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More and more, people in small towns and big cities alike are coming home from their high-tech, high-stress jobs (or a tiring day of school) and unwinding with some low-tech, hands-on crafts—whether it’s knitting or quilting or scrapbooking…or anything in between. And if you’ve got the urge to do something crafty, you’ll want to check out AlternaCrafts.
Martha Stewart meets the MTV generation in this hip, how-to book for trendy young craftsters. Author Jessica Vitkus (who, by day, is a producer for MTV2) shows readers how to recycle, reuse, and recreate plain old everyday items with cool and creative results.
The projects in this book won’t cost much—and most of them won’t require a huge time commitment, either. But the ideas are ingenious and inspiring. Vitkus teaches readers how to give a plain T-shirt some flair with just a few simple stitches—or a pair of fun shoelaces. She turns old pants into skirts and shoulder bags—and old T-shirts into a rug. She gathers bottle caps and jar tops to make lockets and magnets. She makes bandana curtains and button-covered flowerpots and chopstick placemats and personalized stationery—and the result will encourage even the most craft-averse to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Just one quick flip through the book is all it’ll take to get your creative juices flowing—because the projects really are cool…and different. And, to make it even better, they’re simple—and they use a lot of stuff you’ve got laying around the house (like your old Skinny Jeans, which you haven’t been able to wear in years, and—let’s face it—you’ll probably never wear again). The illustrations and step-by-step instructions make the projects anything but intimidating—and the spiral-bound format means that you won’t suddenly lose your place when your hands are otherwise occupied.
The skills used run the full gamut—sewing, embroidery, macramé, knitting, and even plain old cut-and-paste. And there’s no prior experience necessary (though I wouldn’t recommend trying to learn to knit from the two-page tutorial in the book). There’s a little bit of something for everyone here.
So if you’re looking for a way to exercise your creative muscles, AlternaCrafts is a great place to start. You’ll find a great variety of projects that are sure to get you excited about going low-tech.
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