Crafts

From homesteaders to urban farmers, and everyone in between, there is a desire for a simpler way of life--a healthier, greener, more self-sustaining, and holistic approach to modern life.

With its origins in the back-to-the-land movement of the late 1960s, Carla Emery's landmark book has grown into a comprehensive guide to living a sustainable lifestyle, while lowering your carbon footprint in the process. Find inspiration and know-how to live independently in this comprehensive guide, including how to:

* Can, dry and preserve food
* Plan your garden
* Grow your own food
* Forage for wild food * Make your own natural skincare products
* Spin wool into yarn
* Mill your own flour
* Bake bread
* Cook on a wood stove
* Learn beekeeping
* Raise chickens, goats, and pigs
* Create natural skincare products
* Make organic bug spray
* Treat your family with homemade remedies
* Make fruit leather
* Make 20-minute chees
* Tap a maple tree

And more!

Basic, thorough, and reliable, this book deserves a place in urban and rural homes alike.

This 50th anniversary edition includes updated resources.

If you thought origami was just about making peaceful cranes, flowers, and sailboats, you're in for a wicked treat. Horrorgami is a new and dark way to look at the once gentle art of paper folding.

Follow simple step-by-step instructions for creating 25 creepy creatures like evil witches, ghoulish goblins, sinister skulls, fearsome fangs, Frankenstein's Monster, and more. Also included is level of difficulty for each project, a glossary of fiendish folds and tips, paper-sourcing ideas, twelve 6x6-inch origami papers, how-to illustrations, and a fun full-color design throughout.

Beautifully photographed, this beginner-friendly guide has everything you need to make 18 lovely soaps. Inspirational for seasoned soap-makers as well, the recipes use only natural ingredients that are kind to the skin and our environment. From olive oil to juniper and cucumber to honey, there are lots of gorgeous fragrances and colours to satisfy everyone.

With comprehensive information on where to start and what you need, the book includes essential tips on utensils, safety issues to consider, and by a step-by-step guide to making soap. There are also useful sections on fragrances and natural colourings and additives such as coffee and cinnamon. This book tells you everything you need to know about making your own hand-crafted soap, using tools most people already own

An addictive hobby, you will find yourself making lovely, personalised soap ideas for gifting.

This is the book authors Roz Dace and Judy Balchin wish they had been given when they started out on their felting journey. A complete course for the absolute beginner, it is packed full of useful tips and techniques to help you on your own felting adventures.

Learn how to sculpt miniature teacup worlds, animals and birds, and even your friends and family. There are 12 varied projects, starting with the easiest and progressing in difficulty. Master the basics, then learn how to use wire, embellishments and armatures in your work, and even how to capture expression in faces. You can use the techniques you have been shown to create your own variations.

Pick up that felting needle and you are guaranteed to have fun with this much-needed book.

In this beautiful book, Paul and Niko of Earl of East London share the secrets behind the gorgeously scented candles they create at their studio. As well as the basic steps to preparing and pouring candles at home, the book includes a fascinating exploration of the art of building scent, so that the reader can create their own signature fragrances. Paul and Niko are devoted to capturing memories and feelings in scent, and in this book you can learn how to combine different essential oils to trigger different emotions and memories, whether that is the recollection of a childhood holiday conjured up by a hint of mandarin and seaweed, or an imagined walk in your grandparents' garden scented with basil and parsley.

Not only is candle making and scent development a wonderfully relaxing craft, it is also a unique way to create personalized gifts or to create a signature scent for your own home or special event.

In this timely and motivational guide, author Julia Watkins shares rituals, recipes, and projects for living simply and sustainably at home. For every area of your household--kitchen, cleaning, wellness, bath, and garden--Julia shows you how to eliminate wasteful packaging, harmful ingredients, and disposable items. Practical checklists outline easy swaps (instead of disposable sponges, opt for biodegradable sponges or Swedish dishcloths; choose a bamboo toothbrush over a plastic one) and sustainable upgrades for common household tools and products. Projects include scrap apple cider vinegar, wool dryer balls, kitchen bowl covers and cloth produce bags, non-toxic dryer sheets, all-purpose citrus cleaner, herbal tinctures and balms, and more, plus recipes for package-free essentials like homemade nut milk, hummus, ketchup, salad dressings, and veggie stock.

Based on the original designs shared by families and discovered in archives, Stella has created recreations of these historically important garments for our contemporary life that ooze classic style with modern minimalism. With these designs, you are offered not only a chance to pay homage to the women who lovingly knitted the jumpers and to share in a beautiful Dutch tradition, but also give something for your child to treasure for years to come.

The sizes of the ganseys run from 2- to 14-years old, but can easily be adjusted to any child's size by following Stella's straightforward measuring instructions in her chapter on knitting know-how. With a wealth of fascinating background information and historical photos of the original designs alongside every design, this is a unique and inspiring book for the ambitious knitter looking for unique, classic knitwear, and a brilliant read for anyone interested in craft, culture and heritage.

Between approximately 1875 and 1950, Dutch fishermen wore sweaters with characteristic knit and purl stitch patterns, sometimes cable. These jerseys, known as ganseys, became an intrinsic part of the identity of the Dutchmen who wore them. Many of the children in these fishing families wore ganseys too, and numerous photos have been discovered in recent years of schoolchildren dressed in the knitwear seen on their fishermen fathers.

Now, based on her popular Dutch Traditional Ganseys (2013) and More Traditional Dutch Ganseys (2017), Stella Ruhe returns with over 40 sweaters to knit from 30 different Dutch villages - this time, for your little ones to wear and ramble in.