craftygirlbooks.jpgBrowsing through Amazon the other day I came across the Crafty Girl books, written by San Francisco writer Jennifer Traig and published by Chronicle Books. They were published in the early 2000s and they are out of print right now, though you can get them through used books bookstores. The two I got were $4 each, including shipping.
I got Crafty Girl: Fun and Games: Things to Make and Do and Crafty Girl: Slumber Parties. I ordered through Abebooks.com and both books came in almost perfect condition. They are little things, but sturdy and very nicely formatted – they have a sense of fun.
I still haven’t put any of their ideas to work, but I’ve read through both of them and I love many of the ideas there – they are not things I would have thought of on my own (but then again, I’m not very “crafty”). My favorite idea, from the fun & games book, is to make your own board game. You make connected squares in a large piece of cardboard or poster paper and write funny instructions on each of them. For example, if you land on square 6, you have to wear a shower cup until you roll a 2. Or if you land in square 10, you have to wear socks on your hands until someone else rolls a 5. Other cool ideas is to make your own rocks and hide little things inside them and to fortune tell with tea leaves.
The slumber party book gives you several “theme” ideas. It’s geared to girls a little bit older than Mika (who is 7), but she loved the idea of having a “fashion” slumber party that will include the suggested games/crafts. We’ll be scheduling one soon.
In all, I’m quite happy with the books and I’m thinking of getting more šŸ™‚