Expert Advice Books - Page 9

Christmas with Martha Stewart Living: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Amazon Price: $16.00 List Price: $20.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $0.47

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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Christmas & Hanukkah
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Seasonal
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

What's with the pastels? 2 out of 5 stars.
22 of 30 people found this review helpful.

I am a Martha Stewart fan, but this book disturbed me with its creepy pastels and white motif that pervaded the book. This sucked the Christmas spirit right out of me. I do yearn for the deep rich colors and and old money feel that were the Martha of yore. Now everything is post-divorce bright minimalist.

I can't imagine the holidays without it! 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

What would Christmas be without Martha Stewart? I can't imagine. This book covers Christmas in every stage from planning a month before to enjoying the big day. Everything is mapped out in accessible detail. The finished products look so "Martha Stewart," yet they are so simple to make, especially the folded paper stars, boxes of Swiss meringue,(which are spectacular) and the felt bags. My book is well worn and I find myself reaching for it almost monthly. The Lime Meringue Tart recipe alone is worth the price of the book!

Editorial Review:

A holiday grab bag of party recipes, entertaining ideas, table settings, decorations, gifts, and wrappings, complemented by step-by-step instructions and how-to color photographs, includes a Christmas calendar for planning ahead. Original. 150,000 first printing."

Kids Start Quilting with Alex Anderson: 7 Fun and Easy Projects, Quilts for Kids by Kids, Tips for Quilting with Children

Alex Anderson

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: C&T PUBLISHING - Model: CT-10275 Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $4.15

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> General AAS
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Crafts for Children
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Quilts & Quilting

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Teaching Tool 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

Alex Anderson is among the best in teaching quilting methods. This book is a great teaching tool for children of all ages. Alex really explains each step in detail and I learned some new tricks myself. She stresses safety while working with children as well as self-expression through fabric choices. A great addition to any sewing library!

Skimpy 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I love Alex but the book is a little too skimpy with only five blocks to choose from.

I am also surprised at the lack of photos on hand quilting. Hand quilting really needs way more illustrations and not just on burying the knot! Even the section on hand tying lacks illustrations!! If you put it in the book, you should show us how it is done so we can see it. A book on the basics should include the basics!

It is still a good book, but after having both books by Barbara Eikmeier I can say it isn't the best book I have seen on the subject. A nice addition after you have the others.

Editorial Review:

Pass along your quilting expertise to the next generation. 7 fun projects for kids and adults.

Jerry Baker's Supermarket Super Products!: 2,568 Super Solutions, Terrific Tips & Remarkable Recipes for Great Health, a Happy Home, and a Beautiful Garden (Jerry Baker's Good Home series)

Jerry Baker

Amazon Price: $23.96 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Master Products, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 103 new & used starting at $0.21

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Personal Health -> Healthy Living
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Expert Advice -> Jerry Baker
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> How-to & Home Improvements -> Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Fantastic Resource 5 out of 5 stars.
29 of 29 people found this review helpful.

I have thoroughly enjoyed going through this book. I have not been able to try everything, but what I have tried works. The book is written so that it is easy to follow. There are hundreds and hundreds of "recipes" and tips which can be used to remedy any number of situations around the house/yard/garden. The best thing is that most of the ingredients were already in my kitchen cabinet - at least for the things that I've wanted to try so far. I also appreciate that this book provides alternative methods to the use of hazardous chemicals/pesticides. Additionally, this book provides a wonderful offering of recipes for self-care (pampering) such as lotions and tonics, and hair and skin care. Even if you've never even THOUGHT about making your own "stuff," this book will introduce you to any number of concoctions that you can have fun experimenting with. I highly recommend this book... have fun seeing what works for you!

Editorial Review:

What do antacids, baby shampoo, and vodka have in common? They are all super powerful, money-saving solutions described in this home-improvement guide to solving common health, home, and garden problems with products found on any supermarket's shelves. Aside from their traditional usage, these and other well-known supermarket products have secret lives as health and beauty aids, household cleaners, stain removers, and bug killers. Readers will learn how to heal a headache with a lime, unclog a drain with antacids, remove grease stains with mayonnaise, and extinguish garden pests with vegetable oil, along with discovering the secret power of such supermarket staples as buttermilk, coffee, cucumbers, honey, oatmeal, tea, and wax paper. Conveniently organized by shopping item, from aluminum foil to vegetable oil, this book has aisle after aisle of supermarket shopping tips and includes features such as "Remarkable Recipes," "Trash to Treasure," and "Jerry's Fun Facts."

Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century

Terence Conran, Diarmuid Gavin

Amazon Price: $37.80 List Price: $60.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Monacelli Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $32.98

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Expert Advice -> Terence Conran
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Garden Design
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Landscape

Editorial Review:

The ultimate garden design book: a visual delight covering all aspects of working and living in your garden with stunning photographs of gardens from around the world.

The contemporary garden carries a profound connection both to the environment and to the range of activities—relaxing, entertaining, working—that characterize today's lifestyle. A collaboration between a distinguished style setter and a noted garden designer, Outdoors presents the principles of imaginative and innovative landscape design, providing readers with useful knowledge and also with inspiration from diverse sources: history, media, fashion, architecture.

Thematic chapters present a wide variety of successful gardens developed for specific purposes. Formal urban gardens on rooftops are explored, as are free-form rural landscapes, backyards devised to encourage children's imaginations, and spaces planned primarily for al fresco entertaining. Extensively illustrated case studies demonstrate inventive design on a grand scale as well as the creative detailing that sets one garden apart from another. In these sections, professionally designed gardens are explored methodically to reveal techniques behind planning and layout, planting choices, intended uses, and relation to the larger landscape. A special focus on conservation philosophies addresses wildlife, recycling, and water-wise gardening. Also included are a step-by-step guide to planning a garden, advice on selecting and working with a garden designer, and an extensive catalog of plants, with scientific names, foliage and bloom descriptions, and planting suggestions.

The authors engage in a lively dialogue, discussing their personal insight into the early and main influences on their work, how garden design has evolved, its current place in design as a whole, and the journey that it will take throughout the century. Their very different styles provide readers with both practical knowledge and confidence to seek inspiration for their gardens.

A Room of Her Own: Women's Personal Spaces

Chris Casson Madden

Amazon Price: $24.26 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 76 new & used starting at $0.18

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Expert Advice -> Chris Casson Madden

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"In speaking with many women across the country," explains best-selling author Chris Casson Madden in the introduction to her new book, A Room of Her Own: Women's Personal Spaces, "I have discovered that as much as we revel in the hard-won victories that have given us new freedoms in pursuing careers and in creating loving relationships, many of us long to find the time in a busy schedule to relax and refresh ourselves, body and spirit. I firmly believe that in order to give back to our relationships, careers, families, and passions, we must pull in for short moments to take care of ourselves, then we can return to the people and places of our lives renewed, refreshed, and ready to continue the drama of our days with all the joys, sorrows, pleasures, and stresses that go with it."



Throughout America Chris has found women from all walks of life who have created for themselves a diversity of personal spaces that provide them the quiet and solitude needed to restore their souls each day. These range from Ali MacGraw's studio in northern New Mexico, its incredible mountain views provide the silence and tranquillity she needs, to designer Sherri Donghia's fabric-filled loft in her Long Island country home, where she can stop, think, relax, and be really honest and creative, to television commentator Chantal Westerman's home, where, amid a collection of altars, crosses, and other religious icons, she has created a peaceful and serene sanctuary.



With over 200 beautiful, full-color photographs and an intimate, engaging text, A Room of Her Own: Women's Personal Spaces brings to life the special places that women have created as retreats from their busy everyday routines. Within the seven chapters, Celebrating Color, Sacred Places, Working Sanctuaries, Natural Retreats, Serene Spaces, Evoking Memories, and Garden Rooms, innovative and stylish ideas for creating a room of one's own abound. Ella King Torrey, President of the San Francisco Art Institute, explains in Celebrating Color why she gravitates toward her sitting room in her home in San Francisco. "I just relax and think in this room," Ella explains. "This room really feeds my soul and reminds me of life's wonderful possibilities. Every object in this room is connected to a personal place or experience, and so sitting in this room keeps me whole."



Carol Anthony, Chantal Westerman, Sally Quinn, Sister Mary Joaquin, and Ali MacGraw all share a passion for the spirit within, for altars, rituals, and the silent, reverent spaces that are profiled in Sacred Places. Artist Carol Anthony has a "sanctuario," or shrine. It is a thatched-dome adobe structure surrounded by sage brush and aspen trees where she retreats to rekindle the strength she derives from her beloved New Mexico landscape and finds the muse that is necessary for her career as a highly acclaimed artist.



Ali MacGraw shares a need for a space filled with personal belongings with all of the women featured in A Room of Her Own. "There are lots of photographs of my son, my friends, our animals, mementos from my travels, wildflowers, found rocks and bits from my walks in the arroyo. I think that all of us, men and women, need a tiny spot of total privacy, of stillness, to reconnect with our own souls. I know that the ability to regenerate, to get away a bit, enhances not only my mental health but my ability to work and create and, probably, to navigate the complicated relationships that make up the rest of my life."



An avid spokesperson for the outdoor life and one of the country's most notable mountain climbers, Sandy Hill finds that a rainbow-colored Tibetan tent pitched on the lawn of her Connecticut home fulfills her need for a private space. The tent, featured in Working Sanctuaries, was purchased en route to Mount Everest. It is filled with a myriad of pieces that she values emotionally and spiritually. "Everything in this space is necessary to my well-being," she explains.



Designer Victoria MacKenzie-Childs, who, along with her husband, Richard Childs, employs more than three hundred craftspeople, finds her sanctuary in her office, where she can be alone to catch up on correspondence and work. "But my real personal space," explains MacKenzie-Childs, "is a place in consciousness that cannot be taken from or added to. It is truly heaven on earth."



Martha Baker, the mother of four children, a wife, homemaker, career woman, gardener, sports enthusiast, and entertainer, finds that her bedroom offers her a personal space and realizes that it is "as essential to my life as is oxygen." Explains Baker, "I desperately needed sanctuary. My antique-filled bedroom is a place where I feel safe not to think to wander or to tune out. Its a place where I feel I can pull together my thoughts, have a private phone conversation, or just pause in my day."



In Garden Rooms, Pat Mason, Bunny Williams, Jessica McClintock, Antonia Bellanca-Mahoney and Lynn von Kersting find their solace surrounded with lush flowers, beloved plants, and an abundance of light pouring in through windows.



For Antonia Bellanca-Mahoney, her sanctuary is her pavilion, a twenty-five-square-foot room with creamy white walls and a slate floor, as well as a glass-fronted garage door that allows her to keep an eye on the world. "Men have always understood the need for a personal space, their hunting cabin, fishing boat, favorite car, woodworking shop, their little shack by the pond, or even their reclining chair in the den," muses Antonia. "Women have such constant demands between work and family that time and space to recharge is a must to maintain equilibrium."



Chris Madden sought out the places women create as retreats from the demands around them. "The connective thread, she concludes, for all of these personal spaces, is that each one, in dazzlingly different ways, brings its owner the sense of solitude, of the sanctuary they need in their rich and engaged lives. Amid the diversity, there were some elements that I found repeated often such things as glorious fabric and pillows, baskets and bird nests, stones, altars, photographs, and row upon row of hats, boats, books, and shells. Music, scented candles, and views of nature were important elements in these zones of privacy, and help to form the creation of each of these personal spaces."

Patchwork Puzzle Balls

Jinny Beyer

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Breckling Press Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $4.95

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Patchwork
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Quilts & Quilting
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Textile Arts

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Cute and fun ideas 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Oh - these are too cute! First, there were fabric boxes and bowls - which I love! Now, try your hand at fabric balls.

Let me admit my bias - I like cute, clever projects. Jinny Beyer has done the math and laid it all out in clear steps. Plus, you can use up all those fabric scraps that you just can't throw away!

There are more than a dozen projects in this book and they are a good variety on this one theme. Since this book is by Jinny Beyer, the color schemes are inspiring and some of the projects make good use of border prints.

What will you do with fabric balls? Use them in home decor, for the children in your life, as cute baby gifts and more. The designs start simple and get sophisticated. The temari style balls would make a lovely gift, too.

Editorial Review:

Fun and quick to make, fabric balls are great for indoor play, for home-decor accents, for holiday ornaments, or as soft and cuddly toys for babies. The ten designs featured in this book include complete step-by-step directions and color diagrams to show how to construct and color each project. Easy-to-use templates take the math out of even the most complex of the designs, enabling crafters to create dazzling patchwork patterns that match up beautifully.

Classic Knits for Kids: 30 Traditional Aran and Guernsey Designs for 0-6 Years

Debbie Bliss

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Trafalgar Square Books Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $4.55

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Knitting
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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great example of knitter's "Bliss" 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I just counted, I have 7 books by Debbie Bliss. That is probably why I found this book to be a bit less enchanting than I had expected it to be.

I like her books - enjoy the layout and can always understand the instructions. However, within the body of her work, this set of designs just seemed a little too similar to some in her other books for me to get excited. As a stand alone book, it has charming styles.

I still give it a 4 for good instructions, photography and cute styles.

the Best Bliss Book 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

....and I mean it. This one is really good. Like many other knitters I have been burned by Bliss' designs often. Her designs do tend to repeat themselves from collection to collection and the pictures, while cute, never show the designs properly. Well, this collection has b&w pictures of the items next to the instructions after the color pictures which are huddled in the front of the book. (I'm talking about a hardcover copy and am assuming that the paperback is identical). The designs are charming and definitely classics. I am buying my own paperback copy and finally returning my library copy. I also recommend the book Knits for Kids by Lena Stengard. This one is a keeper

Editorial Review:

In this delightful book, best-selling author Debbie Bliss presents 30 classic knitwear designs for children from birth to six years.

Jerry Baker's Great Green Book of Garden Secrets

Jerry Baker

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Master Products, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $6.94

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Expert Advice -> Jerry Baker
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> Organic
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Grow your own 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 13 people found this review helpful.

If you want to have the best "buds" on the block , I "highly" recommend this gem of a book.

Jerry baker is a master of garden secrets. And these are secrets that you will not find anywhere else.

5 stars.

Buy only a used book 3 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book through the mail and I wont tell you how much I spent on it. It really does have some interesting facts. A lot of repetitive ideas that can be confusing some times. Some of the tonics and things that I tried made my garden worse. In fact, it burnt some of my plants to the ground! Some of his recipes are confusing. Such as: he recommeds everything in this 20 gallon hose end sprayer. I went to many garden centers and everyone laughed at me. Nobody carries anything that large. that is for a garden the size of Texas! Who are these people that the tonics worked for? Come to my house and help me, then.

Editorial Review:

Gardeners can turn a bare plot into a beautiful paradise with the 1,050 miracle-working solutions, tonics, and tricks collected in this power-packed garden resource. Designed to increase flora growth and reduce animal damage, this guide describes how to create more than 125 garden-fixing elixirs using common household products and illustrates easy and inexpensive solutions to even the most perplexing problems. Readers can discover how to stop moles with chewing gum, revitalize roses with bananas, supercharge plants with chicken bones, and whip weeds with vinegar without undue expense or effort.

Shabby Chic: Sumptuous Settings and Other Lovely Things

Rachel Ashwell

Amazon Price: $23.07 List Price: $34.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Design Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $7.40

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Decorative Arts
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Decorating
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Expert Advice -> Rachel Ashwell

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Beautiful picture book. 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I was in great anticipation of this book because I found her previous ones (with the exception of the Gift Giving one which I have not read) to be beautiful, inspiring and filled with great, new to me, information. I wasn't expecting another book like the first ones and had I, I think I would have been disappointed. What I was expecting, however, was just another beautiful book filled with wonderful images to give my brain a creative spark. And it did just that.

It's not really a how to, it doesn't lay things out easily, and it's not really for home ideas and living. But it is beautiful, thoughtful, unique and true to Shabby Chic. So if you're in the need of some more inspiration and love her books, this would be a great match. If you're looking to learn more about shabby chic for home and how to do all that, her other books are much, much better.

Editorial Review:

Rachel Ashwell uses her signature style to make any event a special occasion.

This beautiful, accessible book proves that entertaining need not be expensive. Making every day into an elegant extravaganza is a matter of inspiration and imagination, and shopping is a great way to get inspired. Travel with her to unique locations like a Chinese grocery store, local antique mall, a flower market, or a flea market to search for the perfect accents that will give your event unexpected charm without breaking the bank. Use the treasures you find to jazz up average items – sometimes it's as easy as adding a little paint, ribbons, or flowers. Decorate the chairs, create a themed meal, or custom design menus and place cards. When it comes to setting a scene, Rachel is an expert and with her easy how–to advice, you can be too. She has practical ideas for any occasion – baby showers to weddings, birthday parties to bar mitzvahs, even old–fashioned family dinners.

Designers on Design

Terence Conran, Max Fraser

Amazon Price: $19.02 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Design Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $5.96

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Graphic Arts -> General
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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

great for a young designer... 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

For a design book under $25 bucks, this book is a steal. It features a lot of contemporary designers, with great pictures, interviews, and a bit of art history to boot. Gives you a lot of ideas and a few things to chew on.

For a seasoned designer, this book may be kind of basic. However, for a student or a young professional, this book offers a wealth of information.

Editorial Review:

Cell phones, watches, coffee cups, grand pianos, light fixtures, even a dog house. Consumer products are brought to life through designers’ imagination and ingenuity, and Terence Conran and Max Fraser present some of the biggest names in the business and the items they’ve created.

Between the covers of Designers on Design are interviews with more than a hundred designers, who answer such questions as:

What was your big break?;
What or who has most influenced your work?;
What elements of the design process do you find particularly frustrating?; and
To what level will you compromise to satisfy your client?

This beautifully illustrated book shows key pieces from each designer, along with a timeline that highlights major developments in the field from the early 1900s to the beginning of this century. Designers on Design provides a rare insight into the creative thought processes of today’s leading designers in their own words.