Curly Birds

A Favorite Book: The Vintage Tea Party Year

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I have such a treat for you today... a book I have devoured over the last week. The Vintage Tea Party Year is the second book by Angel Adoree. I ordered her first book after falling in love with the spine - it was everything I thought it would be.

The Vintage Tea Party Year is visually unique with Angel Adoree's distinct style ever-present. Twelve complete tea parties are staged starting with a New Year's Eve tea party, and ending with a Christmas tea party. The book includes a children's tea party, a bachelorette tea party, a fireworks tea party, and many more.

Oh this book... it is so decadent. So glamorous. So British!   

These banana splits sold me - it was the first page I flipped to in the Children's Tea Party section. 

Every tea party is fashioned with unusual recipes and old favourites rediscovered. My nanny would recognize the food, giggle at the name, and raise her eye brows a little.

A Picnic Tea Party? I'm in. Perhaps for my birthday next year. Perhaps with my girl friends next week to celebrate cooler weather and kids back in school. 

One of my earliest memories is celebrating the Queen's silver jubilee. It was 1977 and the grow-ups brought out their tables and chairs and decorated the street with streamers. Us kids made crowns and ate too much cake - I think I had a stomach ache all afternoon. Good times!

Even if you are not British and aren't celebrating the Queen, street parties are a fun way to get neighbors together. And Angle Adoree specializes in making every celebration an event.

Vintage hair styles, pretty decorations, and hand-painted thank you notes are sprinkled throughout the book - enough for every party. It is another way that Angel Adoree inspires creativity while focusing on attention to every detail.

Yes this book is VERY British. I love that. Everyone needs a British friend in their life to drink tea with and plan fabulous dos. This is why The Vintage Tea Party Year is a new favourite book. 

 

And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Angel Adoree has another book, The Vintage Sweet Book, coming out next month. You better pre-order it because I'm going to buy them all up for Christmas presents. 

Book Review: The Artful Parent

Thank you to the lovely folks at Roost Books for sending me a review copy of The Artful Parent.

I am a huge fan of Jean Van't Hul's blog, The Artful Parent, and have been looking forward to Jean's book ever since she announced that she was writting one. 

The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art & Creativity is chock-a-block full of very do-able art projects.

The book covers everything from choosing art supplies, talking to kids about their art, displaying kid's art, and over 60 art projects for kids ages 1 - 8. 

Even though Jean is obviously very knowledgeable about studio art, the book is so warm and inviting that you feel more like you are hanging out with your artsy friend and her sweet girls, than reading a book. 

 

What I love the most about this book is that the pictures are of real kids making real projects. 

 

With titles like 'Getting Fancy' the girls and I were ready to make!

And we have lots of plans... 

The Artful Parent is perfect for parents, grandparents, and teachers. It is the type of book that will be used over and over again and referred to for years.

The book is available from Amazon,  Roost Books, Barnes & Noble, and your local independent bookstore.

Craft Books for Kids and Grown-Ups

I LOVE crafty books. I buy them. I read them. I devour them. I dream of writing them. 

Here are my top picks to buy all the crafty people on your list.

Definitely at the top of my list - Show Me a Story* by Emily Neuburger is an award-winning book that encourages children to create with their hands and minds. My top pick for kids of all ages. You can read my review here.

Buy Show Me a Story

 

A great resource by one of my favourite bloggers, Kate Lilley of Minieco. Eco-Friendly Crafting for Kids gives simple crafts that young kids and their grown-ups can do in an afternoon and mostly with household objects. My top pick for a crafty preschooler and their crafty mum. Read my full review here.

Buy Eco-Friendly Crafting with Kids

 

Sewing for Children by Emma Hardy, has been around for a while and is still one of my favorite go-to books. The projects are really sweet and my girls love to pick projects to sew. My top pick for anyone who want to teach their kids to sew.  

Buy Sewing for Children

Joel Henriques book, Made to Play, inspires both parents to be their child's toymaker. The book covers sewing, woodworking, metalworking, and drawing. The projects are modern, clever, and really neat. My top pick for family fun. 

Buy Made to Play

 

Handmade Home for Children by Sania Pell is a lovely book of beautiful projects for parents to make for their children. The projects are so simple and so pretty that you want to make them all. My top pick for creative mums.

Buy Handmade Home for Children

 

Weekend Handmade is more of a lifestyle book that will turn your weekends into a beautiful yet unpretentious, really fun and very hip time to share with your favourite people. My top pick for your single girl-friends and newlyweds.

Buy Weekend Handmade

 

Quirky, silly, do-able, and perfect for your cat-loving crafty friends. Crafting with Cat Hair* is a sweet book of projects to make with your cat. This book makes me giggle every time I look at it. My top pick for all the crazy cat ladies in your life.

Buy Crafting with Cat Hair

 

*Please note - while I was not compensated for these reviews, Quirk Books and Storey Publishing did provide me with free review copy of the books.

Book: Show Me a Story and Giveaway

I have been patiently waiting for Show Me A Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children’s Storytelling to appear in my mail box. The idea of a craft book dedicated to children’s storytelling sounded like a great concept and right up our alley. 

This book does not disappoint! It is filled with great ideas and beautiful photographs. My very favorite thing about Show Me a Story, is that many of the projects shown in the book have actually been made by kids – very refreshing in a children’s craft book!

 

The first project that my girls wanted to try was the Traveling Puppets. Nola made cloud puppets that she could move in the sky as if the wind was blowing them along. Kira made a flower puppet that could grow and a second puppet of a mouse eating cheese. The idea of cutting slits in the picture so puppets could move was so appealing to the girls.

Almost immediately, Nola and Kira began to think of how to include their characters in a story, what sets they would need to make, and the plot. Such a simple craft sparked so many creations!

 

Author, Emily Neuburger, is a teacher, mother, and crafter – and it is obvious from Show Me a Story that she wears all of these hats well. The book has substance and encourages children to create with their hands and their minds. 

 

The book is well-written, uses everyday materials found around the house, and the crafts are good for young kids all the way up to adolescents. With projects ranging from story dice and memory cards to soundtracks and maps, we will be referring to this book for a long time.

 

As soon as it stops raining, we will be making these story sets. There is talk amongst my girls of incorporating the sets into their birthday party.

The girls and I often tell each other stories - Show Me a Story is the perfect accompaniment to our antics. And if you’re new to storytelling – Emily will expertly guide you along. 

 

GIVEAWAY

To enter today's giveaway for a copy of Show me a Story, please leave a comment in today's post by 8pm CST on Tuesday, September 25. I am awfully sorry, but federal regulations require that the winner be a US resident.

You can see a list of all participating blogs on Storey Publishing's blog, and enter there for a second chance to win!

 

*Please note - while I was not compensated for this review, Storey Publishing did provide me with a free review copy of the book.