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Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration
For nearly 20 years, home crafters have turned to the pages of Martha Stewart Living for all kinds of crafts projects, each presented in the magazine’s inimitable style. Now, the best of those projects, including step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs, have been collected into a single encyclopedia.
Organized by topic from A to Z, Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedi...more
Organized by topic from A to Z, Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedi...more
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published
March 31st 2009
by Potter Craft
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I have to admit that I am skeptical of Martha Stewart, specifically when it comes to crafts. I have always associated her brand with generic and over-commercialized products. I do admit to using some of her recipes and they turned out wonderfully so when I heard about her forthcoming craft encyclopedia I was curious and of course skeptical.
I picked up a copy at the public library and meticulously poured over it as soon as I got home. The first thing I will say is that I was turned off by the cov...more
I picked up a copy at the public library and meticulously poured over it as soon as I got home. The first thing I will say is that I was turned off by the cov...more
I have to admit to being a real admirer of almost all things Martha Stewart-ish. I am no champion house-keeper nor am I a crafting wizard but I do always enjoy the Martha Stewart Magazine and website. In this age of wonderful craft & sewing books -I think that any book that would dare to call istself a 'crafting encyclopedia' would have to be pretty darn sure of itself and this encyclopedia does not disappoint. As always with Martha Stewart products, the instructions are well written & b...more
If you have read Martha Stewart's magazine, then a lot of these projects will look familiar. I don't get the magazine very regularly but always enjoy her crafts. So having many of those crafts from the magazines in one place is extremely convenient.
This book is a comprehensive book on crafting with a wide range of difficulty levels so even someone new to crafting would be able to find plenty of projects. I really enjoyed the appendix of tools for crafting. It has full color photos and then descr...more
This book is a comprehensive book on crafting with a wide range of difficulty levels so even someone new to crafting would be able to find plenty of projects. I really enjoyed the appendix of tools for crafting. It has full color photos and then descr...more
How could Martha not get 5 stars? I'm pretty sure this is the only Encyclopedia I have ever read, and probably the only one I would find so inspirational. This lady (and her large team) does it all- who ever heard of Quilling? I made the mistake of finishing it right before bed and had a hard time sleeping because of all my crafty ideas I was worried I'd forget about if I didn't write them down immediately. Anyway, this book will most definitely be added to my permanent craft collection and I'm...more
Some great ideas, great illustrations, great to own as a reference. For future reference, I would like to do some stuff with/for the kids: bottle cap frames, pom poms, quilling, silk screening, sand candles, decoupage furniture, sun prints (not necessarily all of those!). I also think I would like one of those linen table runners with botanical print, glass etching (it's been awhile), matting and framing, and maybe gilding (although isn't metallic paint cheaper?). I wish she wasn't so dowdy, bec...more
I wanted this book for a long time before I finally realized I could check it out of the library. After going through it I did come away with several interesting projects I wanted to do and a helpful CD at the back with templates. I can't say that the directions were particularly detailed or helpful -- more than anything it was a book of good photographs of craft projects. Does this sound familiar? -- that's right, Pinterest almost makes this book obsolete. I'm glad I checked it out and didn't b...more
How much do I drool over the photographs in Martha's publications? A LOT. Her photographers make you want to hang a step-by-step process in a gallery. I'm going to have to return to this book in more detail, especially for all the reasons listed from my initial flip-through:
p. 57 - using plate hangers to hold frameless pages under glass. I am always looking for new and creative ways to avoid framing. www.gracioushome.com
p. 68 - fabric sun prints. I had no idea there was such a thing as light-se...more
p. 57 - using plate hangers to hold frameless pages under glass. I am always looking for new and creative ways to avoid framing. www.gracioushome.com
p. 68 - fabric sun prints. I had no idea there was such a thing as light-se...more
One doesn't so much "read" this hefty volume as browse it for ideas. There are wonderful pictures and wonderful ideas for ways to spend time and means in creating really lovely items, but there is also the typically "Martha Stewart" touch of making everything seem like you have to do it only with her brand-name supplies for it to work as shown. In a similar vein, I have a couple of Martha Stewart cookbooks I enjoy perusing on occasion, but I've yet to make anything from them. There's that not so...more
the library wants me to give this back tomorrow. :(
i read through it again, marking a few projects that I want to come back to in the future.
pg. 111 polymer clay. I love polymer clay and want to practice playing with it more.
pg. 75 calligraphy (a step by step chart)
pg. 123 glass etching (looks addictive)
pg 150 glittering gift tags and cards
pg. 213 origami shades for twinkle lights! CUTE!
pg. 219 making envelopes
pg. 222 painting on glass, ceramics, china
pg. 298 rubberstamping (LOVED the picture...more
i read through it again, marking a few projects that I want to come back to in the future.
pg. 111 polymer clay. I love polymer clay and want to practice playing with it more.
pg. 75 calligraphy (a step by step chart)
pg. 123 glass etching (looks addictive)
pg 150 glittering gift tags and cards
pg. 213 origami shades for twinkle lights! CUTE!
pg. 219 making envelopes
pg. 222 painting on glass, ceramics, china
pg. 298 rubberstamping (LOVED the picture...more
While most of the projects (if not all) have already been featured in Martha Stewart Living, it's really fabulous to have them compiled in one handy volume. The visual "dictionary" at the back is helpful -- there are great tips included throughout including sources for harder-to-find items.
I love to hate you, Martha. You make it all look so easy! This book, with the gorgeous photography and (mostly) clear instructions is inspiring.
I love to hate you, Martha. You make it all look so easy! This book, with the gorgeous photography and (mostly) clear instructions is inspiring.
I've always been a little embarrassed about my Martha Stewart obsession, but this book only furthers my unhealthy fixation. It's enormous, first of all, and every single page is filled with amazing color photographs with detailed how-tos for everything from decoupage and glittering to jewelry-making and screen printing. I literally want to crafticize every object in my house now, from the shower curtain to the flour bin.
I did not read the text of this book, but I read all the titles, the subtitles and the pictures….and I don’t think I’ll ever read all of it at once. To me, it’s a reference I’ll use when making art project.
My favorites?
Botanical Pressing
Botanical Printing
Decoupage
Mosaics
Paper Cutting and Punching
Paper Flowers and Birds
Just looking at the projects, makes me happy!
My favorites?
Botanical Pressing
Botanical Printing
Decoupage
Mosaics
Paper Cutting and Punching
Paper Flowers and Birds
Just looking at the projects, makes me happy!
This book was a new book in our library and I snatched it up before it got onto the shelves. I now Martha is a nut but her ideas are amazing....salt and pepper holder and soap dishes out of shells?...oh yes. I made alot of copies but may have to purchase this. Everything is in this from tissue paper crafts, pom pom balls, beads, marbelizing paper to wire crafts.
If I could only own one craft how-to book, this would be a top contender. That woman covers everything (as usual) and has nice pictures to demonstrate just how talented we can all be if we would only try. I'm not sure I would have room for such a large book, but it was fun to read through it and I'll be using it in the future as a reference. I love my library!
I'm not usually a fan of Martha Stweart's stuff, it's just not that appealing to me, but this is a good general reference on a whole lot of different types of crafts, some really well knowns ones, and some lesser-known crafts. I found the chapter on decoupage particularly helpful, and that is what I am most likely to use it for in the future.
I checked this out of the library on a whim, to take a look at it, and...wow. If this wasn't Martha (who I really can't stand, and whose aesthetic bothers me a good deal) it might well go on my buy list. As it is, it will come back out of the library again, for excellent sections on Beadwork, Wirework, Botanical Prints, and others...
It's a very "Martha" book--which may be good or bad, depending on your view of her, I suppose. Unlike her Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts, this one didn't have anything in it that I'd actually do, so it was more of a skim-through to see what was there than an actual sit-down-and-read-each-page kind of thing.
I checked this out from the library with an eye towards purchasing it as a gift for friends with children. I was sorely disappointed to find though that these are not cute and do-able crafts for children. These are highly sophisticated and intimidating crafts engineered to challenge only the most bored of housewives.
Good Luck to any who manages to do one of these horrors.
Good Luck to any who manages to do one of these horrors.
Mostly been-there/done-that stuff that's already been covered. Or else projects that I'm not really interested in, like making flowers out of paper to put in your hair, or painting a Christmas tree ornament. To me, the best part was the wire section, and maybe the, um, can't remember what else.
not super impressed, martha baby. i expected more. there were some nice things in there, with good photos and instructions, but there were things that were missing - obviously because there wasn't enough room. after all, we couldn't leave out the chapter on ACORN CRAFTS!!! SERIOUSLY???!?!!?
I love this book! Any craft or art, you found it in this encyclopedia. Well-explained and meant for all levels, I have referred to this book numerous times. It is a book that also keeps in mind cost and helps you find ways to enjoy arts and crafts without breaking your budget.
I was excited when I saw this book back on the carts to be processed. The cover should have been my first warning. She's hot gluing seashells to a lamp shade. When is this, 1978? I was expecting a book full of awesome ideas and what I got was a collection of outdated ..ideas.
I wish you could give half stars, I'd give this 2 1/2 stars. This book is basically a collection of crafting ideas from her magazine. While it's nice to have everything bound in a hardcover book, I have almost all of these crafts in binders from her old magazines.
LOVE this book! i originally rented it from the library and i loved it so much i planned on buying it and then my boyfriend looked at it and bought it for me, because he loved it so much! Truly a wonderful book of ideas and crafts, she is an amazing person!
I will be reading this book for years. It is detailed, yet not complicated like her food recipes. The book is quite simply huge and it will become a mainstay on my nightstand for a long, long time. Right there next to my bible, "What To Expect: The Toddler Years."
It was okay for the medium grade crafter, not enough info on things i was really interested in (beading jewelry making) too much on others (shell crafts) but had a very interesting bit of press florals and floral prints using photo sensitive paper and fabrics
This book is ok. I skimmed through the different projects & was disappointed that a lot of the projects called for materials that are hard to find where I live. Otherwise there were a lot of projects I would love to try especially the pressed flowers, polymer clay & candle making.
Really more of 2.5 stars.
Some great ideas which you always expect from Martha. Candle, wire, silk screening, block printing, and glass etching are all covered well. Disappointed about framing section- I want to learn how to cut my own mats.
Some great ideas which you always expect from Martha. Candle, wire, silk screening, block printing, and glass etching are all covered well. Disappointed about framing section- I want to learn how to cut my own mats.
Makes a nice coffee table book but not really crafts I wanted to try. I was hoping for some new ideas for scrapbooking but it was mostly ideas for specialty books. Pretty to look at but nothing made me want to jump up and make the projects.
I would have given it more stars if it had info on some crafts I thought could have been included, like needle-felting, or maybe even some embroidery or sewing-type craft. I'm still loving this book, though, and was pleased to see screen-printing in it, which is something I've been wanting to do ages and might give it a try if I can manage to re-borrow this from my library again! :)
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Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, editor and homemaking advocate. She is also a former stockbroker and fashion model. Over the last two decades Stewart has held a prominent position in the American publishing industry; as the author of several books, hundreds of articles on the domestic arts, editor of a national homekeeping magazine, host for two popular daytime television p...more
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May 11, 2009 07:21am