Customer Reviews

Hearts and Crafts: Beautiful Crafts to Make and Enjoy All Year 'Round

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I ordered this book to have some Valentine crafts to make with my daughter. It's not a bad book, but not one I would have bought if I had been able to flip through it in a store first. There are a few good craft ideas- such as a ballet dancer made with craft sticks and colored thread; a daisy hair wreath (which I will make this summer when the daisies bloom); a "surprise package" card which is a homemade card with a folded envelope on the front of it that you can put a picture or poem in; a paper heart box to fill with some yummy goodies (includes pattern for the box); and a dream keeper box that I think young girls would really enjoy. (Although some of these ideas I have seen already. But they are nice reminders of, "oh ya, I remember seeing that before and thinking it would be nice to make...")

But the rest of the ideas are either no-brainers (like making a Valentine frame by gluing conversation heart candies onto a piece of cardboard) or uninteresting (like making a place card with a rose petal glued to it). And the recipes for the "love potions" seem more complicated and less productive than other "potions and lotions" I have made.

There are also a few food recipes, but nothing unique or different. Just plain old recipes for scones, truffles, etc. that you can find in many cookbooks, magazines, or even online.

So - all in all - I would have been better off doing a search on my computer for Valentine craft projects, and a search for Valentine recipes.

An okay book, but nothing special. I would rather not have wasted my money on it. The book does have okay b&w illustrations of the projects, but a few more pictures on the cover (rather than pictures of a pair of scissors and some colored pencils) would have been nice. (You can see on the cover of the book the "thread & stick" ballerina; and the pearl and rose garland; and the mouse puppet which are all in the book...)

This craft book is written in a style that doesn't talk down to young readers. Descriptions and phrases are in the language of teens and pre-teens and contribute to a reader's enthusiasm to try one of the projects. It's a rather unusual craft book!