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

I checked this book out from the library first a few months ago and read it so much I felt I needed to own it. My Pinterest board is brimming with ideas that I never do. Having a physical book with beautiful and approachable crafts has been great! Not to mention any girlfriend I share it with peruses the whole thing. I do not subscribe to anything Martha Stewart Living, so this was all very new to me. The step by step instructions are easy to follow and the diversity of projects and levels of difficulty make it very approachable for any level of crafter. While it obviously doesn't contain every craft idea out there, the topics are varied enough to make you think and research your own adaptations. I'm a botanical print lover, and there were plenty of leaf and flower ideas here to keep me happy for hours!

Excellent shape and timely delivery

With just a brief look through I already got several ideas that I can incorporate into my work. I like that Martha makes use of natural items and the quality of what she makes will make marvelous elegant gifts and home decor. The book has nice photos and explanations. I cannot wait to read through each project. Even if I learn 1 new thing I consider it money well spent... In my initial look through I learned quite a few new ideas....for me this is a 10!

It is a great book. If they ever revise and reissue it, I hope they add some sections for braided rugs, canvas work, table looms, and macrame. I've been crafting for nearly 60 years. I've been looking for a particular pattern for using rope to make a braided rug. I was thrilled to find the pattern in this book. It has some great templates for tin punch crafts and wire works. Granted some of the items look dated; however, crafts are cyclic in nature. You can find some great basic ideas that you can use to make your version of what you are interested in.

Birthday gift for sister. She loved it. Well made book with great glossy pages and photos

If you are at all into crafts and are looking for great new projects, or just some inspiration, this is the book for you. I am neither a chef, nor a crafts person, but I like Martha Stewart. She did her five month stint in Federal Prison with grace and good humor, leaving prison apparently fully rehabilitated, and much more relatable. And to top it off, she's friends with Snoop Dogg. Martha's "Encyclopedia of Crafts" is a winner. Illustrated with hundreds of beautiful photographs, this book also has detailed instructions and lists of materials needed for many different projects using many different craft-making techniques (beading, clay, candlemaking, origami, silkscreening, tin punching, and many many others). The projects in this book range from seemingly easy to pretty difficult, and some of them require special equipment or supplies. But many of these projects are relatively easy and require only household, or otherwise easily obtained supplies or equipment. I bought this book as a gift for a coworker who is into crafts and she absolutely loved it.

I wanted this book so badly even after reading a few reviews that said it wasn't that great. I want to say that I love Martha Stewart and her magazines, but I wasn't that impressed with the craft ideas in this book. There were a few projects that involved sea shells, which are way out-dated for my taste, some crafts that involved glitter, which I've always thought was common sense, a section on beading, which peaked my interest, but not enough to run out and purchase the necessary supplies, a section on botanical pressing...another that is out-dated for my taste, and so on. I saw where another woman reviewed this poorly because there was no section on sewing, which is true. There is only one project that involves any sewing and that is the one where you make a tiny acorn with a real acorn top and a fabric bottom. You may sew an inch by hand and that's it. The projects I found interesting were the glass etching project, which I've successfully completed. I was a little disappointed that you can find this on her website with the same exact photos and all, and it's FREE there! I found the stamping projects, and screen printing projects very interesting and I may attempt those as well. The stamping section sparked some interest as well and I'm probably going to give it a whirl too. My advice is to look at this book in a library or book store before you purchase it! Then, if you are still interested, purchase the book from here, of course. Also, check her website for the crafts featured in the book. I think they are all there with similar if not the same photos...and once again, they are FREE there. I hope this helps=)

So many crafts, not always as easy as you think to replicate.