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

Martha Stewart Living Magazine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description
For nearly 20 years, home crafters have turned to the pages of Martha Stewart Living for all kinds of crafts projects, each presented in the magazine’s inimitable style. Now, the best of those projects, including step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs, have been collected into a single encyclopedia.

Organized by topic from A to Z, Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts contains complete instructions and brief histories for more than 30 techniques, detailed descriptions of the necessary tools and materials, and easy-to-copy templates. Martha and her team of crafts editors guide readers through each subject, from botanical pressing and decoupage to rubber stamping and wreaths, with characteristic clarity and unparalleled attention to detail.

Crafters of all skill and experience levels will appreciate the many variations presented for each technique. For example, candlemaking presents a comprehensive array of poured, rolled, and cutout candles, including instructions for making your own one-of-a-kind rubber candle molds, floating candles, sand candles, and more. Each craft in the book takes on charming new dimensions with innovations that could come only from the team behind Martha Stewart Living.

In addition, each entry in Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts is chock-full of tips and advice. Handy glossaries in the entries--such as a comprehensive gem glossary, a glitter glossary, and a color glossary for making tinted wax--are valuable references that crafters will refer to again and again. What’s more, the Tools and Materials section outlines the best essential supplies that every crafter needs to have on hand, and the Sources pages clue readers in to the vendors and suppliers that the magazine’s crafts editors rely on most.

Filled with solid technical know-how, and presented with gorgeous color photographs, this handy guide can be read page by page and kept as a lasting reference by crafters and artisans alike.

Sample Project from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: Bottle Cap Frames

Metal bottle caps can frame small black-and-white pictures for novel thumbtacks or magnets. Clear resin is poured into the caps to seal the photos and give them an appealing glossy finish. Twist-off caps are better than conventional ones because they don’t bend when they’re removed. For appropriately small images, try cutting details from large photos. Or, if your software has a contact sheet mode, use it to reduce pictures drastically.

Project Supplies

• ink jet paper

• 1-inch (2.5cm) circular craft punch

• white craft glue

• metal twist-off bottle caps

• clear casting resin

• bonding cement

• small magnets or thumbtacks

How-To

Using the craft punch, cut out pictures. Using white craft glue, attach 1 picture to the inside of each bottle cap. Let it dry. Cover a work surface to protect it from spills, and lay caps on top of it. Following manufacturer’s instructions for clear casting resin, fill each bottle cap to the rim. Let them dry overnight. Using bonding cement, attach magnets or thumbtacks to the backs of the bottle caps. Let them dry overnight before using.

From Publishers Weekly

Stewart leaves no craft behind in this extensive compilation covering every craft for the DIY set, from albums and scrapbooks to wreaths. With more than 1,000 photos and 100 line drawings, Stewart provides step-by-step instructions for something as simple as making a shell soap dish to the more complicated marbleizing paper. Fans of Stewart, from kids to adults, will not be disappointed with the range of crafts, from folded-paper projects, photo-printed pillows, quilting and candle making to oldies-but-goodies like tissue paper flowers, rubber stamping and decoupage. Each subject is arranged in alphabetical order, and begins with an overview of the craft and the supplies needed, then continues with variations on the featured craft and tips for success: for example, with the chapter Nature Crafts, Stewart focuses on acorns, pinecones and shells, then within the chapter shows the reader how to whipstitch, how to make an acorn pin cushion, pinecone flowers, shell-covered pots, etc. With its spring publication, this must-have book will be sure to make its way into the hands of many lucky crafters in time for Mother's Day. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Potter Craft (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307450570
• ISBN-13: 978-0307450579
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Art

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 142 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and inspiring but not all-inclusive, March 31, 2009

By 

Heather "Here To Help" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration (Hardcover)

This book is a compilation that includes more than 200 craft projects from Martha Stewart Living. If you read the magazine, a lot of these projects will look familiar. As someone who isn't organized enough and does not have the space to keep all the back issues of the magazine, having all of these craft ideas in one place is extremely convenient.

The book is absolutely beautiful, loaded with page after page of full color photographs and detailed instruction. The quality of the paper, cover, and binding are high, and I wouldn't hesitate to showcase this book on my coffee table. This is also a lovely gift that can be given with confidence.

While there are so many great crafts included I do have a few favorites from the magazine that were left out, which is unfortunate. I'll be clipping these from the magazines and storing them in or with the book. One omission I was particularly disappointed about was the lack of Christmas ornaments (with the exception of one - the Snowflake Ornament). Leaves me to wonder if they are planning another book devoted specifically to this topic - I hope so. There is no time of year I am more in the mood to craft. There also isn't much in the way of other holiday-specific crafts. But, alas, despite the omissions the book is chock full of fantastic ideas that will provide plenty of inspiration.

A wide range of difficulty levels is included, so that whether you are a novice crafter or veteran you are sure to find plenty of projects to suit your needs. Particularly helpful is an appendix of tools for crafting, showing full color photos and descriptions of every crafting tool you could need for the projects included in the book. Very helpful if you've never used something before and want to know what to look for. Also included are many useful templates.

The types of crafts included are:
Albums, Scrapbooks, and Memory Boxes
Beading
Block Printing
Botanical Pressing
Botanical Printing
Calligraphy
Candlemaking
Clay
Decoupage
Etching Glass
Fabric Flowers
Gilding
Glittering
Jewelry Making
Marbleizing
Matting and Framing
Mosaics
Nature Crafts
Origami and Paper Folding
Painting China and Glass
Paper Cutting and Punching
Paper Flowers and Birds
Photo Crafts
Pom Pom Animals
Quilling
Rope Crafts
Rubber Stamping
Silkscreening
Soap Making
Tin Punching
Wirework
Wreaths

Had this book included holiday ornaments and other holiday-specific crafts I would have given it a 5 star rating. Everything else about the book is superb. Hopefully a companion book will be released devoted to holiday crafts. Still, I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in crafting.

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully done, and wonderful ideas- but NOT an Encyclopedia of Crafts, March 31, 2009

By 

Billy Goat Ranch "Art, Craft, & Book Junkie" (Hill Country, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration (Hardcover)

I love Martha Stewart's books, and am a life long craft-aholic, so I grabbed this FAST and ran to my nearest armchair. The crafts that are included, are quite good. However, so many crafts are not included at all, that I question how the book could possibly be an ENCYCLOPEDIA. If they had left out this word, I would have given them 5 stars for what is in the book, even though I personally don't consider Glittering (gluing glitter on things) to be a craft in itself- I would have called it Embellishing I think and made it a larger section.

The section on candle making has some really wonderful ideas. For example using dyed egg shells to pour candles in and set on the table in egg holders or using lemons as containers for candles. Techniques for how to dip, pour, roll, and make sand candles are included. Even how to make a candle mold and floating candles.

The Botanical Pressing and Printing sections was simply amazing, the clay section was interesting and I wonder how those polymer clay buttons for kids clothes hold up in the washing machine. The soap making section was nice, with extras like bath salts, but they strictly stuck to the melt and pour sort of soap, instead of the much nicer and more difficult to make soaps that take trickier processing and about a month to be ready to use (but are so worth it).

The Beading section was a small section of making little flowers and bugs with seed beads (they did included Beaded Jewelry under Jewelry Making but it is not terribly comprehensive). The Rope Craft section and the Etching Glass sections were very brief, as were several others, but what they had was neat and made me want to go buy Ropes and Etching Cream of all things.

The book is gorgeous, and a lot of fun, especially if you entertain a lot and need to make super cool Place Cards (has not happened yet at my house). And yes, it is inspiring as well. My main issue however, is not what is in here, but what is NOT in here. What about Antiquing Furniture, Basket Making, Crochet, Knitting, Weaving, Rug Making, Doll Making, Sewing, Macrame, Gourd Art, Glass Art, Stained Glass, and on and on I could go. The criteria for what was including is puzzling. A better title would have been Martha Stewart's Crafts V.I, and then hope for a V. II soon!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, April 17, 2009

By 

Luanne Ollivier - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration (Hardcover)

fully admit it - I'm a big fan of Martha Stewart's crafting projects. I was given a subscription for Martha Stewart Living Magazine for Christmas a couple of years ago and have kept every issue. But that one year is just a fraction of what appears in this new release from Random House Canada. It covers 17 years of craft content from the magazine packed into 32 chapters!

I have been reading (drooling over) Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts for the last couple of weeks, savoring every last page (and there's over 400 pages!)

Each craft has an overview, the supplies needed, very explicit step by step instructions and many projects incorporating the techniques. All are accompanied by absolutely gorgeous full colour photos.

Many of the ideas presented are updated techniques on historical crafts such as candle making, soap making and quilling to name a few. Although some crafts may seem daunting on first view, they really aren't. I'm thinking of making candles for Christmas gifts next year. I could tin punch some holders for them. And then use stencilled gift wrap, stamped cards, origami boxes and calligraphic notes from other chapters to package them!

I've enjoyed working with stained glass before, but haven't tried my hand at glass etching. There are some great ideas for starting small with tumblers and working your way up to mirrors and hanging pieces.

Some of the ideas are so simple and yet so visually stunning. I loved the framed pressed botanicals. Sun prints were something I'd never heard of before. Using light sensitive paper, you burn the image in reverse and use it for a variety of designs.

Some of the chapters use newer techniques. I'm a dedicated sewer and had a huge light bulb moment when I came to the chapter on polymer clay. Buttons! I've always purchased those cute crafty buttons to finish off a child's outfit, but I'm going to try making some of my own.

I haven't even begun to touch on everything included in this truly encyclopedic book. There's beading, decoupage, gilding, mosaics, silk screening, wreaths and lots and lots more! There is a glossary in the back as well as templates and patterns for all the projects presented. I'm thrilled to have this book in my library.

I'll post some pictures of finished projects - but for now, I am happily rereading this book - there's just so much to take in in one read. One final word - I WANT TO LIVE IN MARTHA STEWART'S CRAFT ROOM!