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Crafting for the Holidays
Crafting is fun at any time of year, but it can be a special source of joy in the winter, when the cold days and long nights urge most people to spend more time indoors. Crafting can be a way to channel creativity, relax and unwind, and enjoy the personal enrichment that comes with learning a skill. At its best, a finished project will leave you with a sense of pride and accomplishment, as well as something both functional and beautiful. Even when crafting goes wrong, you often end up with endearing results, a funny story, and new knowledge that you can use to tackle your next project. As we approach the holiday season, many makers also turn their thoughts towards creating heartfelt gifts for friends, family, and loved ones. The time and attention that goes into constructing personalized, homemade gifts can be a wonderful way to express how much you care. So whether you’re looking to build on an existing skill or dip your toes into an entirely new hobby, these featured titles will provide plenty of inspiration and instruction for whimsical projects to try this winter season.
Books You Should Know About
Happy Nordic Knits by Une Cecilie Oksvold
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From the publisher: Brighten your outdoor wardrobe and your life with vibrant, Nordic-inspired patterns and uplifting stories from Une Cecilie Oksvold.
In Happy Nordic Knits, escape to the scenic Norwegian winter wonderland that knitwear designer Une Cecilie Oksvold calls home! This stunning collection of 23 original designs features colorful sweaters, accessories, and zero-waste projects designed to keep you warm and stylish in any outdoor setting.
Combining traditional Norwegian knitting techniques with bold, modern designs, these patterns are perfect for knitters of all skill levels. Whether you’re crafting a cozy sweater for a winter hike or using up leftover yarn for a fun zero-waste project, each pattern in this book is thoughtfully crafted to bring a sense of adventure to your knitting. Plus, Une Cecilie shares personal reflections about how knitting and being outdoors improve her mental health.
Crochet Creatures of Myth and Legend by Megan Lapp
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From the publisher: Gargoyles, Griffins, and Hippogriffs, oh my!
Since 2017, Megan Lapp of Crafty Intentions has built a following for her unique crochet creations. Her crochet creatures are like nothing else out there! They are intricately detailed and colorful, and yet with her step-by-step instructions, anyone can achieve her results.
Crochet Creatures of Myth and Legend includes 13 Cute Critter patterns—small and adorable creatures that are quick and fun to make and a great place to start—and 6 Standard Size mythological beasts in all their glory, including a dragon, kraken, feathered serpent, owl griffin, phoenix, and unicorn. Megan’s imagination is always at play, and many of her patterns include various options for wing styles, feathers, and more. The dragon pattern is a masterpiece of options, with multiple variations for ears, back scales, tail, face plates, and more. Cute Critters include Pegasus, Phoenix, Wyvern, Jackalope, and more.
Grab your hook and a few colorful skeins of worsted weight yarn, and start crocheting your own creatures of myth and legend!
Sewing Love by Sanae Ishida
From the publisher: Learn to sew beautiful, simple handmade clothes and begin a journey to loving the body you have.
Draft patterns and sew clothes that fit your unique body! In this garment-making primer, sewing is an act of radical kindness and self-care. Learning to sew for yourself enables you to make exactly the kinds of clothes you want, and empowers you to solve the fit issues that come with buying commercial clothing designed to fit one “ideal” body type. Sanae Ishida, author of the award-winning Sewing Happiness, guides you through the process with her inspiring personal story and gentle instruction in the simple art of pattern-making and garment sewing.
Create a complete capsule wardrobe of tops, bottoms, dresses, tunics, and outerwear. Each of the 15 projects (including variations) is designed to look good on a wide variety of body types—they’re fashionable yet timeless, and let you move with ease. Every pattern is self-drafted (no printed pattern sheets here—you will learn to draft and customize basic shapes to your own body measurements for a comfortable fit). Patternmaking has never been easier than in this intuitive, fully illustrated book.
Paint with Thread by Emillie Ferris
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From the publisher: Learn the needlepainting techniques of artist Emillie Ferris and embroider your way through the seasons with the stunning book. Needlepainting is a form of embroidery that produces richly detailed, lifelike works with simple stitch techniques and a single strand of thread. The gorgeous color gradients and flowing stitch directions of needlepainting are especially perfect for capturing flora and fauna. In this illustrated step-by-step guide, self-taught embroidery artist Emillie Ferris shows you how to use a needle to create strokes of color and bring images to life on fabric. Inspired by nature and the changing seasons, Emillie has created five new and exclusive patterns for the book, four that reflect each season in turn and one special design that brings the natural year together into one showstopper of embroidery. Emillie shares her own tips and techniques, including advice on materials, transferring designs onto fabric, and fully illustrated explanations of the stitches and skills needed.
Jewelry Making for Beginners by Tammy Powley
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From the publisher: Get started making your own jewelry with this easy and fun guide, featuring techniques for beading, wirework, metalwork, enamel, and polymer clay.
Jewelry Making for Beginners covers it all through accessible step-by-step instruction, with each step illustrated and a complete list of tools and materials. Build your skills starting with the easiest projects and then you take it from there. The book includes basics for making necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, as well as making your own beads, simple seed beading, easy wirework, and much more.
Make them for yourself, as a gift for a friend, or even to sell at your local craft fair or online. This book will launch your success as a jewelry maker, whether for profit or just for fun.
Botanical Soaps by Marta Tarallo
From the publisher: Sustainability is creeping into all aspects of our lives. The beauty industry is one of the biggest polluters, littering our oceans with used plastic bottles and containers. In response to this there is growing movement of people looking for cleaner and greener way to beautify.
Learn how to simplify your beauty regime with Botanical Soaps as this book shows you how to create your own beauty products using all natural ingredients. Demystify your skin type and discover how to combat bathroom plastic, minimise your routine by making your own soaps, shampoo bars and other beauty products including, lip butters, cleansers, bath salts and natural deodorants.
Botanical Soaps is a beautiful and inspiring lifestyle guide that will encourage you to green up your beauty regime with all natural, organic projects that are kinder to both the planet and your skin.
The Art of Papercraft by Helen Hiebert
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From the publisher:
Paper artist and teacher Helen Hiebert compiles a one-of-kind collection of 40 unique projects, each using just one sheet of paper. Combining decorative paper techniques like marbling, stamping, and stenciling with dimensional techniques like origami, cutting, folding, quilling, stretching, weaving, and pop-ups, The Art of Papercraft offers a rich variety of projects that will delight crafters, artists, and designers alike, including paper votive lights, pop-up cards, folded paper gift boxes and envelopes, woven paper wall hangings, miniature one-sheet books, and much more. Every project is beautifully photographed and accompanied by step-by-step visual instructions. Guidance on selecting tools, materials, and paper selection; in-depth technique instructions; and profiles of contributing paper artists make this a rich and practical celebration of papercraft.
Easy Homemade Pottery by Francesca Stone
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From the publisher: You’ll be amazed by what you can create with polymer and air-dry clay. These affordable, easy-to-find clays present endless possibilities for artisan-quality home decor and gifts. Francesca Stone, creator of the decor blog Fall For DIY, presents simple step-by-step techniques for shaping and decorating clay with just a few household tools. All final pieces can be air-dried or baked in a standard home oven. Featuring a gorgeous, modern palette of natural colors, these projects are deceptively easy and effortlessly chic.
Personalize your home with practical and beautiful items like the Terra-Cotta Jewelry Dish, Hanging Herb Garden Planter and Salt-and-Pepper Pinch Pot. Get creative with color and geometric shapes in home accents such as the Color-Block Photo Holder and Abstract Floral Block Platter. This book is the perfect primer to start making beautiful clay pieces at home and get that handmade ceramic look without the expenses and challenges of traditional pottery.
Heirloom Wood by Max Bainbridge
From the publisher: This illustrated woodworking guide combines traditional techniques with contemporary design for step-by-step projects and finishing techniques. Heirloom Wood is a love letter to the lasting beauty of wood through simple woodworking projects. Max Bainbridge teaches you how to identify wood types, source timber, and set up a basic toolbox, then offers step-by-step carving and cutting techniques for making your own pieces. With little experience and very few tools, you’ll learn to create hand-carved bowls, cutting boards, spoons, knives, and spatulas, perfect for adding a touch of the handmade to your home. With further advice on finishing your projects—how to sand, ebonize, scorch, and texture the surfaces, as well as wax and oil your new kitchen creations—Heirloom Wood shows you how to imbue each object with a tangible history visible through the maker’s mark. With beautiful photography and clear how-to instruction, Heirloom Wood gives you everything you need to create timeless kitchen keepsakes to be passed down from generation to generation.
If you’re interested in exploring more titles that center around crafting, check out some of our complete recommended lists here:
Our OverDrive Librarians Love Arts and Crafts
For more great lists, check out the Recommended Lists section of the Resource Center, home of all the great lists maintained by OverDrive’s staff librarians. Lists include bestsellers, favorite genres, kids and teens, LOTE content, seasonal favorites, and more!
Hot Off The Press
The OverDrive magazine subscription offers hundreds of titles related to crafting, including knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross-stich, jewelry making, woodworking, and much more! Check out our featured title, Ideas Magazine.
From the publisher: Ideas is all about MAKING your world more beautiful. Packed with creative inspiration, fresh ideas, easy projects and step-by-step instructions, this magazine is the go-to guide for crafters, stitchcrafters, makers, cooks and DIY home decorators.
A Little Extra Something
Support your community by diversifying your Libby offerings with Libby Extras. Today we’re highlighting Craftsy.
Craftsy and Craftsy en español offer resources for all creative makers, from basic instruction to advanced techniques for fabric and yarn crafts, baking, drawing, and much more.
Test run Libby Extras to see how each service can entertain and educate your patrons.
Thank you for joining us on this week’s round up of crafting resources! Reach out to your Digital Content Librarian or Account Manager for more information on how to provide the best content for your community.
About the author: Holly is a Digital Content Librarian at OverDrive. Her favorite genres are fantasy and science fiction, as well as anything with a touch of humor. In addition to reading, her hobbies include crafting, doing puzzles, and doting on her two cats.