Book Review
Bring the outdoors in by using items gathered from nature to make
wreaths, ornaments and decorations from the book Nature Crafts for
Christmas. It is a good idea to get started on the projects from
this book now while the supplies needed are readily available. You
may not make all the projects you want to right away but you can
gather what you need to make them later. At the beginning of this
book there is an essential chapter called (I love the whimsy of
this title) Santa’s Workshop: Basic Craft Tools and Techniques.
There are photos of projects and diagrams in which various products
(floral pins, tape and wire) and techniques (making wreath bases
and hangars, wreaths and garlands, drying flowers, herbs and fruit,
crafting with gourds and pine needles and making bows) are demonstrated
as part of the craft making process.
While reading this book I was mesmerized by the photography featured
in it. There are stunningly attractive photos of the projects in
natural settings. I especially like the photo of the birdseed ornaments
displayed on Frasier firs surrounded by a forest of the same trees.
There are additional photos of nature scenes throughout book, which
are also nice to look at while deciding on which crafts you want
to make.
Deciding on which project you want to do is not an easy task because
there are many crafts in this book using a wide variety of materials
from nature. I like the unusual combinations of natural and man
made elements (i.e. the pinecone swag consisting of a ribbon bow
with decorated pinecones hanging from the ends). Nature Crafts for
Christmas has something everyone to try because the projects are
of varying levels of difficulty from the cinnamon stick ornaments
to the cornhusk (doll) tree topper. Within the content of this book
the authors demonstrate to us that eggs aren’t only for Easter,
you can make a wreath using Maple pods and bay leaves can be used
in unique ways such as package decorations and to form flowers to
decorate place settings. This book is the ultimate recycling and
reusing resource for projects using nature’s cast offs. |
