Book Club Meeting: Big Ass Book of Crafts
September 3rd, 2008 by Simone 
1. Glass Paper Weights, 2. Subscription Card Artwork, 3. Mason Jar Lamp, 4. Big-Ass Book of Crafts Cover, 5. Candle Holders, 6. Frankie Mirror, 7. Drag Art. Pg. 6, 8. Candle holder
Where to begin? The Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano is certainly big with 377 pages and a corresponding weight.
Organization
The projects are divided into 21 categories by type of object, in other words, desk top decorations are collected under Bored at My Desk, Let Me Entertain You discusses place mats, napkins, refrigerator magnets, and coasters, you get the picture. Each category is color-coded. I like that feature because it does help you orient yourself within this vast sea of projects, which brings me to the layout.
Layout
I experienced the layout to be somewhat in my face. A look at the cover gives you an idea of what to expect inside, namely a barrage of colors, pictures, and text. These are arranged on the page in a fashion that does have some method to its madness, but is difficult to follow when you are just casually leafing through the book. Then again, I’m sleep deprived.
I would recommend setting an hour aside, picking up your drink/snack of choice, and slowly going through the book with some post-its to bookmark your favorite projects. Minor pet peeve: Not every page has a page number; and sometimes it’s not even every other page. I need my page numbers, otherwise I get lost and bad things happen when I get lost. . .
Projects
As with any large collection of projects there are some that appeal to me more than others. For instance, I shy away from anything that involves saws or power tools, but love playing with glue and paper. Also, some of the projects may be familiar (searching Flickr for “pencil roll” renders 1390 results), but sometimes it is nice to have instructions for a project in a format other than stapled 8 1/2 X 11 pieces of paper.
Generally, the instructions were pretty clear. Whitney of sewtrashy.com can certainly attest to that because she truly tested this book. Regarding her Drag Art project (p.6) she writes:
I had such a hard time picking just one project from this book. There were a lot I would still like to try, but this one stuck out for its simplicity. It seemed to have some potential. Also, it was super-duper easy! Just throw some paint down and drag your cardboard through it. Instructions were clear. I’m pleased with how mine turned out, although I will continue to push this method in the future. I don’t like painting with a brush, so this suited me quite well!
The only thing I did differently than the instructions in the book: I put my paint down on another surface and dabbed the cardboard in it BEFORE dragging it on the canvas. I wanted a little cleaner look than in the book.
Would love to see your attempts! Give it a try, super easy, and a quick result. You are bound to have the minimal supplies lying around to try this project. I did!
In addition, Whitney also made glass candle holders inspired by the three-tiered tray (p. 207), paperweights based on the glass chip magnets (p. 219) and a Frank Sinatra mirror influenced by the Japanese hand mirror (p. 230). She used whatever materials she happened to have on hand and substituted Mod Podge for some of the specified glues. You should definitely check out her detailed project descriptions in the book club Flickr pool.
I think that’s what I liked best about the book: You are encouraged to use the crafts and instructions as inspirations for very personal projects.
For my project I chose the marble mason jar lamp (p. 76). After perusing local hardware stores for the necessary lamp wiring equipment, I cheated and ordered an already assembled mason jar lamp kit. Then I snuck into my daughter’s room to “borrow” some marbles (“Mom, what are you doing with my marbles and where are you going with my nightlight bulb?”) and this is where I ran into trouble with my 5-minute project. You need more than 160 marbles to fill a mason jar and the lamp kit blew out the low wattage bulb. To restore the family peace, my daughter and I spent a few team-building hours sorting perler beads into rainbow colors to fill the jar and making the little flowers adorning the lampshade.
If I were to make this type of lamp again, I would add a lamp harp to the fixture that could support a slightly larger shade. In the meantime, I’m thinking of other designs like a jar filled with nuts and bolts and a classy black shade, or a jar filled with buttons and a lampshade decoupaged with old patterns.
What was your experience with the book?
Suggestions for the next book club so far are:
- Craftivity, 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle, by Tsia Carson
- Cute Stuff, by Aranzi Aronzo (not to be confused with Let’s Make Cute Stuff by the same authors)
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:30 am
I haven’t received my book yet
but I have a few suggestions for future books:
* Warm Fuzzies, Betz White
* Softies
* Get Real Greetings
Or are these too craft-specific? Do you want more general craft books?
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
That looks like so much fun! Talk about new inspiration!
Thanks for sharing!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
I have another suggestion for a book
MAKING STUFF: An Alternative Craft Book
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:45 am
I was wondering where you bought the mason lamp kit? Cute idea!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
My book hasn’t arrived yet either. Canadian mail is slow sometimes! I will post something once it arrives.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I had intended to have my notes typed up and sent in early, but reality being what it is my book spent most of the weekend with various rental kids so this is going to be down and dirty.
I rounded up kids, ending up with four girls aged 5, 9, 11, and 15. In addition there was my able assistant, a very craft challenged mom who did her job well, “Wow! How pretty.” We did the bubble stationery (316-317) and ended up making some cards, postcards, and envelopes.
This project was chosen because: we needed something that a wide variety of ages and manual dexterity could handle; we needed something we could do outside; we needed something we didn’t have to buy supplies for.
The instructions were pretty clear and the supply list didn’t include anything too bizarre. The containers we used were a little tall, so I doubled the contents of each bowl after watching the girls get frustrated with the lack of over the top frothy bubbles. We did not let the paper dry between colors, we were having too much fun to wait on something. We did have to keep reminding the five year old not to put bubbles on the back of the envelopes since activating the glue now makes them hard to use later. We also had good luck stirring the solution to get smaller, denser bubbles since blowing through the straw made bigger ones. Using both of these methods made some neat designs.
I will do this project again. Next time I will make sure I have a clothesline available. We dried over forty pieces of paper on a table top and things got a little cluttered.
I had as much fun as any of the girls, and the craft challenged mom, whose nickname at work is Bubbles, now has one of a kind stationery.
Another one of my rental kids (12 and very crafty) wanted to do the silhouette painting on a plate (132-133) We had a few problems to overcome: neither of us had plates in our craft stash; neither of us had money in our craft budget; we live in a small town. What we did have in our craft stash were cheap picture frames. We painted on the back of the glass so it wouldn’t get scratched. Instead of using spray paint to isolate the background we used pretty scrapbook papers. This meant we didn’t have to mess with aerosols and we didn’t have to purchase white spray paint or the Minwax Protective Finish. By using a picture frame we were also able to hang our art on the wall without purchasing a plate holder. They came out very cute and were easy to do.
I had a few problems with the book. It mentioned things like going to the copy shop so they can laminate items or enlarge pictures, that may be an option in a larger community but out here in rural America it isn’t that feasible. Some of the supplies it mentioned were also impossible to find in my small town. As was mentioned the layout was odd at first use, but after I got into it I really liked it. I know the kids (9, 11, 12) that were looking through it picking out project were drawn to the bright colors and in your face design.
My dream book includes supplies I can find in the craft department of a smaller Walmart, a smaller grocery store, and a small Ace hardware with maybe a few items picked up at a dollar store. These are the shopping resources I have available to me.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I think cc makes a really good point regarding supplies. For example, my grandmother’s hometown is a sizable college town with a graduate school and a 4-year college. The next Kinko’s is 83 miles away; the next Staples 67 miles.
I live in New York and for me to get to Michaels involves a $10 bridge toll in one direction, or an hour drive in the other direction.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I only just got it from the library, so no project to share. I definitely agree that a crafter could sit down with a beverage and a comfy chair and mark several projects to pursue.
Here are some I think I would like:
* I love the drag art (p.6) since you can do it with kids and still get a “home worthy” project. (“home worthy” is big for me too.)
* I think I might also like to try the David Hockney photo collage (p.16).
* CD Jewel Case notebook (p.48) would solve a lot of my crumpled paper in the purse issues.
* Ultrasuede leaf coasters – do you think they work?
I’ve only gotten to the correspondence section.
I like that these crafts are more “edgy” and less “folksy” – does that make sense? It’s bold and in your face and not wallflower quiet. I wouldn’t consider all of it “home worthy” though.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I’m also still waiting on a library copy. For future book clubs love to see a schedule of books posted — selfishly because I want to participate and it can take a long time to get the books, especially in this case where I’m using the state-wide ILL system. Having a schedule will let me plan ahead and hopefully be able to participate.
great review, by the way! I love book reviews – adding crafting in the mix and it’s bliss!
September 4th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Ack! So annoyed that we thought the deadline was Sept. 13, not 3rd! Too bad… For something completely different, a book like “Lotta Prints” could be a good craft book club selection. We’ve noticed a lot of people are interested in printing, and that book’s very accessible–everything from potato printing to screen printing…
~Sarah & Josh
September 4th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I forgot to put my suggestion for next months book on my posted project. I think was should try “Bazaar Bizarre: Not Your Granny’s Craft Book “. I seen it at Barnes and Nobles and would be interested in checking it out.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I might try that drag art! I have a couple of blank canvases that I’d bought to hang in my ‘craft room’……a year ago. :p I wanted to do something simple and colorful just to get something UP, so this would be perfect. …plus my 4 year old can do one too, thus eliminating small fingers ending up in my project.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
love the big ass book of crafts. got it from my library. i made ghe glass chip magnets on page 219. fun.
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