Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Vintage Craft Book


Got this at the thrift store. It's from the 70's. I love the colors, the projects, the hard-to-follow pattern directions. The most interesting thing is how many easy-to-buy, everyday objects are featured-- make napkin rings out of toilet paper rolls and felt! It seemed like the point of this book was to save money by making your own items. I mean, nowadays you would make them out of something much more durable, like PVC pipe. Or buy them. I feel like now people craft more out of a sense of art or excitement or recycling. I would make napkin rings because I wanted something one-of-a-kind, not because I needed to save money. Maybe it's that you can get napkin rings at Target or Walmart or Ikea for really cheap. Or that people rarely use napkin rings-- I mean, what are they for? Even the homemade game seems like it would take so much time that there would be no cost-benefit to it. I would make a homemade game because I have a fantastic idea or I want to teach my kids something or get them involved on the process. The materials and time to make what looks like Parcheesi (is that it?) would never be worth the $10 it probably costs to get it at the store. But on almost every page the book talks about saving money. Has life changed so much in 25 years?
Posted by Picasa

No comments: