What’s On My Craft Room Bookshelf

No doubt I love blogs and online sources of inspiration, but sometimes it is nice to page through a book.  No googling, no scrolling…just a good old fashioned book.  Craft and motivational books are my favorites.  I either prefer something very visual and informative or an inspiring, motivational, thought provoking read.

In my craft room, I have a small library of my favorite craft books on my stair tread shelves.  To keep them neatly on display and accessible, I used magazine holders instead of bookends.  These wire mesh magazine holders are from the Target dollar bin section.  When turned backward they make a nice system for holding books with spines displayed.  I have to stop for a moment and mention how darling most craft book covers are.  The lovely colors really look great on display.

So are you wondering what I keep close on hand in my craft room?  What I like to flip through for inspiration? From left to right, here is my list of books and what I like about each of them:

Lotta Prints: How to Print with Anything, from Potatoes to Linoleum – A beautiful book on how to make patterns through stenciling, stamping, screen printing on anything from walls to clothes.  This book offers a view into the creative genius of Lotta Jansdotter.

Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home – A fun little book about cleaning by the guys behind the Method line at Target.  I personally use everything in the Method line.  I love the bottle designs and packaging.  This book has lots of great green cleaning tips.  Unfortunately, if you have read how I work full-time and blog original content 5 days a week, you would know my Method cleaning supplies do not get nearly enough use.

Amy Butler’s Little Stitches for Little Ones – Oh Amy…I love everything you do.  This book is adorable, but I admit I have only made one or two projects from it.  I just love the pictures, the tutorials, the process.  There is great instructions and sewing terminology.  Although I have only made a few of the patterns, the book has taught me a lot about sewing.

Organic Baby: Simple Steps for Healthy Living – Great book for what to think of as a new parent bringing a baby into your environment and how to make sure it is healthy.  This one is pretty much a one time read.  I will probably pass it on to one of the soon-to-be mothers around me, but for now I love that orange spine.

Decorate: 1,000 Design Ideas for Every Room in Your Home – I picked this up at Anthropologie while visiting family in Texas.  I am especially drawn to books and magazines when I am on vacation, because I have time to devour them.  I did not find a lot of ground breaking new tips in this book, but I loved the pictures, the way the book is organized, and the advice from other designers.  I also enjoyed the floor plan sections to help orient you to the rooms.  It is a quick read, despite it’s size.

Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration – All I can say is wow.  This is packed with information.  I skimmed the book at first and discovered about a zillion projects and techniques I had never tried.  This will be a long-time resource for craft inspiration and how to.  I am sure most of the projects are also online, but I love having the book in hand.

Printing by Hand – Lena Corwin gives an amazing orientation to printing fabric by hand.  I bought this book when I wanted to learn how to screen print and it was so helpful.  The project ideas are beautiful and I love Lena’s style.

The Nest Home Design Handbook: Simple ways to decorate, organize, and personalize your place – Eye candy at it’s best.  I would be happy to live in any of the rooms featured in this book.  It captures the essence of what I love most in home design.  It is very informative.  I think it is a must-have for someone like me who likes design, but is not a trained designer.

Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors – I already spilled my guts about how happy this book makes me.  It is witty and fun.  It is full of bright and colorful spaces that make my heart pitter-patter.  There are a couple pages I have marked as inspiration for our future basement.

Geometry of Design – I picked this up on a whim at an art supply store.  It delves into the math behind good design.  It was a very interesting read.  I enjoyed the dissection of some iconic designs and why they are so great.

Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business – Must-have for any budding small business owner in the handmade arena.  Packed full of really great, easy to understand information.  I previously owned a business when I stayed home with my son and this book helped me start off on the right foot.  I keep it around, because I know I will have my own business again soon.

CRAVE Minneapolis The Urban Girl’s Manifesto– This was a wonderful gift from our family photographer.  It highlights all the women-owned small business in the Twin Cities area.  An amazing resource for local services and shops.  I marked a bunch of places I want to check out and plan to use it as a guide for a fun day of shopping in the cities.  Plus, the stories of these women are so inspiring. Don’t live in Minnesota? There is a CRAVE The Urban Girls Manifesto for every major city.  I plan to get the one for every new city I travel too.  They have great discounts in the back for all of the featured businesses.

The opinions in this post are my own.  I was not compensated for writing this post or any of the opinions contained within it.  This post contains affiliate links.   I may receive a commission on purchases made after following an affiliate link.