Customer Reviews

Bazaar Bizarre: Not Your Granny's Crafts!

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I hate to give such a low rating but must admit I was dissappointed with this book.

My biggest complaint? As per the book's subtitle- "not you Granny's crafts"-one would intimate that this is a craft book. Not so.

There are about 8 projects in the entire book-most of the book is actually more of a journal of the "avant crafters" who contribute to the book. Backgrounds of their lives and why they craft outside the box.

While that was somewhat interesting-it's not what I bought the book for. If I wanted to read crafters journals I could peruse the hundreds of blogs online for free.

I'm hoping the artists in this book will consider putting out another book-this time chock filled with the unusual craft projects that should have been in this book and were not.

If you are looking for unusual craft projects-I'd sadly suggest you skip this book and check out free websites like craftster.

This is a well put together and entertaining book, but many of the projects werent anything illuminating-- a cross stitch pattern, or how to make soap-- some were the first I'd seen-- making bracelets out of colored vinyl records, but required some specialized tools (and colored vinyl) that wouldnt be that easy to get, or worth the money for future endeavors. Get this from the library before you buy it, as there arent really that many amazing projects in it. If you like the ones you see, then invest in the book.
again, great package, not overly impressed with the content, although I have seen worse.

after checking out a lot of the websites of people who participate in the bazaar bizarre i was expecting a great craft book. i got this book for christmas and i doubt i will even keep it. the projects are nothing special, and nothing you couldn't find online with much better tutorials and photos. the lack of photos is a big drawback of this book. as a visual person, i want lots of photos with instructions close by, and this book did not deliver.

I just got this book and can't put it down. I even woke up at 4:00a.m. and found myself reaching for it. There are some fun new crafts that I would never have thought of, but (almost) better than the crafts is the book itself. The writing in this book is just delightful. The style is thoroughly readable and fun. Lots of interviews, little stories about people involved in the craft making and other stories related to crafting in general. A truly new style of craft book which is a must for anyone who is even remotely interested in this type of thing. Another bonus is its size. Just under 300 pages, so the fun doesn't end too soon. Go grab one!!

This is one of the strangest books I've ever seen. I bought it because I LOVE unusual things, altered art, and oddities, but this book, in my opinion, relates to none of those things. It lacks in so many areas, I am not even going to try to list them all. To me, this book almost ridicules or "pokes fun" at arts and crafts. To be more specific, this IS a CRAFT book. I can't see looking at this book from an artistic point of view, whatsoever. However, this book is true to it's title: BAZAAR BIZARRE. I was terribly disappointed.

I organize the Cleveland edition of Bazaar Bizarre, so maybe I'm a little biased...but as a fellow author, the first thing I said about this book was "WOW! This book is good-looking!" I'm so sick of cheap, poorly-done craft books. This is NOT one of them. The photos are hilarious, the instructions are great, Greg's admonitions are inspirational.

If you can't make it out to one of the Bazaar Bizarre shows this holiday season, this might be a close runner-up!

I picked up this book thinking simply that it would give me some good ideas and inspirations for making punky crafts. What I got out of it was a whole lot more. Big kudos to Greg for writing his musings on the punky cultural DIY revolution. I related to so much that he said- from the joy of hoarding shiny bits and pieces to save for future craft inspirations, to describing the helpfulness of half-watching your favorite musical on DVD while crafting. (I recommend Moulin Rouge or Xanadu, personally.) I love it when Greg mentioned how this brand of crafters isn't completely anti-establishment, just rebellious and creative. If Joan Jett and MacGyver had a love child, it would be Greg or one of his talented contributors.

I don't do crafts. They're too hard. Everything gets ruined. But I love to pretend I might make something by hand some day so I had to have this book. And it doesn't disappoint. Not only is Greg D a funny writer with a distinctly smart-queer sensibility but his contributors are cool too. So give this book to someone who's handy with a glue gun or a sewing machine and get them to make you something weird for your birthday.

They spent more of the book on talking to crafters than info about the craft. Not worth buying!!!!
Sorry~
Kamilla

This book is only mediocre as far as craft books go. Yes, the pictures and commentary are amusing but as far as the projects are concerned, I didn't find them very appealing. They were fairly average in design and creativity and weren't really worth the money to buy the book. It was an entertaining book if you want to read other peoples' craft exploits though.