Customer Reviews

Bethany Lowe's Folk Art Halloween

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I agree with the two previous reviewers that the book is beautiful. It is filled with gorgeous photos and absolutely charming projects. I love them all.

Unlike the previous reviewers, I wanted to start on the projects right away.

I am lucky that I am not banned from Kinko's for life! The photocopying instructions are WRONG. I made mistake after mistake after mistake.

You cannot make a 400% increase of the Cat and Pumpkin Mask tops! It is absolutely impossible. Ditto for the 300% increase on the Haunted Table Scarf images. Unless, of course you're willing to mangle the book and have the manual dexterity of an Olympic gymnast, then you can copy one picture per page.

As far as I can figure out, 400% increase is actually 40%. At 140% I was able to get one copy of one Pumpkin Mask top. You can't get two on one page, not even using 11" x 14" paper. I'm lucky I didn't max out my credit card making these copies.

I wish I could say I hate this book, but I don't. I love it. I just want everyone else who buys this book to know what to expect. If I thought one star would have drawn people's attention to my review, I would have given it one.

This is a fantastic book at a great price. I have never heard of Bethany Lowe before but I bought this book based on the fact that it was a top seller in the seasonal section. I am not disappointed. This book is fully illustrated in color with in-depth instructions, patterns and reproducible vintage Halloween pictures. Don't be misled by the cover thinking that you are going to have to make complicated witches from paper mache. There are many easy projects that will make your Halloween decor stand out from the rest!

If you are a fan of B. Lowe and love crafting then this book may be for you. I was looking for some inspiration and bought this little book hoping it would help, and it lived up to my hopes and expectations. The book is full of vintage graphics to be photocopied for the projects and the projects are cute and whimsical as to be expected from Bethany. I am totally pleased with with this purchase and hope she comes out with similar offerings for other holidays.

I very much enjoyed this Amazon purchase. Found some great ideas that were defintely do - able and craft items that can easily be made. Some were more difficult but all in all would purchase again.

Vintage Halloween items make my heart go pitter patter but unfortunately my wallet can't keep up with the ever-growing prices for true vintage. Luckily, Bethany Lowe's Folk Art Halloween is here to give me plenty of crafting ideas that revel in vintage Halloween ephemera.

The cover photo is the hardest project but there are many other easier projects that are just as interesting. I am starting on the log cabin style pillow today. One of the best parts of the book is the inclusion of clip art from the early 1900s for use in recreating gorgeous invitations, post cards, and decorations using just a copier. The projects provided are interesting but better yet, they are inspiring - this book has revved up my creative engine for creating Halloween crafts this year.

This really is a very basic crafting book...I was hoping for things much more challenging.

Filled mostly with party favors and decorations, it would have been nice if they had at least let us see the index page in a "look inside" feature. I would have known to skip it all together.

If you need to know how to make decorated boxes, cones, tablecloths, 'crackers', ornaments made of clipart and tinsel, ribbon wreathes, invitations and envelopes, felt toys, and how to make a tablescape this is for you...if you want to make papier mache pieces, there are 2, one very, very basic, of a mask, and the project on the cover.

I love Bethany Lowe's work, but this was a very bad purchase for me.

Nicely done book, with some cute projects. This is to decorate your home for Halloween, definetly not to inspire fear in your trick or treaters. If that's what your looking for then this is not for you. I believe I'll be trying a few of these projects.

There's lots of inspiration in this book--lovely photography, layouts, and terrific vintage images you're free to copy. That said, many of the instructions, particularly for the sewing projects, are not well done. Simple bits, like "sew right sides together" (or the opposite) are sometimes left out. I'm not cutting the expensive materials she calls for w/o trying constructions out on scraps first. Perhaps more experienced sewers can fill in the blanks, but if an author goes to the trouble of writing out a lot of steps, the reader rather expects them to be comprehensive. Similarly, if you love the look of vintage papier mache Halloween figures and have always wanted to make your own, you'll find visual inspiration in here, but not many instructions for how to manipulate the materials (which are sometimes polymer clay, sometimes clay paper, etc.)

My sister loves this Halloween craft book with it's wide variety of projects and vintage artwork. I flipped through the book and saw some projects that interested me too. Overall a nice addition to any craft book collection.

Appreciate the reviews pointing out percentage errors to enlarge the images for the projects and the suggested corrections.

I don't own this book but borrowed it from our local library. I had never heard of Bethany Lowe, but was looking for ideas for easy, not too expensive Halloween decorations to make. I love vintage decorations over the more modern gory or scarier decor you usually find in stores. But true vintage is expensive and hard to find; here you can make your own. When I saw the tinsel tree, I knew I had to make it, because I couldn't find anything like it in stores. The directions are easy to follow; even if you can't find all the materials exactly as are in the book, it's not hard to improvise. I used a square gift box painted and decoupaged in Halloween colors for the base of the tree instead of the witches boot! I did use more garland than the directions called for, and a heavier gauge wire for the branches. There are also vintage postcards and designs and patterns in the book you can scan and print. Some of the projects are more difficult, some are easier. I think the book is worth having if you love making your own Halloween decorations with an old fashioned flare!