Crafts Hobbies Books

Basic and the reading is consistant with this book style, easy to read and definitely not dry/boring.

I read this book cover to cover (took me about a week) before I started brewing. I bought the right equipment, and followed the instructions in the book. Now, three weeks after brewing and four weeks after purchasing the book, I have some pretty good homemade bottled beer!
Brewing is not for the impatient, but the author makes that clear. This book is very easy to follow. You don't have to read the whole thing. Some of the chapters are for people who are pretty advanced in the hobby.

A load of info and great tips... A must have for beginners or experienced brewers

Homebrewing for Dummies is an excellent resource and how-to guide.

Like all the "dummies" books this book breaks down the subject of homebrewing into simple easy to understand language.

Nachel explains the affects of each ingredient on the beer, as well as step by step brewing and bottling instructions.

If you are just thinking about starting homebrewing read this book first. It will guide you through what equipment to buy, how to brew and what to expect.

If you are already a brewer, Nachel provides a beginner, intermediate and advanced recipe for each of the AHA beer styles.

If you're a budding homebrewer or an experienced home brewer who could use a few tips and troubleshooting techniques, then Homebrewing for Dummies is a book worth buying. This book is a complete guide to homebrewing at different levels and it serves as a highly useful reference for those who wish to brew their own beer for the first time or who would like to find some ways to make their homebrew easier to make, better tasting, or more eco- friendly. This book covers everything that is important to the homebrewer, from purchasing equipment to buying the ingredients to bottling and evaluating the finished product.

Brewing beer isn't easy and many homebrewing hobbies have been ended prematurely due to a recipe turned bad or by general frustration with getting everything right. This is where Homebrewing for Dummies can help. This book was written to assist homebrewers at all levels in the fine art of making beer. It steps the homebrewer through all of the important steps, starting with the equipment inventory and ending with the bottling process. Along the way, the book shares some secrets for homebrewing success, pointing out the importance of cleaning and sanitizing, temperature control, and other factors that directly influence the final product.

What I like best about Homebrewing for Dummies is its penchant for thoroughness. Many other books exist on this subject, but few cover so many different aspects of brewing as Homebrewing for Dummies. Those who are unfamiliar with homebrewing will probably be shocked to learn that this book is more than 400 pages in length. Many people mistakenly believe that making beer is a simple process than can quickly be described in one- hundred or fewer pages and many authors have, indeed, attempted to compose quick guides to homebrewing that are a fraction of the length of this guide. But to cover every aspect of homebrewing, a much longer guide is needed. Homebrewing for Dummies wants to make sure that you, the homebrewing enthusiast, have all the necessary facts and information at your fingertips to make sure your homebrewing batch turns out just right and once you get involved in a hobby like homebrewing and realize what it entails, you will agree that a much longer book is necessary to do the justice to the craft.

Since this book is part of the For Dummies line of books, it is written in a format similar to the others in this popular series. Thus, it includes bulleted text, unique icons to indicate special points, highlights, boldface headings, etc. This type of format makes the book more readable and better organized. It is also humorous at times. The author wants the homebrewer to take his/her hobby seriously, but he also wants to make sure the brewer enjoys himself/herself in the process. So, he includes touches of humor from time to time throughout the book. The humor isn't excessive by any means. It is just right and is well timed, offering a nice change of pace as you read, helping to lighten up the mood as you learn more and more about the world's greatest beverage.

Overall, Homebrewing for Dummies is an excellent book about brewing beer. It covers the subject of homebrewing thoroughly and effectively, is flawlessly written, and is entertaining to read. It's an outstanding resource for the homebrewing hobbyist and a book I recommend to anyone with an interest in this subject.

Oh, how I wish I had that pile of old sweaters I donated to the thrift shop! If I only had them now, I'd soon have a kick-ass collection of sox, leg-warmers, even cooler new sweaters, hats, bags, baby booties, necklaces, purses, skirts, head-bands, pet bed, laptop cozy and mnore, more, more!

File this book under "Why didn't I think of this stuff first?" -- but go buy it now and make up for lost time! Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things With Old Sweaters is a gold mine of crafty ideas!

Needed a book to show me how to make this cute little one. I am glad I got this book as a reference guide.

I bought this book thinking it would be full of techniques for making fleece dogs. that part covers a couple of pages. the rest is devoted to a gallery of the author's dogs. there is nothing wrong with 'gallery' books, i find them an inspiration in many of my crafts. but that's not what i paid for. i actually sent this book back, i was feeling so deceived.

When I found out this book had a Siberian Husky in it I had to buy it - I waited for it to come out in English and then I got it as soon as I could. The dogs are all quite lovely and it makes it fun to flick through the book and see the artists creativity in making these lovely dogs. Only issue I have is that the directions are given for making a labrador and then you need to go to the area for the dog you are making for any specifics. Kind of annoying really. The book does give you directions on incorporating your own dogs hair into the felt sculptures. I intend to make 2 Siberians - one of my lovely silver Belle and one of my lovely red Damon. I have been collecting fur off of Belle and I am nearly ready to start. We'll see how I go!

This book was my first step into needle felting. I was enamored by the adorable critters and beautiful photography. After reading the book I went to the author's website to order the kit for a few specific breeds. The dacshund was my first one and the results were better than I expected (see photo) ! I also did the husky from the author's kit with outstanding results. I then wanted to try my own project. I purchased wool from a local yarn store, glass eyes from ebay, and used pipe cleaners for the "skeleton". I used my poodle mix as a model and the results were fantastic. (again, see photo).

I have since done reproductions of many of my friend and family's pets. I enjoy this craft immensely as it has quick results (the first one i did took about 7 hours....and I got much much faster as I grew experienced.)

This book was the springboard into other felting activities and projects from other books. But none are as impressive as the Fleece Dogs. They are consistently beautiful.

The best thing about this book is the "actual size" diagrams of the body shape. It is very helpful in achieving semi-realistic forms and proportions (especially for individual breeds). The worst part of this book is the description of the needed materials. It is easy to get intimidated by the very specific type of wire and cotton sleeve the author uses. However it is fairly easy to work around those suggestions with a little creativity and some time spent in a craft shop.

If you are even the least bit intrigued by this book....try it!

I thought this was a great book! I have never done felting before and I found the instructions easy. I'm a beginner but my pups are turning out pretty well, with some practice they will be great.

Great thing to try out!

I homeschool my kids and we use this book everyday as part of our school curriculum. We have made instruments, we have learned facts, we have appreciated nature with this book and have incorporated it in our daily lessons. It is designed real well - the chapters are awesome and make it so motivating to want to plan a musically rich lesson daily. It is a great book to have for any parent or teacher that wants to create and appreciate music with thier kids.

I have used this book as a source for a workshop I do for early childhood educators. It has excellent ideas and ways of presenting musical concepts. The book content leans a little to the older ages (6-8), rather than the early childhood population. However, it is still valuable for early childhood educators.

THE LITTLE BOX OF SOCKS by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott provides some 20 creative sock projects for knitters to produce, from different colors and textures to a range of styles. These take the form of 'project cards' with sizes, supply lists, and step-by-step directions perfect for avid knitters.

Nifty little collection of sock patterns. I'm always looking for new ones and this fills the bill.

Lots of choices, very nice presentation, good instructions. What more could you ask--free yarn? I really like it and am glad I bought it.

This is a great sock book! 20 laminated patterns in a little box .Perfect for those who like hand dyed yarn., but works well for those who dont.I planned out my next 3 socks One already on the needles the day i got this book!

I just received this great little box of sock patterns and I already have planned a few projects using some of my special single and multi colored hand-dyed stash that I've been hoarding while waiting to find patterns worthy of using it on. There are so many great patterns in this "box" with lots of really interesting textures. I love how each pattern is on a separate folded laminated card which is great for those of us that keep sock projects stashed in our purses for on-the-go knitting.

It would be good for the theology student to play with, but I didn't really care for it too much.

Enough with the editing and correcting the language usage of these wonderful people...why take away from their culture and natural use of language...why should I read about mountain people when their speech patterns are corrected?...I might as well read any old book about growing apples anywhere...give me back the language of Foxfire 1.

If you liked this book, also try "The Healing Journey" series of self help journals by Phil Rich. The first two -- "The Healing Journey" and "The Healing Journey for Couples", are journaling books written to help people learn how to journal and what to journal about. The others in the series focus on specific life issues.

The book showed the though challenges in a teenagers life and how to deal with competition, people, peer pressure, and more. Pages filled with cartoons, quotes, and pictures. Great for any teen that wants to be sucessful in life.

Having taken a class at a local quilt shop to learn how to make a reversible quilt, this book was a very good reference giving information on all aspects of the quilt making process. The diagrams, pictures, and text assisted in learning how to sew a reversible quilt. This technique is great!

Very happy with the book I received so quickly. Was happy when I looked at the book and it was new.

Book arrived...good service. It was what I was searching for. Lots of new ideas for me. PS...Amazon provides a great service. Thank you.

I have never made a quilt before but I used the 2-for-1 design to make 2 twin size quilts for my grandsons. I modified the front side w/ my own design & used the author's design for reverse side. It took me 8+ weeks to complete 2 beautiful quilts that totally impressed everyone. The book is well written w/ clear & easy instructions. I am already planning my 3rd quilt. The only fault I found w/ this book was the number of projects--I would've liked even more inspiration. I also bought this author's followup book -- More Reversible Quilts. I highly recommend these books.

I found the details well written and easy to understand if you have knowledge of rotary cutting and machine piecing. If the quilter has no knowledge I would suggest using scrap fabric and not their best craft fabric. The tips given are worth following no matter the quilters skill level. The projects could be cut down in size especially for a beginner.

My grandson loves to color in this book everyday. He loves Wuzzby and you cant find anything like this in stores.