Books
This innovative approach to bookbinding demonstrates an array of creative techniques that elevate handmade books into extraordinary works of art. Easy-to-follow, well-illustrated directions for more than 25 patterns explain how to make seven different kinds of books with pop-up panels and pages that “explode” from the spine as well as slipcases, tassels, and other distinctive features.
The guide begins with instructions for a simple accordion-fold book. Successive projects build on methods readers have already mastered and introduce new skills, including the pamphlet stitch, ideal for photo albums and scrapbooks; tacket binding, the versatile stitch of medieval Europe; and the Coptic stitch, employed by Christians of ancient Egypt. A full-color photo gallery, with contributions from more than 60 artists, offers further inspiration for enhancing and personalizing projects by using alphabets, bestiaries, botanical illustrations, and other designs. The author includes a glossary of terms as well as information on materials and tools. “Well-written, imaginative — and just plain fun to read. I learned a lot about ways to make books that I never dreamed of. Ms. Laplantz is a creative genius.” — Bassocantor
The museum-quality dollhouse furnishings of noted designer Shep Stadtman have figured prominently in the miniatures industry for many years. Now this accomplished craftswoman shares her experience and expertise with you, showing you how to make your own high-quality furnishings.
Dollhouse Furnishings for the Bedroomand Bath offers miniature enthusiasts easy-to-follow instructions in the techniques of woodworking and sewing for small projects — plus clear step-by-step directions, patterns, and diagrams for 44 exquisite miniature projects in styles ranging from country to contemporary. Learn to make beds, bedding, quilts, pillows, night stands, draperies, shower curtains, covered headboards, braided rugs, towels, and much more.
In addition, you’ll find directions for creating five complete bedroom ensembles and two complete bathrooms — each with a distinctive décor of its own.
No dollhouse is truly complete without a properly embellished suite of bedrooms and a tastefully appointed bath. Dollhouse enthusiasts will find in this marvelous book all the information they need to turn a miniature house into a breathtaking showpiece.
Expert toymaker Ted Menten shows how to make 14 cute little critters, each held together by snaps. The snappy approach allows mixing and matching of heads, arms, and legs—and it assists with attaching a variety of charming accessories, including such seasonal items as valentines, Christmas stockings, and Easter eggs. Well-illustrated, simple instructions make assembling these lovable toys a snap!
Beginners and veteran crafters alike will love creating these creatures, which include a puppy, lion, tiger, lamb, panda, squirrel, elephant, and other animals. Nothing expresses affection like a handcrafted present, and these adorable plush toys make wonderful, one-of-a-kind gifts.
Little princesses will adore the delicious products of this how-to book, which features 24 jewelry-making projects. Easy instructions and dozens of illustrations show how to transform pretzels, gumdrops, and other candies into radical rings and wonderful wands, princess pins and heavenly headbands, knockout necklaces and excellent earrings, and beautiful bracelets and glamorous glasses.
Abstract Design and How to Create it
Students, designers, and craftspeople who want to create their own abstract patterns and designs will find this profusely illustrated guide one of the best books available on the subject. After an introductory chapter dealing with the geometric basis of design, the author goes on to discuss implements and their use (T-square, compass, dividers, ruling pen, etc.), borders, textile patterns, nature study, and treatment.
Over 380 illustrations include many diagrams, designs for title pages, border patterns, allover patterns, textile patterns, and historical examples from an extraordinary number of cultures and periods: Assyrian stone carvings, Greek and Roman jewelry, 18th-century English silverwork, and more. Thorough and comprehensive, Abstract Design and How to Create It will be an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to learn the principles and techniques of creating non-representative designs.
Transform simple balls and coils of polymer clay into fabulous wearable art! Just follow these full-color, step-by-step photos and clear directions to create more than 40 whimsical jewelry projects plus 10 types of beads. Playful possibilities include tempting food charms (cupcake, burger, and other favorite snacks); cute critter earrings and pendants (butterfly, dog, frog, penguin, and more); plus other fashionable tiny treasures.
Projects are graded according to level of difficulty, and each comes with a list of materials consisting of colored clay and common household products. Instructions feature numbers that correspond to color photos of easy-to-follow examples. Crafters of all ages will love these fun-filled projects and their charming results, which make great keepsakes and unique gifts.
“It’s just an excellent book and so colorfully illustrated book with wonderful jewelry projects to craft up in clay. I would recommend this book for clay and jewelry lovers, it’s perfect for everyone and so simple to create!
Kites for Everyone; How to Make and Fly Them
The most influential kitemaker you never heard of.” — American Kite. This thorough guide by an expert kitemaker includes easy-to-follow, illustrated instructions for creating and flying more than fifty kites. An easy and comprehensive introduction for anyone interested in these amazing flyers, the book opens with the history and science of kites, followed by a section on kite construction and flying. Organized according to kite types, Greger’s book includes chapters on everything from simple bag kites to Vietnamese, Snake, Dutch, Dragon, Bullet, Delta, and Flowform flyers. She even tells how to make windsocks and toy parachutes!
The book is a great aid for classroom teachers, camp counselors, and parents, offering practical suggestions on everything from setting up a workspace and observing safety rules to launching the kites and bringing them in. ” Kites for Everyone is like having a veteran kite maker in the classroom,” says Science and Children.
Oh, the quality time you will spend with your loved ones as you embark upon the adventure of crafting together. The memories you will make will be immortalized in the crafts you create!
Giveaway
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For more information, or to discover the perfect crafting books for your family, go to: https://store.doverpublications.com/
* Product received. All opinions are my own.
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