Craft Books

Unfortunately, I tend to spend more time thinking about crafting than actually crafting. Part of it is that I need to feel really confident before I cut into the fabric horde and part of it is that I'm really lazy. Oh and I need to clean my room to get to the sewing machine. Anyway, I found two books lately that are great providing inspiration.

Zakka Sewing

Zakka is Japanese for household goods and this book has a lot of ideas for making cute everyday things around the home. Of course that squirrel tea cozy on the cover is exactly why I checked it out from the library, plus there is a ton of zakka type items on Etsy that I continuously drool over.

Cool Spaces For Kids

Is this really fun book that looks at how to develop kid space in areas both large and small, indoors and out. I love the projects in this book because they look so fresh. Some of them are diy constructions of items I've seen in kids catalogues that cater to the Waldorf set and some are just beautiful alternatives to the commercialized kids decor that seems to be invading our planet.

In the midst of this crafty creativity, my mom dug out an old Better Homes and Gardens Treasury of Needlecraft book that was stuck in her bookcase from 1982.

It was really interesting to see the resurgence of some of the projects in this book. They could easily come out of an Etsy shop now (appliqued owls and rainbows, stylized creche figures for Christmas, patchwork place mats, modern stuffed animals). While the photography was really cluttery-country and dated, I was still amazed that there were many projects that if taken out of their backdrop context would be very au courant. Still I don't see me making that doily appliqued quilt or the old school afghan made from day-glo poly-blend yarn.