Friday, August 29, 2014

Book Bonanza at Ben Franklin Crafts

I love craft books!  They give me so many great ideas.  Recently, while shopping at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, I discovered a bonanza of really terrific craft books.  If you have a passion for putting little gifts in little boxes you will love these three books. Each one contains a variety of 30 easily popped out boxes that fold simply and are printed inside and out. (You can even color the black and white designs if you desire.)  I know that you will love this series of books because they are an economical source of boxes that can remain flattened for storage until you need them.
When I read craft books, I tab them with Post-Its to mark ideas that I want to come back to read again.  As you can tell these three books had lots of super ideas and recipes (for soap).  (Some of the tabs are folded behind the book on interactive cards.)  I really enjoy making cards that the recipient can play with....I'm such a kid....and this soft cover book has some card styles that I haven't encountered before.  I've been a long-time soap maker so I really didn't need another book of how-to and recipes, but some of the soaps shown in this book were so luscious I had to get the recipes for mint chocolate, lavender clay, cafe latte, lemon poppy seed muffin and more.  With all the chalkboard crafting supplies at BFC this DIY book was of real interest to me. In it I found a wealth of unique, useful craft ideas for organizers, lunchboxes, and decorative objects that incorporate chalkboard paint, paper or stickers.

These last two books are real beauties.  Washi tape is so popular, inexpensive, and fun that it seemed natural that someone would make a book like this.  The author, Jenny Doh, is really clever and has created some cute and appealing washi crafts...love the gift wrapping ideas, decorated light switches, and  up-cycled containers.  The final book that I eagerly picked up at BFC was one on origami.  I have many, many, MANY! origami folding books (my son also loved making folded paper items) so I certainly didn't NEED another one.....oh but this one is so beautiful....and I haven't seen some of the folded objects before...really!  Notice how many tabs I put in this book!  I definitely plan to make some of the office organizers....beautiful and useful....and made from paper.  I hope that you will take some time to browse through the HM Ben Franklin Crafts craft book 'library'.  I know you will find a book with a new idea or technique to enhance your crafting skills.  Reading and creating are good for your brain and your soul.

5 comments:

eva said...

wow! looks like you've come across a lot of fun ideas in those books! i haven't bought any crafty books in a while but i did buy some for making yarn leis and cross stitching.

Unknown said...

These look like fun!

eunice said...

NEAT!!! Gotta go look for that origami book...looks fun! LOL, Lynn...that's certainly a lot of tags!

yyam said...

Ooooh...I love craft books. I just don't have space for them at home so I borrow from the library. Hope you get time to try out those projects you've bookmarked!

Leanne said...

Nice stock of crafty books Lynn! When I'm in Joann's or Michaels I tend to stop in that section to check out the technique books, some are not as interesting as the ones you shared. I think that origami one would have made it in to my basket too. hehehe. Looking forward to some of those book marked pages turning in to real projects that you'll share. :)