Crafty

I love homemade stuff. I love getting gifts that someone made with their own two hands. I also love to make things for people. I just wish I were better at it. I'm a fairly decent crochet-er, and I own a sewing machine, so some of the tools are there, and the interest level is definitely high. I guess it's mostly a time issue, but there's also the inspiration element. I'm not so great at coming up with crafty ideas - I'm more of a copycat. That's OK, right?

Anyway, the other day I bought a baby gift for a good friend on uncommongoods.com - a reclaimed wool animal puppet that is so super cute. It also looks super easy to make, and bam! I was struck with inspiration! So I hopped on to Amazon.com to see what kind of crafty instructional books I could find for stuff like this and boy, the selection is overwhelming!!! I could definitely get carried away! Just look at some of these titles -- Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls by Norma V. Toraya, Tasty Crochet: A Pantry Full of Patterns for 33 Tasty Treats by Rose Langlitz, Amigurumi Two!: Crocheted Toys for Me and You and Baby Too by Ana Paula Rimoli, Make Your Own Stupid Sock Creatures, Stray Sock Sewing: Making One of a Kind Creatures from Socks.

There were others that appealed to my more quasi-strange sensibilities, like Papier-Mache Monsters: Turn Trinkets and Trash into Magnificent Monstrosities by Dan Reeder, Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More! by Christen Haden, Invasion of the Plush Monsters!: Wickedly Weird Creatures You Just Gotta Sew by Veronika Gunter, Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp, and Softies Only a Mother Could Love: Lovable Friends for You to Sew, Knit, or Crochet.

So earlier this evening, I took advantage of the fact that my hubby works part-time at one of the coolest independent bookstores in the world, BookPeople, and perused their selection of craft books. I found and purchased (with the wonderful employee discount) two of the titles I had been eyeing on Amazon: Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori, and Baby Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo. I can hardly wait to get started! I'll be sure to post pictures of the results. (And fair warning to my friends with kids/kids on the way, don't be surprised if a cast-off sock animal makes its way to your house someday soon!)