Craft-A-Day Book Review

i have an interesting, recently released, new craft book from Quirk Books to tell you about…

it’s title, CRAFT-A-DAY, is apropos as the book delivers exactly what the title promises, 365 crafts, one for each day of the year…

the author, Sarah Goldschadt, is a Danish American freelance designer who has a refreshing outlook on crafting. one sentence in her introduction seemed to leap off the page… “Crafting doesn’t have to be a competition.” as a papercraft designer and instructor myself; crafting sometimes seems more like a job than a hobby.  i’m always pushing myself to do something bigger and better – competing not only with other designers, but with myself!

so Sarah’s view of crafting for the pure enjoyment of it; using simple supplies to create projects that are quick and easy to do, had instant appeal for me.

the book is broken up into weekly sections of daily projects that revolve around a theme. themes run the gamut from shapes and animals to things like gnomes, robots and umbrellas.

the weekly themes are all listed in a unique visual pattern index that includes the week the projects are for…

there are also pages that show the supplies used as well as basic how-to’s that apply to all the projects. the simple, neat and clean visuals make the book easy to read and follow…

i also liked how the inside front and back covers, which are usually blank, were cleverly used to provide bonus templates…

each project is labeled at the top with the date, includes a large color photo, a supply list and easy to follow directions…

most of the projects, if not all, are kid friendly. my youngest son chris is quite the crafter, so i thought it would be fun to try out a project with him. so we turned to that day’s date, september 20, and found MINI PARTY PERSON GIFT TAG. perfect! chris had a birthday party to go to that weekend. so we gathered up the supplies and got to work.

here’s chris cutting out the tag template he traced…

then he traced the template onto colored cardstock…

he traced and cut out all the pieces for the girl…

stopping to model the hat he made…

chris then glued all the pieces to the tag…

and viola! his finished tag, all ready to add to a gift bag…

and of course i had to make a tag too, i decided to use printed paper instead of cardstock for mine…

which brings me to a point… these projects are easily adaptable to different materials and design choices. you can dress them up as much as you like, or create them as designed.

i sometimes find it hard to jump into a big project, and can see where getting my crafting hands warmed up with a fun and easy project will help me get my mind turned to creating!

the holidays are coming up fast, and i can think of several crafter’s on my list – from young to young at heart – who would enjoy this book and the great projects included.  i’m sure you have a few on your list too!

so whether you are looking for a gift idea, or you yourself need a unique way to get your creative juices flowing, and get in the crafting “habit”, check out CRAFT-A-DAY!