Get Crafty!


It’s time to get those creative juices flowing! Let these books, available in the Jessup Library, help inspire your next DIY project!


Artists of all backgrounds and skill levels will learn and explore myriad fun, cutting-edge techniques in the exceedingly popular genre of mixed media art. This book features a wide variety of traditional and eclectic methods, from collaging and journaling to stamping and encaustics. Each technique is presented with simple instructions and beautiful examples.



Fuse your love for crafting and the outdoors with this incredible compilation of DIY crafts, recipes and gifts made with natural materials you can grow or gather yourself. Detailed tutorials and recipes are provided for things like making solid perfume, crafting wooden buttons, preparing natural dye for easy paper flowers, canning your own fruit jam, handcrafting wreaths, using seed pods to create earrings and even making your own coconut oil for lotions or sea salt for hand scrubs!


Mosaics offer a medium to experiment with a wide variety of materials and to create imaginative color schemes. This book offers plenty of inspiration for those already interested in this increasingly popular craft, as well as solid information for the beginner. You’ll find both simple and ambitious ideas here, using materials such as tiles and mirrors, shells, pebbles, beads, and covered glass. You’ll get full design guidelines for each project, and a special chapter that gives directions for making the mosaics and working with the various types of material that appear in the designs.


Polymer clay is a popular medium suitable and loved by crafters of all ages and skill levels. It is available in every imaginable color and easily cured in a home oven, making clay art accessible to everyone. This book shows you how to use it to create exquisite jewelry, stylish gifts, decorative boxes, buttons, faux finishes, attractive home accessories and much more. Lots of step-by-step photographs ensure that not even a beginner can go wrong.


Learn to make beautiful, nourishing soaps – it’s fun, and your skin will thank you! Moisturize with shea butter, exfoliate with crushed walnut shells, and soothe itchy skin with oatmeal. More than 30 expertly formulated recipes take advantage of the beneficial properties in many natural ingredients.