Wonderful Wire Works: An Easy Decorative Craft [Paperback]

Mickey Baskett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

“Material of choice is wire—as in screens, meshes, and filaments....Tools and equipment are simple, such as glues, pliers, and cutters....more than 60 fairly easy-to-follow patterns, from a wrapped amber necklace and decorated goblets to a wondrous mesh handbag.”—Booklist. “Fun project ideas.”—Good Housekeeping.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Just when we thought nothing was truly new under the arts-and-crafts sun, up pops Sterling Publisher with yet another new handmade wrinkle. This time, the material of choice is wire--as in screens, meshes, and filaments. The author is a Georgia pro who, within her career lifetime, has written more than 2,000 instructions and directed more than 40,000 projects. Tools and equipment are simple, such as glues, pliers, and cutters. Plus the only precaution to take is during the snipping stage, where gloves and goggles are advised. Otherwise, the home is the wire worker's oyster. Baskett conjures up more than 60 fairly easy-to-follow patterns, from a wrapped amber necklace and decorated goblets to a wondrous mesh handbag and a utilitarian votive holder with flair. Metric conversion chart appended. Barbara Jacobs --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Previous titles include: Great Paper Quilling, Wonderful Wire Works, Glass Painting In An Afternoon, Decorating Your Garden, Fantastic Furniture --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806922699
• ISBN-13: 978-0806922690
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,608,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish, December 30, 2005

By 

AliPoo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wonderful Wire Works: An Easy Decorative Craft (Paperback)

Although a few of the projects in this book look like they would come out well, I found most of them tacky, amateurish, and frankly, not very well-designed. I have several books on wire crafts, and this is by far the worst. I think that it is important to have good technique--for example, making round loops, avoiding leaving plier marks in the wire--and I found that in general, the projects were very poorly executed. In particular with regard to the more delicate projects, the person who made these left so many scratches and nicks on the wire that you could see the copper coming through the silver coating. Honestly, I would be embarassed to give some of the items in the photos as gifts because of the poor crafts(wo)manship. Other projects were just lame and seemed very flimsy. The cover project--wire-wrapped flatware--looks really cool and was ultimately the reason I bought the book. I haven't done the project, but I worry about whether it would survive normal use and washing. A much better book that has a variety of projects and will inspire creative thinking is Barbara McGuire's "Wire in Design." Read the reviews and see what I mean.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly Wonderful, August 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Wonderful Wire Works: An Easy Decorative Craft (Paperback)

I looked at his book and had to have it. The pictures are delicious and the writer makes everything seem so simple and straightforward. I plan to make the salt and pepper shakers, the bead and wire wine glasses and some of the jewelry as soon as I can get the materials. The materials issue is my one complaint about the book. Many projects require "cabochons," which seem to be very hard to find. However, they are sold at stained glass supply houses as "jewels." They are also sold in millimeters, not inches (which is how the size is given in the instructions). I wish that she had included supply sources as an appendix. Other than this complaint, the book looks fun and well-explained and offers an incredible variety of great-looking projects.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is wonderful!, February 14, 2002

By 

Heather Dougan (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wonderful Wire Works: An Easy Decorative Craft (Paperback)

I came across this book while shopping for fabric, couldn't afford it at the time but immediately put in my amazon wishlist. Of course having it delivered to work was a bad idea, I keep flipping through it and planning all the projects that I can't wait to work on! Not sure about the other reviews that mention materials being hard to find because I haven't started looking for them yet, but as a former art student and hardware store habitue, I don't plan to have any difficulties.
An excellent book for both beginners and the seasoned crafter, the instructions seem very easy to follow and it's full of great ideas. In fact, a local artist has devoted an entire store to selling handmade crafts VERY similar to those in the book...