Make It and Mend It : Over 30 Ideas to Make, Bake, Sew and Grow!

Be inspired to make more and use less with this creative guide to sustainable living. Packed full of clever, crafty and thrifty ideas to make do and mend, this practical and fun book will keep you busy right through the year with projects for every season.

Make it and Mend it is the brain child of four women - Clare Flynn, Clare O'Brien, Hilary Bruffell and Anne Caborn - all keen to share ideas and inspiration that empowers people to re-use more and throw away less. And have fun along the way...

Lamenting the fact that so many people nowadays don't know how to knit, to sew, to change a plug or to experience eating something they have grown and cooked for themselves, the foursome launched Make it and Mend it - initially as a 'how to' website to share basic skills, and now in a beautiful book that will have you smitten with the idea of living more sustainably.

The Make it and Mend it way of life is better for you, better for the planet and better for your friends and family - who will soon find themselves on the receiving end of beautiful handmade gifts. Being creative and making things is actually good for us. It builds our self-esteem, helps us feel more capable and in control,reduces depression and generally lifts the spirits. So whether you choose to bake a loaf, sew a cushion cover, hang some shelves or plant a row of cabbages,you will save money and feel happier and more fulfilled.

This wonderful book is full of creative ideas tore-use, re-style or re-define things we might otherwise throw away. So old sweatshirts can be turned into a beautiful patchwork quilt, an old fire grate becomes a garden herb planter, and old jam jars are filled with home-made preserves or are turned into tealight holders.Upcycle kitchen cupboard doors, build your own barbecue from scratch, create handmade cards for special occasions, and bake delicious homemade sourdough bread.

To make more of life - Make it and Mend it!

Clare Flynn, Clare OBrien, Hilary Bruffell and Anne Caborn set up the MIAMI website in 2009 with the aim of growing a community keen to share ideas and inspiration and which empowers all of us to re-use more and throw away less. And have fun along the way. Their backgrounds are in marketing, PR, film-making and journalism.