Sep 25
I was in a grocery store a few days ago and I was so relieved to see that I can now begin purchasing my Christmas decorations. Yes, that’s right. It wasn’t even officially Fall yet, but the ornaments and tinsel were on the shelves. Remember when Christmas stuff didn’t go up until the week before Thanksgiving? Heck, at this point I’d be happy if they waited until October.
I think the only reason you should be thinking about the holidays already is if you are going to make your gifts. It’s never too early to start planning for that. Thankfully there are a few books I’d recommend to give you ideas
How to Make Books – I’m a lover of paper and paper crafts. I’ve taken many book making classes, so it’s not surprise that I love this book. Esther K. Smith has filled this book with projects ranging from the simple (one piece of letter-size paper becomes a book) to intricate (books that unfold in several different directions). But no matter the level of complexity, the clear instructions and funky diagrams make most of these books easily do-able. Gift Ideas: A sketchbook for the artist in your life; a photo album for Mom and Dad.
Photojojo! – Photojojo began life as a website devoted to photo tips and DIY projects with photos. The book puts it all in a lovely (and irreverently funny) portable format. There’s a section on taking better pictures, using your computer to “help” the not-so-great ones, and of course, tons of fun things to do with them. Gift Ideas: A magnetic dress up doll for your quirky friends; a photo voodoo doll for your most vindictive friends; photo ornaments for everyone. (I think I’ll be making something from this book for my siblings for Christmas, but, since many of them read this blog, I’m not gonna say what it is!)
EcoBeauty – The subtitle to this book says it all: “Scrubs, Rubs, Masks and Bath Bombs for You and Your Friends.” Flipping through the book, it seems like most of the concoctions need to be used right away. But there is an extremely customizable bath salts recipe at the back. That can be the gift for your friends, the rest of the book can be the gift for you! Gift Ideas: Bath salts for your child’s teacher; a “gift certificate” to your best friend for a homemade spa day.___________________
We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:
How to Make Books by Esther K. Smith, Potter Craft hardcover
Photojojo! by Amit Gupta with Kelly Jensen, Potter Craft trade paperback
EcoBeauty by Lauren Cox and Janice Cox, Ten Speed Press trade paperback
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
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Ah, Photojojo. Must seek that out….
I love HOW TO MAKE BOOKS. That looks like a lot of fun, to give and to use.
How to Make Books looks good! I’ve actually made the book from folding one piece of paper, and it’s great fun. It would be nice to have more book-making ideas.
HOW TO MAKE BOOKS really is great. I love it for many reasons. All of the projects, of course, but there’s also the funky and cool books they use to illustrate the various ideas. Those will give you many ideas!
“How to Make Books” sounds interesting. I am reminded how my mother used to make these great book covers for us out of heavy-duty paper in the 1970′s. So inexpensive, but helped keep books in good shape.