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28 projects seamlessly merge stitching, sustainability, and resourcefulness with simple, clean design

Advancements in technology have increased the pace of our lives. As a response, a vibrant Do It Yourself movement has risen to reclaim age old traditions that reconnect us to slower and simpler times. A sewing renaissance has been set in motion at a time in history when economic instability and an awareness of the importance of using sustainable resources is peaking.

With this in mind, award-winning blogger Maya Donenfeld offers a guide to working with her favorite recycled materials. You’ll find linen, burlap, wool and more with details on their history, deconstruction techniques, sewing tips, and information about their environmental impact.

Reinventing everyday materials into extraordinary items of beauty and utility for the modern home and family will excite new and experienced sewers alike. To add an element of personalization, Maya draws on her experience leading print workshops to share easy methods for transforming gently-used fabric with paint and ink. Stenciling templates and thorough instructions are provided, as well as encouragement to invent your own designs. Stories, a favorite recipe, and nature activity are tucked between and around the projects to offer the reader an invitation to slow down, and create with intention.

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Bird-Friendly Nest Boxes and Feeders features 12 simple and classic designs for building traditional birdhouses and feeders, plus valuable insights on creating the perfect backyard bird environment. More than just a set of plans, it covers how to attract the right kinds of birds and ensure that they will keep coming back.

This book includes complete plans for making basic, practical bird-welcoming structures, accompanied by patterns, illustrations and full color photographs. Each project is perfect for individuals striving to create the most natural bird environment possible. Woodworkers from beginner to expert will find projects appropriate for their skill level.

This book provides pages of valuable information for keeping feathered visitors happy. From understanding the proper dimensions for a birdhouse, to choosing the right seed for attracting desired species, to learning how to keep squirrels away, the tips and tricks found here will help guide bird lovers to create a backyard oasis. Readers will get valuable instructions on mounting techniques, types of paint to use, and cleaning tips, plus environmental insights and interesting avian trivia. This book stands out from ordinary birdhouse titles with technical detail on subjects like cavity size, proper hole size, and the ideal distance from hole to cavity floor.

The twelve plans in this book ordinarily sell for $12.99 each online, a $130 value. Each birdhouse project has been shop-tested by the author's customers, and has proven habitable by the many birds around his Minnesota home.

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Hundreds of Ideas for Healthy, Happy and Fabulously Frugal Homekeeping

Bursting with ways to downshift, simplify, preserve resources, and honor the planet, Lemons and Lavender will give you tools to reclaim a purer, tastier, healthier and less expensive way of life. Sharp shares her radical common sense and revolutionary "freeconomics" approach to budgeting in this step-by-step guide to the good life.

Creative ideas inside Lemons and Lavender:

• Garden-to-table recipes for every meal
• Eco-deco ideas for furnishing your home
• Recipes for nontoxic cleaners, house paint and more
• Start a seed sharing garden with your neighbors
• Easy-to-make gifts with handcrafted gift wrap
• Grow your own cup of delicious herbal tea
• Learn to use organic sea salts, skin scrubs and detox bath therapies

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Don’t hide that patch, make it a bold, beautiful embellishment! Repair holes with bright thread and a creative darning stitch; revive a stained shirt with fun embroidery! In Mend It Better, popular craft blogger Kristin M. Roach puts a new spin on mending by adapting traditional techniques for today’s crafty sewers. With detailed photography to show each step, she teaches a wide range of patching, darning, and repair stitches using both hand and machine sewing. The how-to text is accompanied by dozens of inspiring examples from Kristin’s own work and that of other craft bloggers and artisans. You'll love the innovative solutions using appliqués, patches, brightly colored accents, and intricate lace details. With Mend It Better, every garment and fabric repair is a chance for self-expression and fabulous creations.

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PlyDesign presents 73 ideas for sleek, smart home furnishings that you can make from off-the-shelf sheet materials using only basic hand and power tools. With designs contributed by more than 50 creative builders across North America, the projects include tables, stools, workstations, benches, laptop stands, shelves, art panels, organizers, headboards, doghouses, dollhouses, and more. A photo of each finished project is accompanied by a list of needed tools and materials, cutting and assembly diagrams, and clear step-by-step instructions.

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Whether you're looking to start a backyard chicken flock; need information on bee-hive management; or need instructions on how to brew your first homemade beer this stunning 3-book set has all the answers you need and more. The Homesteading Resource Set are three 160-page books, including The Chicken Handbook, The Beekeeping Handbook, and Home Brewing.

The Chicken Handbook
This handbook covers everything you need to know about this satisfying and rewarding hobby, from choosing your breed and preparing your chicken house to establishing your flock and reaping the benefits of fresh produce. Illustrated throughout, this indispensable guide offers the advice you need to ensure that your birds stay happy, healthy, and thriving.

The Beekeeping Handbook
A clear and comprehensive guide, this book is for any would-be beekeeper that includes a detailed look into the history of bees and beekeeping, and offers practical advice on how to buy colonies, keep detailed records, manage a hive, and, of course, deal with stings. Fully illustrated, this book is invaluable in helping you fully understand your bees and the best way to keep them happy.

Home Brewing
With many labor- and money-saving tips throughout, this is the perfect starter's guide to home brewing. Covering kits, ingredients, equipment, techniques, and the all-important recipes, this comprehensive manual offers all the know-how required to start your brew from scratch, as well as offering tips on how best to adapt the ingredients to suit your personal taste.

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Do you have questions about woodworking? Spike Carlsen has the answers! Woodworking FAQ has everything you want to know, whether you're a beginner planning your first project or an experienced crafter putting in cabinets or making furniture. This book is like a master carpenter standing at your elbow to answer questions as they arise, including: How do I make base molding fit tightly on the inside corners? How do I prevent splintering on the end of a board when I rout it? How do I taper cut a table leg? Is there any way to take the wobble out of a chair without taking the whole thing apart? With its comprehensive information, friendly question-and-answer format, and convenient lay-flat binding, Woodworking FAQ will be the most important tool in your workshop.

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William Cobbett wrote Cottage Economy, published in 1821, with a twofold aim. First, to promote his personal philosophy of self-sufficiency, which he viewed as the foundation of family happiness. And second, to "instruct country laborers in the arts of brewing beer, making bread, keeping cows, pigs, bees, ewes, poultry, rabbits, and other matters." The book has enjoyed classic status ever since.

Though more than 180 years old, Cottage Economy has lost none of its relevance or inspiration for anyone in search of what Cobbett called "a good living." Written with Cobbett's typical wit - and bulldog curmudgeonliness - it deserves its reputation as the founding bible of self-sufficiency and one of the greatest rural reads in the English language.

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Discover the perfect beginning and ending for every knitting project! This one-of-a-kind reference presents more than 50 ways to cast on and bind off, creating edges that are tighter, looser, stretchier, lacier, longer-lasting, prettier--whatever your project needs, you'll find it here. Detailed instructions for each technique are combined with step-by-step photography so that nothing is left to chance. At-a-glance charts identify the best cast on or bind off for various types of knitting, as well as cast on/bind off pairs that work well together. This indispensable guide will ensure that all of your knitting projects are polished and pleasing, from start to finish!

Want to read more? Preview this book: Learn the Channel Island Cast On or Learn Judy's Magic Cast On.