Book Review- Origami Flowers Super Pack and Origami Boxes Super Pack

My origami loving heart is just thrilled with these books/kits.

They are both by Maria Noble, who also wrote How To Make 100 Paper Flowers (read my review here)

The books have a double handful of projects each. The flowers book is a little more difficult than the boxes book, and some of the projects do involve cutting and/or gluing.

They also come with HUNDREDS of sheets of paper in different patterns with colored backs. So you can choose a plain color to accent a pattern in a model that requires 2 sheets of paper. Like using a solid base for a lidded box, and a pretty pattern for the lid. Of course, I'm wild for patterns so I'm mostly pattern side out. That's okay too, because a lot of them coordinate very nicely. There are over 200 papers in each set, and different patterns for each set.

The paper is a bit heavier than traditional origami paper, but it holds folds well and stands up to quite a bit of abuse. Unfortunately, taking a picture of the tulip I made, it did not hold up to be dropped twice. Eek! So my tulip looks a little crushed here. That's my own fault!

The projects are easy to follow, the directions aren't in traditional format with symbols, they are carefully explained step by step with very clear photos. 

My favorite of the two books is the box book because I really like boxes. It has my favorite- a traditional masu style box, with a divider.The boxes are all very functional and decorative, so they make a lovely way to package a small gift. 

More advanced folders might prefer more challenging projects, but for casual folders and beginning folders, this is a great set. The inclusion of so much paper to work with makes it a wonderful deal, 

Check out Maria Noble's webpage- St. Jude's Creations . 

Available at Amazon and other booksellers. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Crocheter's Skill-Building Workshop

The Crocheter's Skill-Building Workshop is a fairly comprehensive book aimed at beginners, advanced beginners and intermediate crocheters, as well as crocheters that have worked off written patterns and are ready to start designing or adapting patterns to fit their own style.

Full color photos with step by step instructions that are well written make it easy to follow, and the stitch patterns are in both international crochet graphs and American style text patterns.

It starts with a review of the absolute basics, but also shows variations on those basics. For example, most beginning crochet books don't cover using a long chain instead of a turning chain to start a row for example. This one does, and shows how it works and explains the pros and cons of each method for starting a row. It also covers extended stitches and how to join in colors.

Then it gets into various stitches, including specialty stitches like loop and knot stitches. Again the photographs and instructions are very clear. I've always had an issue with knot stitches, and these instructions taught me how to do them.

A chapter on shaping and construction shows how stitches build and how to increase and decrease neatly. It also covers how to check gauge and why that's so important. Another chapter covers crocheting in the round using finished rounds, spirals and how to taper a spiral done with taller stitches.

Advanced shaping covers all those edges- to create sharp darts, smooth sleeves and other details found in well-crafted clothing. It explains how to shape with textured or openwork stitch patterns. It covers internal shaping as well in pattern.

Textured stitches are where crochet gets really awesome for me. It's the difference between boring and interesting for projects I make for my monochrome loving husband. A full chapter covers things like popcorn, cables, crocodile stitch and crocheted ribbing.

Color crochet has the standards like stranded crochet and color checks, but it also has some pretty spike stitch techniques and an easy 2-color diamond that's a lot of fun to stitch.

Finishing techniques is seams, blocking and everything you need to do to put it all together and finish it.

After that, there are a few projects so you can practice the skills learned. Textured stitches, internal shaping and ribbing are used in projects like a slouchy hat or a star stitch cowl.

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(psst! Right now this book is a fantastic deal in Kindle format!)



Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Christmas Crochet- giveaway, review and blog tour!

It's the season to start really getting ready for Christmas. Edie Eckman, the author of some of my favorite crochet books* has written a wonderful collection of patterns to start decorating. Christmas Crochet for Hearth, Home and Tree is full of easy to accomplish, quick stitched patterns that look good and fit the season perfectly.

My favorite kind of crochet books have both written instructions and international crochet diagrams. This one has both. The written instructions are easy to follow, and the diagrams are clear, and easy to read. The patterns are good for all levels. For people who have been crocheting for a long time, things like the snowy looking 3 dimensional tree decorations will work up in an evening, and putting together enough socks and mittens for a sweet, homey advent calender can be done in a week of evenings. For beginners, they can get practice in following diagrams and simple shaping techniques using worsted weight yarns and simple stitches.

My son is just learning to crochet using another book from Storey, and he's going to help me make the Advent calender.

There are some wonderful Christmas stockings in here as well, and they are also made of worsted weight yarn. You'll find a pattern for everyone in your family so they can all have a different handmade stocking that suits their personality. Bright stripes, polka dots, a complex looking peppermint colored stocking done in seed stitch, some gorgeous single color stockings that use embellishments or texture for interest, and my favorite- the flame stitch stocking which has texture and great color work.

The Christmas tree ornaments are great. My favorite are the felted ornaments. They are worked in motifs and make a great take along project and a good project for beginners since felting is so forgiving. The little birds are another favorite, folksy and simply too cute for words.

The styles are on trend for a homey, comfortable Christmas. Bright colors and easy to find yarn are a winner.

I made one of the snowflake motifs from one of the stockings in thread to decorate a simple headband /bookmark made using 1/8th blue elastic and a button center.

I've been so busy working on a big project, doing some of the small and quick projects from this book is very relaxing.

Storey Publishing gave me a copy of this book to review, but will also give one of you a copy! USA only. Comment on this blog post with your crochet decorating plans for the season to enter or click the Ravelry link below and comment on this blog post with your favorite project. On Monday, November 17th, I'll put all the names in a stocking and let my daughter draw one winner to receive a copy. Don't forget to include some sort of contact information on the comment. Ravelry name, Facebook name or email address.

You can also check out the rest of this blog tour in the next couple of weeks to see projects from the book and get more chances to enter and win a copy!

Check out this book on Ravelry!

Facebook: Edie Eckman and Storey Publishing

Twitter: @EdieEckman and @StoreyPub

Instagram: @StoreyPub

3-Nov Don't Eat the Paste

4-Nov Moogly

5-Nov Liberty's Yarn

7-Nov Rambling Designs

10-Nov Plus 3 Crochet

11-Nov Crochet Dynamite

12-Nov Jenn Likes Yarn

13-Nov Crochet Nirvana

14-Nov Yarning4aSmile

Book Review- Effortless Bento

Wow. Seriously, just WOW. This cookbook is my favorite new cookbook for the year.

It's released by Vertical Inc., so as you can guess, it's a carefully edited English edition of a Japanese book. So this is the real thing. The bentos aren't cute, this isn't a how to make cartoon characters out of carrots, nori and rice cookbook. There isn't a hot dog octopus in the whole thing. The focus is attractive and delicious food that can be prepared ahead to pack into a lunch box and the recipes are just as appropriate for adults as for children. These are the lunches you pack to make your co-workers jealous, and to give you a good reason not to skip lunch.

So starting at the beginning, there is a very good overview of how to safely pack lunches so you don't risk giving yourself a case of food poisoning. It talks about the different kinds of bento boxes, how to keep things cool, and how to pack the lunches so everything is at the optimum temperature.

Then the recipes. 300 of them! Now, I know that some recipes aren't going to appeal to everyone. For example, my husband won't eat squid. My son will. My daughter is hit and miss with nori, and my son eats it toasted instead of chips. Well, actually I think every single recipe in this book is something my son would eat. He loves Japanese food. This cookbook has a lot of tasty options for Americanized tastes. You cook a certain number of servings ahead of time, and freeze or refrigerate them so packing lunch is fast.

Some of the ingredients can be tricky to find if you don't live in an area with great markets but a lot of the recipes are a lot more accessible. So you might not be able to find fishcake and lotus root- but pork cutlets and panko crumbs are easy to find. Some recipes you can make substitutes. Like if you can't find kabocha in your area, substitute butternut squash. The cooking methods are easy to learn.

The truth is, as much as I'm loving the recipes, the book is worth it for the tips, hints, and quick recipes sections which include furikake (rice seasoning), pickles, vegetables, instant soups and a nice collection of onigiri (rice balls) recipes.

I'm loving this cookbook, and happily recommend it.
Like Vertical Inc on Facebook to find out more about the cookbooks, craft books and manga they publish!


Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Travel Origami

I love functional origami, and paper crafting with unexpected materials. So this book is a perfect fit for my interests, and hopefully for yours as well.

The projects are for novice to advanced beginner folders. They are fairly quick with some modular designs and some single sheet designs which use materials like paper money, postcards, maps and comic books. Because the paper styles are adaptable and sourced from things you can find easily, you could also use glossy magazines or sometimes newspapers.

The models are diagrammed in a modified traditional style and laid out right to left with a clear back and front of the paper done in bright colors that's easy to see and read. The guide to the folds is clear and easy to follow which makes it good for novices.

The models themselves are mostly functional. Lots of wearable projects like rings, a bracelet and a necklace. The suggested papers are just that- suggestions. You can cut any paper to fit the dimensions which are clearly stated.

There are picture frames, little dishes to hold small things in, envelopes, gift wrap bag and decorative items like the modular postcard star on the cover. My favorite project is the modular money bowl which is a cute bowl with feet. It does require adhesion so you can just use a dollar as a pattern on a different type of paper to make it if you'd like.

I love the idea of saving your memorabilia in a way that it can be used and displayed daily, and this book is a way to do that.

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Not related to this wonderful book- Don't Eat the Paste looks like it's going to reach 5 MILLION page views this month. So I got some coins made up to celebrate.

I had them made by Gainsville Mint, and recommend them if you ever want things like this made. They were easy to work with, my original art include the logo heart and the ring with my URL in it using the same font that's in my header. They put in the create it text and the quote on the front which reads "Ubicumque homo est, ibi beneficio locus est. - Seneca", translated Ubicumque homo est, ibi beneficio locus est means "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness" 

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Flower Origami Book Reviews

I'm reviewing 2 books today because I'm backlogged and they are both pretty great books with a couple things in common.
They each have step by step diagrams for folding flowers. One is a kit with instructions for more traditional, stylized flowers including some modular designs. The other is a book with lots of instructions for making fairly realistic flowers and stems to create paper/origami ikebana. Both books come with dvd instruction!
Books provided by Tuttle Publishing- check them out on Facebook!!

So let's get started-

This kit has paper, a dvd and a book full of traditional style flowers. The paper is a standard kami paper, brightly colored on one side, smooth, thin, and easy to fold. The book diagrams are in standard origami notation, but have instructions in English under each step to clarify the steps. The dvd is very well done, with the focus on the folding and brightly lit.

The models are a mix of fairly simple one page models like the lily, more complex models like a rose, and modular models. There are also a few leaf models and instructions for adding calyxes and stems to the flowers for displays or gifts.

I'm rose impaired, and A Rose for Irene is a lovely, complex model with a lot of layers. Trying it just from the book, I messed up a couple steps. So I tried the dvd. Just delightful. Each step was explained, and using it in conjunction with the book, it all made sense. It was like having a private class in how to fold that rose. I tried a few other models using the book and dvd together and it helped out considerably for fitting in the last piece of a modular flower. The lily model, as shown on the DVD actually showed me a faster way to fold it than I've been doing for the last several years.

If you're more than a casual folder- this kit may be too basic for you but I'd strongly recommend it to beginning folders. The video instructions are well explained, and in conjunction with the book will teach you how to do origami. The models are well chosen too. The flowers can be use as ornaments or gifts.

Ikebana is the art of flower arranging. Japanese flower arrangements are based on form, Instead of a bouquet of bright flowers all together, it's an elegant, minimalist arrangement based on a triangle of elements that draw the eye to the shape, form and feeling. It's a lot like sculpture with flowers.

This book and video teach you how to create more realistic flower form to use in your long lasting paper arrangements. Everything in the arrangements is made with paper. This method doesn't use floral wire or tape. You'll need different kinds of paper, glue and paint. It's a very comprehensive book. He covers materials, how to choose and cut paper, how to find the grain of the paper and how to paint it. The models themselves are based around some common shapes and forms with enough difference to make different kinds of flowers and leaves. The flowers have enough layers to handle a fair amount of sculpting.

The branches and stems are done using makigami, which is a rolled paper form that's really pretty simple once you've gotten the hang of it. That uses newspaper instead of more expensive paper, and a solution that's inexpensive to make so you can practice until you have the technique down.

There are even instructions for making a rock base from newspaper for your arrangements!

The video is very well done. The author is clearly enthused, and some parts he explains while looking into the camera and there are displays of ikebana hanging on the wall behind him so you can see the forms. For the folds, it's focused in on his hands and the paper. Some of the folding is more complex, but easy to understand when you see it done.

So here's the part that made me really happy with this video- my family watched it with me. Not just "in the room while I watched" but actually watched it. We are all at different levels of folding ability, so parts that I grasped quickly needed to be paused and played again for some of them, but that could be done. These are projects that my whole family can enjoy.

Because of the complexity of some of the flowers, I'd recommend this to people who have some experience with origami and are comfortable with the traditional, simple models. Advanced beginners will find it inspiring and probably get hooked on it.




Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book review- One Minute Paper Airplanes

This book and kit includes a book which has a good amount of information about making and launching paper airplanes, how to trouble shoot to get them to fly well and a bit about the dynamics of gliding flight in a fun way.

The include planes are printed in bright, smooth color on lightweight card stock, and can be popped out easily. They are not pre-scored, so you'll have to fold them yourself. Following the instructions in the book it's very easy. The book recommends using a ruler to fold, and I used a thin metal ruler and it made the straight folds. After doing the folds, I burnished them with a craft stick for very sharp folds, some parts are multilayered. There was an issue on the punch out of one of them where not all of the little V shaped areas to create the launching groove were punched, but a quick nip with small scissors fixed that. You can use either a stapler or glue to assemble them, but they are designed to be assembled using a stapler. Little lines indicate where the staples go.

The planes are all different shapes and themes. Some are very simple, some are a bit more complicated and might take longer than a minute to make. The big fun is in launching them. All the planes are designed to be launched using a rubber band launcher. You give the plane a light test throw which won't send it more than 10 feet to see if you need to adjust anything- tips in the book tell you how to adjust for drag and various other issues. After you have it ready, take it somewhere you have room and let it fly with the launcher!

So it's a bit of education, and a lot of fun. You get to make the planes, and some people will be inspired to design their own after trying the planes in the book. Then you get to launch them and see how far the different models fly and how well they fly.

My son and I had a lot of fun making and launching planes. It's a fun paper craft kit, the planes are well-designed for flight and appearance with a bold graphic appeal.

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Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Little One Yard Wonders

This is one of those books that I'd recommend to anyone with any reason to give gifts to children. Not just for parents and grandparents- because you'll be able to find the age appropriate gift in this book, and most of them are inexpensive and fairly quick projects.

So I'm going to start with the really good news- I talked to the Storey Publishing about my FAVORITE project in this whole book, and they quite kindly are allowing me to post here for all of you for free.

Hexie Pouf designed by Adrienne Lodico from Little One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins, photography (c) by Julie Toy, used with permission from Storey Publishing, 2014.

The Hexie Pouf! This reminds me of the big floor pillows my mom had, but more stylish and completely up to date- these have covers that can be washed, and are perfect for a lot of ages.
Click link to download:

Hexie Pouf PDF 

I want a stack of them. Spoonflower's Eco Canvas is the right width, so you can even get custom printed fabric to make them. 

There are so many really clever and really cute projects in this book. Like the other One Skein and One Yard Wonder books, these are collections of projects by different designers in different styles. This has some great things for boys as well as girls or things like the Hexie Pouf that are easy to customize to suit different tastes.
A few favorites (because there are 101 projects in the book which is too much to talk about all of them)
Clothes- a tiered skirt that looks just like the ones my mom made me, the adorable shirt you can see on the cover, a Monster towel, and a fleece hoodie.
Toys- The Heigh Ho Horsey Marionette, the  really clever House in a Hallway, the whimsical Mushroom Tea Party and the Oct-toy-pus Animal Organizer
Practical projects- the Hexie pouf, the Booster chair, Small and Secret Diaper Bag and Changing Pad

Complete instructions, gorgeous photos, patterns and drafting instructions included. The book is spiral bound so it will lie flat while you're working and the patterns fit into a sleeve on the inside front cover. The range of projects, ages and the fact that most of them are easy enough for a beginner but still very stylish, trendy, and usable make this a book that I happily recommend. 

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You can order this book from Amazon using the link below-

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Hex Weave & Mad Weave

Hex Weave and Mad Weave : An Introduction to Triaxial Weaving by Elizabeth Lang-Harris and Charlene St. John

Primarily used in basketry, triaxial weaving can be used in fabric and paper arts. This book starts with an introduction to the supplies you'll need to start, and to the basic principles behind these intriguing weaves.

The instructions are well written, and the photos are fantastic. The quick start projects are nice too. They are basic projects which show how to use the weaves in practical applications. After learning how to create the weaves, finish them off, and apply them to different things, you can use the techniques in your own art easily. The instructions and examples are complete and easy to follow. The diagrams show the strips in different colors to make it easy to follow the weaving.

The authors show how color works in the weaves to create patterns, and the patterns are nice, neat tessellations. One of my favorite applications is using ribbons to create the weave, using the right colors and with the ribbons woven tightly, they look like traditional quilting patterns but worked in tiny scale without having to mess with small pieces. I like the star and motif patterns, but the way you can also weave up a perfect tumbling block pattern in mad weave is really neat.

Working with paper for more open patterns, you can see the stars, hexagons and triangles easily. I recommend picking up a package of quilling strips for practicing the weaves initially. I had a package on hand, and working with the perfectly cut strips made it easy to see how to build the hexagons. The book also talks about all the shapes possible with hexagons. It's easy to build a radially symmetrical mandala or a tessellating pattern using these techniques.

If you enjoy more mathematical crafts and hands on geometry, you'll probably enjoy this book a lot. If you enjoy small weaving projects, it's also a good choice.

Recommended!
Published by Schiffer Publishing.

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Decorating Eggs

I'm always a little sad when great resource books go out of print, and then excited when they get re-released.

If you've ever had an interest in pysanka eggs, this book has almost everything you need to know about the art. So I'll start with what it doesn't have- instructions for centering a design on an egg. Those can be found easily enough in other books and on the internet.

What it does have? Tips, instructions and design help from someone who spent decades decorating eggs for sale, doing shows, teaching people how to do it, and becoming very, very good at it.

It starts with a list of the tools and supplies you'll need. Starting with how to find the right kind of eggs, and the difference between types of kitskas then explaining the wax, dyes and finishing techniques. This is not strictly traditional, because there are a lot of time saving tools used, like rotary tools for cutting, egg blowers and polyurethane. All of which help you make a better finished egg and give you more time for creating your art.

Next, a step by step tutorial tells you how dye, explains the order of the colors you use, and how to apply wax. Then it tells you how to get the wax off your colored egg and how to finish it for display.

None of that is the best part of this book, which is full of color photos and display ideas.

The best part is the design ideas, the author shows how designs can be taken from other arts, textiles like batik- which also uses wax for resisting color are natural, but the geometric quilt designs are my favorite. The examples show how color can radically alter a simple geometric design, and where to look for ideas. Lacey designs, designs that look like henna, showing how different lengths of time in a dye bath can create great tone on tone effects are all part of the ideas offered.

For more traditional designs, there is a great chapter on the meaning of the design elements in Ukrainian eggs, it explains motifs, bands and color usage with sketched examples and gorgeous photos of eggs. If you want to design an egg specifically for a person that would have relevancy and be traditional, this information is fantastic.

At the end of the book, there is information about designing jewelry from eggs. How to cut them and stabilize them to create brooches, barrettes and pendants.

It encourages you to play. That you can go traditional, but that you can also decorate an egg to fit your own personality. It takes a lot of the mystery out of these gorgeous eggs, and makes the basic techniques less scary. I recommend this book to anyone interest in egg art, but also to people who haven't ever considered it but do things like zentangles or henna. The same designs you build on paper or skin will work on these eggs for a new way to display and market your art.


I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Drink the Harvest

Drink the Harvest by Nan K. Chase and DeNeice C. Guest is a great primer for people who want to start making drinkables from their own garden produce, and things they can find seasonally in farmer's markets. This photo-rich book is thoughtfully laid out in a way that makes it easy to follow, even for absolute beginners.

It starts with giving the reasons you should be making your own drinks, and offers suggestions for what to grow in your garden for making great juices. Not just fruit juices, it talks about berries, rhubarb, things that can be grown for tea, and vegetables.

The next section discusses equipment, sterilization methods, and how to pick and wash your harvest. This is an essential chapter for beginners because have an overview of the equipment that's going to be necessary, as well as tips for optional equipment that will make it easier.
The recipes:
It starts with the basics, the juice recipes Berry juice, pear juice, non-alcoholic ciders, some vegetable juices and a great spicy bloody mary mix as well as other recipes. These can be modified to fit what you have available and processing times are included if you decide you want to can your juices instead of freezing or refrigerating them.

The next chapter is the one for adults, the ever classic dandelion wine as well as a few mead recipes, hard cider recipes and herbed, fruit and other types of wine. This is the chapter for the patient, and explains how fermentation works, how to ferment, how to rack for flavor and clarity and everything else you need to know about making your own wines, meads and ciders.

After that, the chapter for people who love to make their own sodas, or want specialty syrups for other things, it's the syrups! For this, knowing how to make juice is important, because you'll be using the juices as the base for syrups. Watermelon, herbed fruits and berries, and single flavored syrups are included as well as instructions for bottling.

The last chapter covers teas, tisanes and decoctions. This chapter has less recipes, and is more about techniques and a suggestion list for various types of flowers and herbs that can be dried to use as teas. It includes how to dry using the paper bag method, or using a dehydrator, and storage instructions. Then there are instructions for drying citrus peels which are popular in teas, how to make a rose hip decoction which can be kept in the freezer to add for a vit. C boost to other drinks and full, photo instructions for making kombucha, how to troubleshoot a SCOBY and how to bottle for carbonation.

I do recommend this book.
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The part above is what I'm posting on Amazon, so here's the rest of the story...
 For me, canning and other preservation methods are about putting away a bit of summer to taste in the cold dark winter, luckily within walking distance I have wild chamomile and wild roses, in my own yard, I have clover, chickweed and dandelions for "weeds" and of course, my thicket of raspberries which look to give up even more than they did last year.

So I'll be making a raspberry syrup to use on a dessert on Winter solstice. I think that's a grand tradition to start, putting up some of my favorite of summer to have on the longest night as things start to turn back around.

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Kindle Format Paperback

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Sticky Fingers DIY Duct Tape Projects

Sticky Fingers DIY Duct Tape Projects by Sophie Maletsky 
I'm an enthusiastic duct taper, and duct tape was my daughter's first craft material.

This book is written for people who are just getting started in taping. It starts with the absolute basics, how to make a duct tape sheet, how to use a backing material for bigger projects so you can use less tape, how to make strips, weaving and the packing tape clear window.

The first project is a basic pouch. Pouches are a good first project because there is no fold in the middle, and they are the basis for a lot of other projects. She explains how to make the pouch, then a few different methods of closing it. So by the time you are done making all the pouches, you'll have a very good grasp of closing methods for duct tape projects.

The projects include a wallet of course. Every duct tape book should have a wallet in it! But there are also flowers, bangle bracelets, purses, frames and pouches. With the variety of tape designs out there (quick obligatory shout out for my personal favorite Retro Owls!) and the projects in here, there are gift ideas for years. There are also tips for using the empty rolls and tiny scraps so nothing goes to waste.

This book is written for tweens to teens, and has a lot of photographs and very clear instructions. The author has been writing and designing for that age set for a while. Which means if you're an adult who wants to start working with tape crafts, it should be a cinch to follow. This will give you the basic skills, then you can start designing for yourself.

The type at the bottom of the roll on the cover says "easy to pick up, hard to put down" and that's the absolute truth. Duct taping is addictive as a craft. But it's also fairly inexpensive if you save your design tapes for the parts that show and use a backing material or less expensive plain old gray duct tape on the inside of projects. I do recommend this book.
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My own tip for new duct tapers? A lot of the time you don't have to make packing tape windows because there is so much clear plastic packaging on things that are bought on a regular basis. I save that clear plastic, cutting down to sheets where possible, but some stuff looks good with a bubble window full of confetti or small gumball machine toys too. It can add an extra dimension of whimsy and you get to recycle.

Published by Zest books


Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- All You Need Is Less

I'm a second generation hippie so most of this book is things that I know, it's the way that I grew up. That didn't stop me from reading it (nearly) cover to cover in one sitting.

It's funny, there are parts that I read out loud to my husband because they made me giggle. The style and pacing is informal, well-written and breezy with a good dose of humor. The author talks easily about the silly moments that make up day to day family life and joy. The chapter I skipped was the one about diapers. My own children are young adults, it's a non-issue at this point. There are some adult topics covered, and some adult language, but nothing that I'd have a problem letting a 14 year old read.

There are some great tips in here, for easy ways to change up little things in your routine to live a greener lifestyle, but unlike a lot of books about living in a more eco-friendly way- the emphasis in this book was on reducing. On getting away from consumerism and improving your quality of life and the things in it.

It has lots of the tips and solutions for getting away from harsh chemicals and using more natural things in day to day life and less petroleum by-products. Instructions for cleaning sprays, how to shine your stainless steel, how to wash laundry in less harmful ways. There is a good chapter on gardening for the absolute beginner with some truly helpful tips. She also talks about shampoos, scrubs and skin care.

The author isn't crafty, she freely admits that cooking isn't her strong point and that she's never touched a sewing machine. This is truly attainable greener living by making small changes. My favorite part though was when she pointed out how much redundancy there is in neighborhoods, so many people owning the same things when people could be sharing. It's something to think about.

It's also really funny. She talks about the weird looks you might get when you choose to use a pickle jar for coffee, and how to avoid to being THAT person, you know the one. The one who is so green and smug with it that people try to avoid them.

Yes, I do recommend this book and plan to share it with friends.

You can find the author's blog HERE.

--------the part that isn't going on my Amazon review and it's just for my regular readers-------

I do have one quibble about the whole thing. She talked about how to get rid of DANDELIONS.
I yelled at the book at that point "You just lost major hippie points."
You all know how I feel about dandelions right? They are one of the first foods available for bees, they are bright and pretty, fried dandelion blossoms are a favorite food in my family and we plan to try sprouting dandelion microgreens soon. We eat the leaves in tacos and salads, and they are what I consider the "first crop of summer".
Why would anyone want to get rid of dandelions? I've watched kids come to my yard to gather handfuls for their moms- and they can because my daughter made so many wishes when she was little on them. She also used to pick them for me.
Be kind to dandelions.
(disclaimer- I do understand that sometimes your neighbors or landlords object strongly to dandelions, so knowing how to kill them without using toxic chemicals is a good thing. I just really, really love dandelions)

Published by Viva Editions



Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Deco Cakes

Junko has written several cookbooks with some of the cutest ideas and designs, well illustrated and explained to be easy to recreate in your home kitchen. Unfortunately, most of them haven't been translated to English. Just this one so far!

This was a great choice to translate, and I'm so glad to have it. There are a lot of fantastic designs. For Mother's Day, Christmas, Valentine's, and all-occasion cakes, this is a great collection. There are tips for decorating and packaging to turn your gorgeous cakes into gifts for friends. Believe it or not, the decorated versions are even better than the cover photos. The baked inlaid designs are impressive looking on their own, combined with themed decorations, it takes it right over the top into something that looks very professional.

To start with, you'll need a 25x25 cm swiss roll pan to make the cakes following the recipes in the book. Unfortunately, that's not a common size in the USA, but a 10x10 inch square pizza pan will work just fine. I imagine a 10 x 10 inch cake pan will work too, but it's easier to get the cake out of the shallow pizza pan than a deep cake pan. A 10 inch pan is just a tiny bit bigger than 25x25 cm.

The instructions are written originally in precise weight based measurements that are used commonly, and to get the exact cake recipe recommended, you'll also need a kitchen scale. However, US style volume measurements are included.

After that, it's just following the step by step instructions, which also include filling ideas. These cakes have lots of flavor and texture coming from the combination of cake, cream and fruit fillings. If your only experience with jelly roll cakes is the kind sold in supermarket bakeries, or worse luck, those chocolate dipped, plastic wrapped individual cakes- these will be a revelation. Great flavors using good ingredients makes a big difference.

The designs are fantastic, for the more complex designs, there are stencils to trace on parchment paper to follow. For the simple designs, they are well illustrated and the techniques explained well. You don't need to be an artist to make a fantastic looking cake using this method. It's nearly as simple as a coloring book. Some of the designs have elements painted on after baking, but most of the design is done before that.

I absolutely recommend it. If you have your own ideas, but just want to practice with the technique and get a good recipe for making these gorgeous confections- it's a good starting point. If you want to be able to make impressive looking from scratch cakes with minimal effort, it's a good choice.

Published by Vertical Inc., check out  their Facebook page!


Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook

BAM! POW! CRASH!

Matthew Mead is a designer, crafter and theme cookbook writer with a great eye. You expect a book from him to be attractive with good photos and ideas, and this is a great example.

Done being all grown up now. It's DC SUPER HEROES! It's old school. None of this New 52 stuff, none of the angst of the 90s, it's Dick Grayson's Robin in green shorts with elf boots, it's the heroes you remember from Super Friends on Saturday mornings if your my age. It's retro and it's awesome.  Of course, I'm biased. I grew up on DC comics.

So what does my daughter say about the look? She's Batman the Animated Series, she's Nightwing and all about the modern comics.  She likes it, she grabbed this as soon as it arrived and gave it her seal of approval.

See? Right there. Her seal of approval.

So it looks great. The bright colors and layout are fantastic and I'm totally digging the retro thing. The whole book is in full color with tons of super hero goodness. So now about the recipes.

I have a fairly good collection of children's cookbooks, and what I look for is easy to prepare food, healthy choices, good safety tips, foods that will appeal to kids, and something that will teach them how to follow recipes and learn new skills. 

This is well done in that respect too, the recipes are rated by difficulty level, and that's explained in the introduction. So a from scratch pudding is rated 3 stars because it involves more skill. The pudding is Plastic Man's Pudding and one of my daughter's favorite recipes in the book because it's white chocolate and vanilla decorated to suit Plastic Man. The Kapow Punch is 1 star because it's very simple to make, but the glasses are cleverly masked to look like the Boy Wonder and the Caped Crusader. 

Healthy entrees include things like Seven Seas Saute which is a mix that grown ups will enjoy too, and features a nice amount of vegetables. The bright Plastic Man fettuccine has peppers for color and a fun, play with your food texture.

There are a lot of recipes for drinks and desserts, but also enough meal recipes to balance it out.

Where this book absolutely shines is in the decorating ideas. In the back of the book are card stock figures and stencils to use to decorate the food, and a lot of recipes that use food- like the Superman burger on the cover, or things like duct tape to create a super hero theme.

The heroes include all the classics, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and the Flash and some that you need to be more serious fan to know like Plasticman, Atom and Firestorm.

Do I recommend this? Absolutely. It's one of the best themed cookbooks I've ever seen, even when I put aside my total comic book love and consider the recipes. 

Full disclosure- I got a copy of this cookbook to review at no cost. This review reflects my honest opinion of the book.

Fuller disclosure- My family is full of comic book fans with a strong preference for DC. We can spend hours talking your ear off about the personalities of the different Robins, or why Aquaman is actually awesome, and you never want to get us started on Batman because we can talk about him forever. I have Wonder Woman sneakers and my husband has a huge collection of super hero comic shirts. 

Want this book right now? You can get it from Amazon using my affiliate link and help support this site.

U.S.A. U.K.

Book Review- More Felt Friends from Japan

Congratulations to Susan, the winner of the Origami Flowers giveaway. I hope you're enjoying the book!

Kodansha is a Japanese publisher with a US division for great translations and I'll get back to this review in a second, I'm kind of lost in their website.... Oh, I need The Decorative Art of Japanese Food Carving, and my husband might like one of the sword books, and my kids love manga.. oh SHINY! Clothes, embroidery and textile.. need to get back to the review... 

Ok, I'm back now, it's just awfully distracting. How long did it take you to stop browsing the link and come back to read the review?

Felt mascots, toys appliques and accessories, all of them super cute. The projects are wonderfully photographed. Like a lot of Japanese craft books, the first part of the book is photos of items, with the instructions in the back of the book. Page numbers are given on the photos to find the instructions.

The photos are adorable. They are captioned and done on good backgrounds to show them at their best. It takes minimal supplies to make them. Craft felt for beginning sewers is an economical choice, then switching to wool felt for a higher quality finished item when you're comfortable with the hand stitching.

So with this book, before you start a project, read the tips at the END of the book. They will show

• how to do the stitches including the embroidery accents
• tell you what kind of supplies to use
• how to use a wire armature, 
• how to use the patterns
• how to stuff the toys

The projects are good for a wide range of skills. There are some very easy applique projects, coasters and pouches which are perfect for beginners. They are whimsical and sweet. The Happy Coasters include a fish, a frog face and a chick, with easy embroidered accents. You might like to make the pouches and eyeglass cases as gifts.

A little more complicated are the lightly stuffed but still mostly flat Face Brooches, which are a bunch of cute animals and can be made with small scraps, the finger puppets and the charms which are strung with beads into darling hanging curtains.  My favorite of those types of projects is the Little Forest Birds charms because it reminds me of the felt ornaments my Great-Aunt Elizabeth made. 

The most complicated are the fully dimensional stuffed toys. These are more of a challenge because it's a small scale, but they are made using the same basic stitches, just more parts to create things like a giraffe, elephant or posable retro dolls that look like they came right off the set of an old stop motion movie. There are also dolls like Miss Kitty from the cover that have a full wardrobe you can sew for them. 

Some of the patterns you'll copy out of the book, the more involved patterns are printed on the inside of the dust jacket. 

The diagrams in the instructions are clear and show how to put the items together. 

This is a lovely book, and a must for anyone who really enjoys Japanese crafts.

Kodansha USA gave me an extra copy to give to one of my readers! Giveaway is open to people in the USA only because of shipping costs.
  a Rafflecopter giveaway
I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book Review- Pretty Quilled Cards

I enjoy the delicate look of paper quilling, and it's something that my daughter and I do together.

If you are a quilling enthusiast, or just getting started quilling, this book is a nice addition to a library. The author has created cards to cover a lot of occasions, and a few all occasion cards and tags with well written patterns. There are designs for Easter, Christmas, bridal showers, baby shows, housewarmings and weddings as well as components and designs that can be used for other things.

The introduction includes a list and description of tools you'll use and basic techniques and tips for working with the strips of paper. It also explains gluing the design elements in place.

Her style is uniquely clean, almost like drawing with curls, spirals and open shapes. The designs are open, spacious and stylized. Each pattern starts with a rating for difficulty. Under that is a supply list for paper, which shows how long the strips need to be and where they will be marked for folds. Great photos and instructions will help you create the designs exactly as shown.

My favorite designs are:
Songbird Greeting which would make a good housewarming card, or a card for spring or bird lovers. It features a cute bird singing on a branch with a little bird house hanging underneath.
Dragonfly All-occasion, a delicate filigree that makes a pretty and elegant dragonfly card.
Mother's Day Vases which has 3 vases with stylized flowers

All of the cards are suitable for framing, which makes them a nice gift. The end of the book includes some patterns for entertaining like a wine glass charms and place cards.

This is a lovely book, full of designs that can be used for all sorts of projects, not just cards. It's very easy to follow and one that I happily recommend.

Cecelia Louie's webpage- Paper Zen
Follow Lark Crafts on Facebook for lots of ideas, giveaways, and projects.

U.S.A. U.K.
Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Book review of Five-Plant Gardens with a FREE garden plan

Frequently people ask me questions about gardening. The truth is that a lot of the time I have no idea- just a very extensive library of books to consult. Most of those books are centered on growing edibles, not decorative plants.

My favorite kind of plant is perennials, and this book focuses exclusively on those. Perennials are the plants that come back year after year. This is a great book for people who want to plant decoratively but have no idea where to start. Perennials are easy to care for, and you don't have to buy new plants every year. Most perennials will get fuller and spread as time goes on, so a sparse initial planting will fill out nicely in the following years make them even more practical.  The perennials used aren't new plants, they are tried and true classic garden flowers that have been time tested.

The author has picked plants that handle a wide range of zones pretty well. She also includes a map with a legend of zones so you can figure out which zone you live in. She also has plans and plants for other variables. So if you have an area that's not getting full sunlight, but you still want to plant something there- you can. If you have a really wet corner of your yard, like where a drain spout pours off- there are plants that like the damp conditions and will thrive.

There are tips, zone information on the plants and a lot of information about how to get started with growing a garden. It's clear, simple, and very easy to understand. There is information about the different kind of plants,  and Latin names are included. The "Digging Deeper" tips offer ways to expand on the original plan, and do a bit more. If you're a beginning gardener, or someone who wants some nice looking plants growing in your yard but don't know where to start, this is a great place. The photographs of the plants are very well done and will help you pick the perfect theme for your garden. The illustrations of the gardens are also beautiful. The shopping lists show the number of plants to follow the plan.

The plans are simple, it's 5 plants each that are picked by color, appearance and height or to fit a theme, then arranged for a pleasing symmetry. Because of the simple shapes of the beds, they can be expanded, multiplied and joined to create new shapes and larger gardens. Several diagrams are given as examples.

Now, most of the best areas of my yard have perennials in them, like my berries and rhubarb, or they are beds for planting annual vegetables and herbs. But there is a shady corner that doesn't get quite enough sun but still gets a fair amount- and it would benefit from some order and prettiness, and I'd benefit from not having long grass grow right up against the house right there. So a mulched bed of flowers is perfect. Because I love floral scents, the plan I decided on is one that has a lot of very scented flowers that will work in my zone 4 area. The other thing is that my family likes to leave a lot of decisions up to me, but they can follow the plan for this area while I work on the other beds. The other reason that I picked this plan is the fragrant flowers in it are mostly good even down to zone 3, so a colder than average winter won't kill them.

We all be rewarded with floral scents, flowers we can cut, and the spot of pretty in the yard on sunny evenings while my husband barbecues.

Follow Storey Publishing on Facebook for recipes, gardening tips, giveaways and all sorts of DIY goodness.

The following plan is the one I'm using.

Perfumed Perennials

A garden that smells as good as it looks is a scent-sational addition to a shady yard. Put it near a deck or patio where you like to relax or entertain guests, or next to a window so you can enjoy the fragrance indoors. The secret to a successful scented garden is to include scented flowers that bloom at different times; that way, their perfumes won’t clash or be overwhelming, and you’ll have something pleasing to sniff over the longest possible season.

Lily of the Valley

'Clouds of Perfume' woodland phlox

Stargazer lily

August lily

'Hillside Black Beauty' bugbane

Click the image below for a description of the flowers and zone information. The numbers on the descriptions match the numbers on the plan.

Isn't that a pretty arrangement?

Excerpted from Five-Plant Gardens (c) Nancy J. Ondra. Photography by (c) Rob Cardillo. Illustrations by Beverly Duncan. Used with permission of Storey Publishing.
U.S.A. U.K.
Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support this site.
I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.