cover image Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle

Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle

Tsia Carson. HarperCollins Publishers, $19.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-06-084130-0

The force behind SuperNaturale.com (""an independent site dedicated to the Do It Yourself culture in all its glorious forms""), Carson teaches at Yale and the Rhode Island School of Design, and is a partner at the design firm Flat, which counts Knoll and Urban Outfitters among its clients. Here, she offers up a compilation of craft projects sure to make your favorite DIY hipster happy this Christmas. Whether you've been looking for a how-to guide on making a crochet skull or instructions on how to knit your own hammock, Carson and her army of contributors (all have also weighed in on SuperNaturale) have it covered. The book is organized by medium into six chapters (including ""Yarn & String""; ""Glass & Ceramics"" and ""Lost & Found""), and the writing is as irreverent as the ideas themselves: ""When my best friend got knocked up, I knew I wanted to be the one to make the baby blanket,"" writes contributor Callie Janoff. Projects range from the classic (etched glass pitchers) to the inspired, such as an embroidered screen door. And the contributors prove that practically everything can be repurposed, from a sweater with ""embroidered"" moth holes to underwear made from old T-shirts. Imaginative and inspiring, this is a fresh take on standard crafting.