Handmade Gifts from a Country Garden - Hardcover

Martin, Laura C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1558596100 ISBN 13: 9781558596108

Publisher: Abbeville Pr, 1994

Synopsis

Presents projects that can be made from materials found in the garden, including pressed flowers, evergreen wreaths, rosebud napkin rings, and a variety of recipes

About this title

Review:

Award-winning garden writer Laura Martin increases the joys of her garden by sharing its bounty. Here she presents 60 charming craft projects, arranged seasonally to take maximum advantage of the garden's yields. Spring's offerings include violet jelly, handmade paper, and a dollhouse garden. Summer brings flavored vinegars, natural dyes, and bath oils. In the fall come apple-head dolls, gourd projects, and dried flowers. Winter is the time for corn-shuck dolls, wreaths, and ornaments. There is also a chapter on creating a crafts garden, but since most projects are fairly simple and the supplies readily available from florists or craft shops, even those without gardens can make them. Each project helpfully indicates time needed, relative difficulty, cost range, and shelf life. As an alternative to the seasonal approach, a list at book's end groups projects by category (special occasions, craft type).

From Publishers Weekly:

"To give of your garden is to give of yourself." Martin (Laura C. Martin's Southern Garden), an Atlanta gardener, culls her garden for ingredients and ideas to create holiday toys, trifles and crafts. Her book is appealing, neither too lavish nor too homespun, and offers a reasonable range to readers who would like to dip into their backyards for the raw materials of such home projects as pressed flowers and evergreen wreaths. (Also included are recipes for pickled peaches, pesto sauce and apple pie.) After a general overview, the author organizes the book and the gifts by season (and so, violet-jelly shortbread is found listed under spring, since that is when violets bloom). Her aesthetic varies from formal (rosebud napkin rings) to truly rustic (corn-shuck dolls). Certain items may seem overly prim. But directions are clear and careful. In closing, Martin tells us how to plan a garden that will readily yield the makings of crafts. A source list for materials is included, as well as a bibliography. Author tour; Better Homes & Gardens Book Club main selection; BOMC selection; Crafters Choice Book Club selection; Garden Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Pr
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1558596100
• ISBN 13: 9781558596108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160