A Couple Books You Might Like this Time of Year

Ever since this book, Paper Play by Lydia Cook, arrived at our house a few weeks ago, Girlfriend has been bugging me. She's been wanting to take a pair of scissors to this book, to color in it, and to make all sorts of fun crafts with its pages.

But I kept telling her to hold off, that I needed to find the time to give it a review, and after that, she could go to town.

Today is that day.

Paper Play is one of those books that will appeal to pretty much anyone who enjoys drawing, cutting and imagining, but especially kids from probably around four years old to early teens.

There are old-school paperdolls, ones that soooo remind me of how my mom used to tear out pages of underwear models from the Sears catolog and tape them on a sunny window. After that, she'd place a plain piece of paper over it and ask me to trace the image.

If they turned out really nice, she'd transfer what I drew to watercolor paper and then paint them for me. Like, really beautiful painting.

Once they were done, we'd tape the painted doll back up on the window and trace clothing--with tabs for folding over--on top of the doll. 

And again, if the clothes turned out nicely, she'd transfer them to heavier watercolor paper and we'd paint them together.

Of course, this was before electronic toys came on the scene.

Or X-boxes.

Or more than three or four channels on the TV. (And if you were truly lucky, the bunny-ear antenna would give you more than a view of a grey blur--oh, and did I ever tell you that the first TV show I watched on our first color televesion was a variety show with Tom Jones? He was wearing lemon yellow slacks while singing "It's Not Unusual." Ha!)

So, this book: it's charming! It would make a great gift for someone during the upcoming holiday or for something to do to pass the time rather than sitting, staring at some television show or playing Nintendo.

Another book I have on hand I'd like to share with you is Uncommon Cards by Jeanne Williamson.

Uncommon Cards is one of those books you'd find at the local book store (they're a dying breed) and pick up to look at because it is so unique.

Within its pages, Jeanne shows you how to create your own sewn cards with found objects or recycled materials from our own home. Things like leftover lengths of thread, unused pencils, fabric motifs and old paper maps. (Who needs those anymore?)

Anyone who enjoys passing the time making handmade cards rather than going to the local five and dime--especially crafty types like us--will be inspired to create or make, rather than buy. I can imagine using the instructions to create my own gift tags for presents.

The book contains all the necessary instructions that kind of look like simple recipes with pictures, and at the end of the book there is card stock that you can actually use. There are a variety of cards that you can make, but they do require simple sewing, so there's one caveat. (I didn't really know that one could sew onto paper!) There are also instructions on how to make your own envelopes, two different kinds, and they are straightforward.

Phew! Now that I've written these reviews, guess what I'm going to do? That's right: Sit down next to Girlfriend while she tries her hand at making a card from this book using her sewing machine. . .