Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains [Paperback]

Paris Mannion (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2001

Now crafters can create their own tabletop fountains and add beautiful accents to their living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, gardens and more. The author first explains the tools, techniques and materials needed to create fountains then shows how to make 15 gorgeous fountains using everything from lava rock and bamboo to shells and clay pots.

Each project is detailed with step-by-step instructions and full color photos to ensure that readers efforts turn out just right. Plus, they'll learn to incorporate flowers, driftwood, candles, figurines, crystals, plants and more to personalize their fountains and create works of stunning beauty and extraordinary calm that their friends will marvel at for years to come.

* 15 projects that include a wide variety of stunning and surprising styles
* Each fountain is adaptable to the reader's taste as well as to the availability of materials
* Other books on this topic show fewer step-by-step instructions and less variety

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Although fountains do not necessarily rely on common household objects for their construction, Mannion streamlines the process by, first, providing an illustrated tool list and, second, by designing 15 patterns to emulate. The creative impetus came from both the author's professions as a social worker and coach and an interest in feng shui. Indoor fountains that energize plant life, calm pets, and relax people are his trademark. A few of the skills necessary might need to be learned separately, including soldering and the workings (and fixings) of submersible pumps. So there's a lot to be said for putting together a collage of stones and shells, and bamboo and rocks, that burbles away. A good foundation course in practicalities--such as cord hiding, fountain cleaning, and distilled versus tap water--enhances the basic and specific how-to instructions. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Paris Mannion has been building fountains since 1995 and is the author of Create Your Indoor Fountain: Expressions of the Self. She teaches fountain-making classes, writes a monthly fountain-making newsletter, and sells fountain supplies online.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (March 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581801033
• ISBN-13: 978-1581801033
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome fountains!, May 7, 2001

By 

Michael Schneider (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains (Paperback)

I compared several fountain making books, and found this one to have the most complete information and the best instructions. The step by step photos are better than the drawn diagrams found in other books, because they tell the exact sequence of events in building a tabletop fountain. I also found this book to have the most useable projects ( I was not interested in outdoor fountains and the plumbing challenges inherent in making them). I have already made 3 awesome fountains, the most ambitious being the copper leaf fountain, which sounds like music and drowns out the noise of traffic that I used to hear in my living room. I had no trouble putting it together following the photos and directions. When it splashed too much, I found the remedy in the book, too. The author's lists are amusing and informative (example: 10 ways to hide the cord, how to quiet noisy pumps, and 10 ways to know you need "fountains anonymous") . The book describes a fountain as an "oasis connecting you to nature." That pretty much sums up my feeling when I go home after a busy day and hear throughout my house the endless sound of falling water.Because the projects vary in difficulty, I would highly recommend this book, no matter how much fountain building experience you've had.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Create Your Own Tabletop Fountain, May 8, 2001

By 

pat fisher (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains (Paperback)

Wow! Lots of great info and imaginative projects in gorgeous color layout. The feng shui cures, tips on hiding the cord, and how to drill slate were particularly helpful to me. I got a noisy pump, and this book tells ways to make it operate quietly! It answered all my questions on fountain plants, how to turn the fountain off and on without getting under the couch, where to get decorating accents, and how to water seal and patch clay pots.

The illustrated projects make it so easy to get the results I want. I am very happy with my purchase and feel like I know the insiders' secrets.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great instructions and photos!, March 17, 2001

By 

Elaine Nobriga (Ignacio, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains (Paperback)

If you've read the other books by Paris, you know that they are filled with information. Paris thoroughly researches her subjects and when you've finished reading, you feel like you've been given an education. There are from one to four outstanding, detailed color pictures on every page. The fountains range from very simple to advanced in degree of difficulty in assembly. The instructions, like the photos, are highly detailed. The book will make an excellent gift for anyone interested in fountains.