Homemade: The Heart and Science of Handcrafts

Homemade: The Heart and Science of Handcrafts
By Carol Endler Sterbenz
Gifted by Scribner Publishing
http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/scribner
Reviewed by Melissa Conner
 

Homemade: The Heart and Science of Handcrafts is to art and crafting what The Joy of Cooking is to baking and cooking. This book contains everything you need to know about the why and how behind the joy of gluing one thing to another.

In Homemade, you’ll learn how to make bath oils, decoupage plates, assemble flower arrangements, create origami, make pop-up cards, knit or crochet sock monkeys, make wreaths, and hundreds of other things. With helpful illustrations, hints and tips, and personal stories scattered throughout this 770-page behemoth, you’ll be a master crafter in no time!

This book is particularly essential if you’re taking on a new crafting technique for the first time. For example, the chapter on beading includes a brief history of beading as a craft, the science behind its success as an art form, and tips on getting started with beading for the first time. Once you’ve read all about beading and learned about the most popular types of beads, you can pick from the list of 13 projects and create your very own beaded craft, with all the knowledge and skill of a pro beader!

It’s impossible to cover everything that’s in Homemade. With so many lessons, projects, crafty tips, and inspirational ideas, Homemade is a must have for craft designers who want to broaden their artistic horizons. For those who are passionate about creativity, this is the definitive illustrated encyclopedia of everything crafts.