Crafts Hobbies Books

Well written, easy to understand basics, and plenty of photos and diagrams.
Well worth the price to expand your horizons in box making.

I bought this book and happy to give it 5 stars. This is a great tutorial in box making, which I do. The only higher recommendation that I can make is to buy the DVD which is awesome.

I bought this and the accompanying DVD. I recommend both as to use together. I have been wood working for over 30 years and this book is great for a beginner or season wood worker.

It is easy to understand. There are some great ideas for jigs in the book that you can use for making boxes and also many other things.

What you learn is how to use the power tools you have in a very creative way. The author takes you from the basic to the more complex in an easy to follow and do manner. It should give you the confidence and knowledge on how to create something special.

I really like and enjoy this book. I think the DVD is great. I highly recommend

I found the book to be good for ideas and technique. Great pictures. Very well organized from basic to more advanced. I especially liked the descriptions of useful jigs. Doug Stowe makes beautiful boxes. I have a basic skillset and this book was purchased to give me ideas on future projects. Taunton books are great to look at and filled with great ideas for all skill levels.

I just bought the book and did the cover project.Easy steps to follow.project came out great and I am begining the pencil box, however you must have a full woodworking shop,router,table saws,jointers etc.If your looking to make boxes with hand tools, this is not the book.

There were tips that weren't in the other macrame books. Bunk hemp would be an example and how to get stubborn beads onto the lead (think rubber cement). Good descriptions. Ok pictures.

If you're beginning then this is a great book for you, and if you're experienced, its a great book for ideas. I love it.

A Great book for those wanting to learn how to tie hemp. It gives a visual instuction and a literal instruction on most of the knots so it's very hard to get confused. If you enjoy making jewlery, this is the book for you.

I love this book so much! I've been hemping for a couple years, but nothing beyond the basic square and spiral knots with some beads (which is all that many books include). literally within minutes I had learned all kinds of new techniques and was well on my way through the book with lot of cool new jewelry. easy to understand directions, nice pictures, great for inspiration, and fun! best hemping book i've seen so far, and I have definitely owned a few. I would also reccommend the second book for even more advanced techniques and bigger projects!

Had it, loved it, lost it and now buying it again. This is a great starter book because of its detailed and easy to read drawings & pictures and written instructions.

The book itself is well made and duarble too so while you have one foot and two hands busy with tying you can use the other free foot to hold down pages and not worry about ripping the book apart. Hitch , half-hitch , Phishbone, tips on gluing (get rubber cement), how to measure length, add more cord if you run short...it's all here.

My only advice is to get a sturdy cork board and some T-pins so you can pin your work to the cork board as you're weaving. I'm getting too old to hook the macrame cord around my toes.

Cork boards are cheap at wal-mart and you can take a magic marker and a ruler and mark the board in one inch increments so you can eyeball length as you're working. The boards are only about an inch thick so the trick with the T-pins is to stick them in at a 45 Degree angle for a good solid ground(w/o punching thorugh the back of the board). And when you're not using it you can put it up on the wall and stick memos to it like the manufacturer intended. ;)

Very well written and illustrated with lots of information on how the underground railroad worked. Lots of hints for quilters.

I haven't had a chance to work out of the book yet, but I am excited about getting to it.

I am a Quilter, and I found this book to be a real Eye opener for what went on during the slavery days. I never knew how Quilts were used as codes to direct the slaves to freedom. This book is a real history lesson, that I am so glad to learn about and be a part in helping with the teaching of the slavery days. I was asked by a teacher to make this quilt. She is going to hang it in her classroom for her 5th grade students to make paper blocks, to match the Quilt. The Quilt tells the story. It's AWESOME, and I really enjoyed making it. Thank you Amazon for having this Quilt Book.

The book was everything I thought it would be - comprehensive quilt instructions for various underground railroad blocks.

The book is easy to follow for making the quilt and history information is written very well.

I love all the Gooseberry Patch books and this one again is NOT a disapointment. Really great crafts and recipes, it is so homey (If that is a word) Great book!

This book has the best ideas for homemade gifts, crafts and recipes! It gave me so many ideas, I cannot decide what to do first. My family and friends are going to love their gifts from me this year.

I have been collecting (and using) this series of books since they came out. They are wonderful. They have great ideas and many really good recipes as well. I think they are as much fun to read as to use as they have many great pictures and easy to follow instructions. I can hardly wait for book 10!

I flipped through it and really didn't see much that interested me. Needs more variety and some new ideas. Keeping it because I am trying to collect the whole set. It is a pretty book - nice pictures and cover.

I am an avid collector of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. I have all 9 volumes of the Christmas series and enjoy and still use everyone of them. This book is full of imaginative gift ideas. The recipes are easy to follow and yummy in your tummy!!! It would also make a great gift for anyone who enjoys baking and decorating with homemade craft ideas.

The artist covers aspects of metal clay from beginner to advanced, with tips that reveal secrets that often are left out by other authors or instructors. If your looking for a metal clay book that will allow you to create objects of art and explain the details, then this is the book for you. The artist is well known for her work in PMC and uses this book to explain in detail (visuals are also GREAT) the techniques used to create jewelry from an elementary level to an advanced level. I highly recommend this book for every artist interested in creating metal clay jewelry and art objects.

Techniques are wonderfully written in a step by step visual instruction format. Easy to understand from beginning metal clay through detailed finished jewelry. Persons of all levels of skill will find this book helpful.

Whether you are a first time user of precious metal clay or
familiar with the medium; you will enjoy this book. The projects are well
illustrated and clearly presented. Tammy's insistence on finding what's around the house to use in her work will have you looking at your surroundings in a whole new way!
The "Tips" were overall my favorite part of the book. Tammy shares tips and hints to make your work better. Everyone will learn something new.
Projects, tips, a fun writing style all make this a great introduction to precious metal clay the no muss, no fuss way. Good Job!

The 27 clever projects in Garner's book will definitely inspire you to give metal clay a try. Even someone (like myself) who doesn't have a lot of experience working with this material won't feel intimidated to give these projects a try. The step-by-step photos are large and easy to follow along with the well-written instructions. Another plus, the projects in this book are beautifully designed and don't require a lot of special tools, etc. to complete. After reading the basics section, I feel comfortable with torch-firing some pieces and skipping the purchase of a kiln for now. Although the bracelet on the cover is wonderful, I would have to say my favorite project is the "totally tubular necklace", which I can't wait to try. If you're interested in metal clay but are a little unsure about how to get started, this is the book for you!

Kim Cavender, author of "Polymer Clay For the Fun of It"

Having already had the fortune to attend one of Tammy Garner's Metal Clay classes in person, I can say that reading her book "Metal Clay in a Day" is just like having her in the room with you, passing on helpful tips and techniques to create fantastic metal clay jewelry! The book takes away any intimidation a beginner might have about working with metal clay, because the projects are well laid out, don't take very long to do, and look great when they're done. I was particularly impressed with her tips on everything from where to buy practical yet inexpensive tools, to finding unusual textures for clay stamping all over your house (she made a beautiful pendant simply using the texture of a toothpaste cap!). This book will leave you eager to get your hands on some metal clay to try her projects out yourself.

This book is wonderful. It is very informative and easy to understand. Follow her instructions and anyone can create a beatiful quilt.

I love the author's quilts, and this book gives me a glimpse of how complex the amazing designs are to construct. This book is full of information--and a bit daunting to a beginning quilter. Still, it's a good resource and another glimpse into McDowell's unique process.

It was the perfect help to work with Freezer-Paper, the describtion and Visual Guide are very clearly.

Unfortunately I missed out on a live workshop with Ruth and sent my best buddy in my place instead. She LOVED it!!! Even though I tried to practice her techniques in her other books, I never quite 'got it'. I guess I'm just more of a 'show me what you do' kind of person.
This book changed all that and I made her sugar maple quilt quickly and easily and I'm thrilled with the outcome! Also, with her guidance on inset seams, I finished a difficult navajo quilt that had had me stumped because I couldn't get the seams set in just right. But with her latest book, it was like having this amazingly talented and wonderful lady right there with me! She is such inspiration, her quilts are outstanding and absolutely fabulous! Thanks Ruth, -can't wait for the next one!!!

Certainly a 5-star book. You can take your quilt piecing to a new level with Ruth's piecing techniques. The instructions and pictures are very detailed, concise & clear. Combined with her "Designing Workshop" book, you could produce gorgeous, detailed art quilts.

I really liked the whole book, but I especially liked the part about kids treehouses. Some of them were homemade, and some of them were built by an artist. Before I read the book, I was wondering what different treehouses look like. I thought the treehouses with a loft and a ladder would be lots of fun to explore. Some of the treehouses were hotels. One of the treehouses was built by a robber! He had used it as a place to store his disguises. I thought it was a very good book.

This is the third book from Peter Nelson of Treehouse Workshop. His previous two delved in depth into treehouse construction. This work is more a survey of the many wonderful treehouses to be found throughout the world. It is crammed with quality color photographs and, unlike a previously reviewed work, has a unifying narrative throughout.

Peter starts you off with a very useful section entitled "Choice of Tree". There he briefly touches upon suitability of various tree species to treehouse construction and provides a mini sketch of each tree species with a treehouse. Immediately after comes some very accurate arboriculture advice from Jonathan Fairoaks. It's nice to find a treehouse book that gets this part right for a change.

For me, the real value of this book is in the tour it takes you on of many notable treehouse. I bring this book to meetings with clients so they can see the many incredible things possible. And for those who've never considered it possible that a treehouse could be any more than a small, roughly built box, this book will blow their minds.

What this book lacks is building advice. It's not a "how-to" book. There really is no great "how-to" book out there. Even so, highly recommended.

This book has the best pictures and if your looking for ideas
and inspiration, this is the book to buy.

This book along with Treehouses of the World are inspirational page after page. If you are a fan of treehouses, this book is a must in your collection.

This book is just as good as the front cover picture suggests: pie-in-the-sky treehouses. The kind that you dreamed about as a kid? Its obvious from this book that some adults still think about and make their dreams become beautiful structures in reality. If you ever wanted a pictoral book of treehouses representing your wildest imaginations, this is the book for you!

I purchased this book through a book club and found it to be PACKED with useful information and illustrations. Every crocheter from beginners to experienced will find something helpful in this book.

This is a very complete book on basic crocheting. It includes a section on dyeing yarn which I have not seen other places. Unfortunately, none of the "trade secrets" are very secret. Most can be found in the Crochet Handbook, which is better sized to take with you and covers foundations other than the chain. Couldn't find those here. Also, many interesting patterns were shown in pictures that were not really explained in the text. A pretty picture book and probably a good read for a new crocheter, but for the more experienced, nothing really new.

I'm basically a knitter who crochets a little and not that well. This book answered all my questions and gave me projects that I've been inspired to make. I learned to make roses, ruffles, and more complicated crochet patterns. It renewed my interest in crochet. Unless you're already a master this book is very helpful.

I have been crocheting for many, many years but this book explained things simply with great photos. It answered a lot of questions I have had and showed me new ways to do things. I would highly recommend this for the beginner as well as for the experienced crocheter.

I have had this book for several months and I am just now getting excited about it. There are excellent colorful photos on every page, there are a lot of techniques and each step is illustrated well. When I first got this book I was disappointed because I was really hoping that those trade secrets as the title suggests would jump out at me. But, on closer inspection I have found that there are indeed valuable tips on making my crocheted work better. I think this book will help immensely when I feel creative and want to design my own stuff. However, most of the tips are a page or less, and I would have liked to have seen some of them expanded a bit. Overall I would recommend this to anyone who crochets and would like some ideas to spark their creativity.

I recommend this book for everybody that wants to, has or is acqainted to woodworking. Gives guidance on identifyiing wood; buying, using and maintaining hand- and powertools and all this on a high quality glossy paper. Good value for small money.

This book is like a good piece of furniture: not only useful, but also there's some art to it: it is well done with tons of photos of work and tools and nice diagrams. This is one of the best on woodwork. I recommend it.

the book is one of the best that has ever seen, well done, full of very explanatory images, in an only word: COMPLETE.

I had to buy this book for a woodworking shop but was interested enough after flipping through it that I actually read some of it. It has lots of very nice color photographs and uses diagrams and drawings to explain woodworking knowhow in an easy-to-understand fashion.

I wouldn't call this book a manual of woodworking, I'd call it a manual synopsis of 20 year old tools. All this book does is tell you about the various tools used in woodworking in the 1980's, and it does so with a pretentious tone. My favorite part of the book is the section about this new tool called the cordless drill; the author seems to think these heavy and cumbersome tools are just a flash in the pan trend. Save your money by using google to find woodworking blogs.