Book Review: Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration by Martha Stewart

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 descriptions of every crafting tool you could need for the projects in the book. It is very helpful, especially if you've never used something before. Looking there will let you know what to look for. The book also includes a resource list, buyers guide and many useful templates.

A few of the types of crafts that are included:
Albums, Scrapbooks, and Memory Boxes
Beading
Block Printing
Botanical Pressing
Calligraphy
Candlemaking
Decoupage
Etching Glass
Fabric Flowers
Glittering
Jewelry Making
Marbleizing
Mosaics
Nature Crafts
Origami and Paper Folding
Painting China and Glass
Paper Flowers and Birds
Photo Crafts
Quilling
Rubber Stamping
Silkscreening
Soap Making
Tin Punching
Wreaths

and MANY MANY MORE projects.

There are a lot of crafts to make as gifts or make with kids. I think having it on my shelf just for needing to make a gift - would be worth having it.

Although the photographs are great, my only complaint is that some of the directions aren't detailed enough for me. But over all it is a great comprehensive craft book.