Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses is a new title from Sixth and Spring Books. It retails for $14.95 and has 25 patterns.

Here is a description from the press release I was sent: “Learn how to make a basic beautiful girl’s dress—without straining your schedule or your budget. Employing a little know-how and a lot of imagination, the designers at Sweet Seams Studio offer easy instructions for transforming a simple T-shirt into a stylish dress for a special little girl. Perfect for tomboys, fashionistas or anyone in-between—the 25 projects use playful quilting fabrics and clever embellishments to create outfits that are anything but ordinary.”

Running Press sent me a review copy of a new title called Cut Up This Book: Special Occasions: Step-By-Step Instruction for Festive Decorations, Invitations, and Moreby author Emily Hogarth, and yes, you literally can cut this book up and make all kinds of fun paper-art items like cards, garlands, cup cake toppers, and other adorable decorations. The copyright on this book is May 2013, but I noticed it is already available through Amazon.com. It normally retails for $19 US and $22 Canadian. It has a flexbind cover book, is 144 pages long, and is divided into three sections: Getting Started; Project; and Templates.

In the Getting Started section, it explains about the tools and materials you need to make many of the projects in the book, and it has photograph step out images for the techniques too. My only slight beef about this section (and this could be due to my age) is that some of the text is a little hard to read. It is chock full of information, which means in some cases lots of text on pages, and that text could be larger for some of us over-40 types.

There are 25 projects in the second part of the book, and a good number are clever but also easy to accomplish. For example, there is the “Cake Toppers,” which uses a little paper and tape to make a cute “Congratulations” sign to but on top of a cake, or another favorite of mine are the “Food Flags.” Again, you just cut the paper as described in the step by step instructions (which include step out photographs too), stick it on a toothpick, and you end up with little flags to stick into sandwiches that say “ham” or “chicken.” How easy is that and how practical too?

Finally, you get to actually cut up the book in the third section that has loads of templates and decorative paper. Each page of this section corresponds to projects in section two of the book. There are total of 60 templates, and while you can just cut out what you need directly from the book, the instructions also suggest that you can photocopy or trace images as well. Each template is numbered and includes the project name and page number it goes with also.

Considering all of the templates and papers you get in addition to the projects, I think this is book is a bargain.

Awhile ago, I received a review copy from Sterling Publishing of PUSH Print: 30+ Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking (PUSH Series). In the US, it retails for $19.95, and it is $23.95 in Canada. It is what is considered a “gallery” style book where a collection of artists are featured, both their work and their approach to that work. The curators of PUSH Print are Jamie Berger and Keith Berger, who are both print related artists. Jamie is a designer and art director, and Keith is a pressman. Together, they collected the visual works of the 31 book-artists included in this book and interviewed each about his or her approach to this medium.

As you would expect a book about book-art to be, this is a highly visual text with lots of full color images of the artists’ work. Sidebars around the artwork photographs describe the artwork and has a series of questions and answers. The idea behind using “PUSH” in this series of books is (as the subtitles says) to look at artwork that pushes against traditional boundaries. This includes subject matter and also techniques used to create the art. This means you will find innovative ideas and contemporary themes throughout this book.

I have to admit that while I like the PUSH series, I’m not in love with it. Aesthetically, much of the work is hit and miss for me. Some of it I like, some of it I am so-so with, and some I just do not like at all. However, as I read through PUSH Print: 30+ Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking (PUSH Series) a few artist friends of mine came to mind who I know this book would speak to, so if you are a little more adventurous than I am, I definitely recommend taking a look at this book as well as the others in the PUSH series.

I recently received a review copy of a really unusual book that leans towards the crafting life. It is called The Modern-Day Pioneer: Simple Living in the 21st Centuryand is written by Charlotte Denholtz and published by Adams Media. This chunky 304 page paper back explores the idea of living much like the American pioneers did in the sense that you are as self-sufficient as possible, learning to live off the land (even if that means a few plants in a windowsill) and making many of your own necessities.

For the most part, the book is a how-to style text and has a fair amount of detail on topics such as brewing ale, making a quilt, baking bread, preserving food, and making soaps and candles. These topics are obviously where the crafter is comfortable stepping in. One area that I found a tad uncomfortable (because I am an animal lover) is the brief section on raising chickens and rabbits for eating. Thankfully, those sections were not too detailed to completely turn me off to the book.

All of the crafting sections include recipes or step by step instructions to get you started, some of which include drawn illustrations. If you have been wanting to incorporate more crafting into everyday needs, then is a great place to start. Even a city gal like myself could complete many of the instructions provided in the book. You don’t need to live on a farm, for example, to make soap.

The book retails for $17.95 in the US and $18.00 in Canada, but of course, Amazon has it considerably cheaper.

A few days ago, I received two timely books to review from Sterling Publishing: Country Living Deck the Halls: Christmas Notecards, Labels, Ornaments, and Other Festive & Fun Projects and Country Living The Farm Chicks Christmas: Merry Ideas for the Holidays. Both books have a similar flavor to them.  Think of HGTV in a book with a mix of holiday cheer, some shabby chic, and a sprinkle of Martha Stewart. Now, HGTV and Martha have nothing to do with either book, as in you won’t find them mentioned in either one, but I’m talking about the vibe or tone of the books. Both books were developed through the folks at Country Living magazine.

Deck the Halls (which retails for $19.95 US and $23.95 CAN) is a chunky little book just shy of 200 pages that is interactive because it is not just text but includes lots of paper-based crafting supplies such as stickers, stencils, place cards, tags, recipe cards, and more that you can pull out of the book and use for the crafts and decorating ideas described in the book. It is full of gift wrapping ideas, foodie-gift recipes, and lots of fairly simple craft ideas, some of which would make great gifts. For example, one project explains how to turn ribbons into vintage style book markers that have cute charms dangling from them. There is also an entire chapter dedicated to gifts you can make in the kitchen, and then of course, decorate them to look extra special when you deliver them.

I spotted a small number of the same craft ideas (like maybe two) in The Farm Chicks Christmas written by Serena Thompson (which retails for $19.95 US and $23.95 CAN). While this book also includes a few pages of stickers and note cards in the back of the book, it reads as a kind of visual diary of the author and her two friends, Nancy and Celeste, who all welcome you into their homes and family life during the Christmas season. You tag along on a visit to a tree farm and then get some cool ideas for decorating the tree as well as other parts of the house. These gals even decorate their front porches, so while this may be overboard for some of us, we can glean what works for us. One cute and easy craft and decorating idea in this book that appealed to me was to cover Styrofoam tree shaped pieces with fabric scraps, yarn, or bits of paper. This is a great idea for using up bits of crafting items you don’t want to throw away, and then you end up with some cute holiday decorations. I think these would be a great children’s project that could even be given as gifts to teachers and baby sitters. The Farm Chicks also give some yummy looking recipes that can be made for the family or given as gifts as well.

The holiday season is pretty much here already, but if you are still in the crunch as far as figuring out gifts to make and give or unique ways to decorate, both of these books are full of easy to do ideas that can be done now, or heck, you could use these next year too. It’s never too soon to get going on gift making.

The marketing folks at Running Press sent me a review copy of a fun new book published in late October called Stick It!: 99 D.I.Y. Duct Tape Projects written by T.L. Bonaddio. It is a chunky 264 page soft-bound book that retails for $12.95 in the US and $15.00 in Canada. Let me just note that I recently saw a duct tape tie in a gift catalog that cost $20, so with 99 projects - including some tie projects - this book is priced really well (and, of course, even less expensive on Amazon.com).

Along with ties, it includes tons of other projects: wallets, jewelry, CD cases, various bags, and I could go on and on listing them all, but I won’t. The projects are rated on four levels of difficulty from “Dude, my five year old sister could do that” to “Don’t even think about operating heavy machinery.” As you can tell, the tone of the book is fun and a little quirky.

Before jumping into the projects, there is a very brief tools, tips, and techniques area that covers what you need (which other than duct tape is not too much) and how to work with the tape. Sprinkled throughout the projects pages are semi-blank pages for notes, which I bet would be pretty handy as you make some of the projects since you can note any special tips you think of as you do them. Project instructions include step by step text plus a few illustrations.

I think is a wonderful kids’ book, for big and little kids too. If you have a crafty youngster on your holiday gift list or want to stash this for a birthday surprise, I am giving Stick It!: 99 D.I.Y. Duct Tape Projects a thumbs up.

Quayside Publishing Group sent me a copy of a new book published in October 2012 called Extreme Origami: Transforming Dollar Bills into Priceless Works of Art by Won Park. This is a hard cover book with 144 pages and over 1,000 illustrations. It retails for $25 US; $28 CAN; and L16.99 UK. I think the word “extreme” describes this book perfectly because this is not for your casual paper crafter in any way.

The projects are fairly involved though all of them are basically built around the idea of folding US paper money into amazing shapes using various folding techniques. The author suggests that you first try with larger pieces of paper that are the same scale as the money because it is easier to learn the folds that way, and there are a few important folds you need to master before jumping into the projects as well. Along with written instructions, there are illustrations to go with each one. For example, the butterfly requires a total of 27 steps. From pigs to tanks to toilets, you can fold paper money into just about any form it seems.

This is one of a number of books I’ve received recently to review, and I had a feeling my husband would find it interesting. I was right. He is fascinated with the intricate folding techniques used in the book. I also appreciate them, of course, but he is determined now to attempt some of them. Maybe it is a “guy” thing, but he loves this book. Take note for anyone looking for a guy-friendly craft-related gift.

Is this a book for your library or the perfect gift for a friend? To help you determine that, the publisher has let me load up some sample pages from Extreme Origami. Feel free to download them and enjoy.

A few weeks ago, I received a review copy from Running Press of a new knitting book out called What to Knit When You’re Expecting: Simple Mittens, Blankets, Hats & Sweaters for Baby. The book retails for $20 US/ $23 Canadian. It is written by Nikki Van De Car who explains in the introduction that she developed many of the designs while she was expecting her daughter, and then later, she developed more as friends and family members also had babies. The 30 patterns in the book are items the author feels are wearable, pieces that you will pull out over and over again for your baby to wear and for you both to enjoy. This does not necessarily mean there are only practical designs in the book. For example, one project includes an adorable little tutu-style skirt.

In fact, that word…”adorable”….pretty much describes every single project in this book! Of course, what is not to love when it comes to tiny sweaters, baby bloomers, and little booties? The projects are organized by trimester so that projects that take more time (like baby afghans) can be started early on and finished in plenty of time for the baby. The second trimester section has more gender specific patterns (like the tutu mentioned) because by then you might know if you are having a boy or girl. Finally, the third trimester section has the smaller and simpler project in it.

I have really enjoyed browsing through the patterns, mainly because the photographs are so nice. Each pattern has at least one photograph of the entire finished piece (sometimes more than one) as well as close ups so you can see details, such as the lace-like trim on a pair of bloomers. While there are a few challenging projects in the book, there are also plenty of burp clothes, hats, and afghans that are a little less involved as far as knitting skills.

The front matter of the book does have some basics on knitting, but I would not expect anyone to learn how to knit using just these few pages, even though they do have instructions and illustrations. However, there is a handy size chart and some other general information that is helpful. One note on the yarn - she does not use any acrylic. Now some will cheer at this and some will gasp, but her reasoning is that for her the washing isn’t that big of a deal (she explains how she does it for her baby’s hand-knits), and she gets the benefit or working with yarn that feels great and also feels good on her baby’s skin. Of course, for those who want super easy wash and wear, I see no reason why all of these patterns could not be made with acrylic.

Before I end, I have to do the math as usual. Okay, so a $20 book (which of course is cheaper on Amazon if you check out my links above) and 30 projects means .67 a project. If you enjoy knitting baby items or if you have wanted to start, this is a bargain book with very wearable and cute (even adorable) patterns that I can’t see any knitter not enjoying and using regularly.

In early September, I talked a little about a new book called How to Make Stuffed Animals: Modern, Simple Patterns and Instructions for 18 Projects, but I had not gotten a chance yet to take a complete look at the book other than the free download, which I offered then and again have for you linked here.

Now that I have the book in my hands, I can give you a little bit more info about it. As the title says, it includes 18 projects, all of which are small, adorable animals. The first part of the book before the projects section has the basics concerning what you will need to get started as far as supplies and also important information about the techniques. If you already sew, other than maybe needing to purchase some stuffing (the author prefers carded wool, but I think poly-fill would also work), you more than likely have most of what you will need. Plus since all the animals are pretty small, you don’t need tons of fabric and can probably use up scraps. In fact, one design element I really like is how she uses a mix of fabrics, even prints, for many of her project.

The techniques covered in the beginning section discuss some of the basics of sewing you need to know such as how to cut out a pattern correctly and how to do simple stitches like back stitch. At first I worried that maybe she expected you to hand stitch all of these animals, but the author explains how to use edge stitching on a machine. The hand stitching is really just for extra details and attaching parts together from what I can tell.

The projects are all freaking adorable! Each project has step by step instructions and include some pretty detailed illustrations to go with the text. (Again, download the file linked above so you can see for yourself). Though the book is about making stuffed animals, some of the projects take this a step further and show different ways for using them such as attaching them to a mobile or turning them into a tree ornament. At the end of the book, all of the patterns are included and require that you photocopy them at 200% and then cut them out.

This book retails for $24.99 US; $16.99 UK; and $27.99 CAN. At the US price, that equates to $1.39 per pattern, which is pretty economical. As with any small toy type craft items, these look like that can be “fiddly” to make. Personally, I don’t mind that myself, but I know some crafters who can get exasperated with making and attaching small pieces together (like arms and legs), so if you are anti-fiddly, then this is not a book for you. None of these patterns look overly difficult for anyone with sewing experience. If you already sew and are looking for some ultra cute gift ideas, this book would something to consider. Someone totally new to sewing might struggle a little, but that is the nature of learning a new craft. At least with small projects like this, newbies would not need to invest a ton of money or time.

Running Press recently sent me a review copy of yet another fun Halloween-themed craft book. Horrorgami: Creepy Creatures, Ghastly Ghouls, and Other Fiendish Paper Projects is written by Chris Marks and retails for $13.00 US and $15.00 CAN, though Amazon.com has it for $10.40 US. This is a cute little book (128 pages long), and it includes a dozen 6×6 inch origami sheets tucked into the back cover of the book. The 25 projects area all Halloween themed and use origami paper folding techniques you normally would see used to make items like the ever popular crane or boat. Marks, however, chooses to make spookier paper products like bats, the grim reaper, skulls, and witches. Each project is rated by difficulty using a picture of a rat. One rat is easy and up to four rats is “fiendish.” Step by step drawn illustrations show how to fold each section of paper to create the finished piece, which is included as a color photograph at the end of the instructions. I think this book would be a perfect rainy afternoon family activity, bringing the kids and adults together to craft. In fact, origami is a good way to help children with hand-eye coordination, and the finished paper items can be used to play with as well as decorate for the holiday.