Quick and Easy Christmas

Best-selling authors and designers from Search Press: Kate Haxell, Susanna Wallis, Alistair Macdonald, Corinne Lapierre, Michael Powell, Carolyn Forster, Alex McQuade, Myra Hutton, Ann Cox, Jayne Schofield, Michelle Powell, Sara Naumann, Diane Boden, Louise Crosbie, Paper Panda, Susan Penny, Val Pierce, Susie Johns, Sue Stratford, Monica Russel, Susan A Cordes, Lee Ann Garrett, Amanda Walker, Stephanie Burnham, Michelle Bungay, Helen Birmingham, Marrianne Mercer, Sandy Griffiths, Pam Leach, Carolyn Schulz, Natalia Colman, Val Pierce, Jan Ollis, May Corfield, Anna Nikipirowicz, Frances McNaughton, Lisa Slatter, Georgie Godbold, Charlotte Stowell, Birdy Heywood and Karen Walker.

There’s a fine line between the gifting of tchotchkes and genuinely thoughtful little holiday presents. The latest from U.K.-based Search Press straddles that line, providing both “what do you do with this?” and “gee, I’m glad I got this” items to fashion. A few examples (from the two sides): pompom card pegs, flying pigs, bobble scarf, teddy bear, and a sugary little cat. Color photographs are plentiful along with the instructions and tips geared to helping crafters produce reasonable facsimiles. The how-tos showcased for the seven types of crafts—sewing, paper crafting, knitting, jewelry making, crocheting, sugar crafting, and polymer clay molding—are profiled at the beginning of each chapter, including summaries of tools, materials, abbreviations, and techniques, when appropriate. The first few pages feature color snapshots of the 100 projects, ideal for anyone who wants to select and craft a quick gift. Unfortunately, there’s no indication of level of difficulty, but this should still have wide appeal to those interested in Christmas crafts.

• IntroductionStitching know-howStitching projectsPapercraft know-howPapercraft projectsKnitting know-howKnitting projectsJewellery know-howJewellery projectsCrochet know-howCrochet projectsSugarcraft know-howSugarcraft projectsPolymer clay know-howPolymer clay projects