Review: http://www.allfreekidscrafts.com

Craft It Up: Christmas Around the World Review

    

      

Craft It Up: Christmas Around the World Review
Gifted by: Cico Kidz
Reviewed by Christina Hammond, Editor of AllFreeKidsCrafts.com

Christmas traditions around the world vary widely, yet all are just as magical as the last. Whether it's wearing bells around your wrist in Cuba, star gazing in India, or dancing with the Rockettes in New York City, there are many wonderful Christmas traditional around the world. In Craft It Up: Christmas Around the World, authors Libby Arabee and Cath Armstrong have gathered 35 fun crafts projects inspired by their travels around the world.  

You'll love this book; not only is it filled with wonderful Christmas crafts for the kids to make, but the authors have also given us plenty of fun facts about holiday traditions around the world.  Kids and adults are sure to learn something new while making some fun worldly Christmas crafts.  For example, not only will you have fun making a clothespin pom pom angel, you will also learn about Austria's tradition of the “Christkind,” the traditional Christmas gift-giver. And because the book is categorized by region, you can have the kids work their way around the globe. What a fun way to learn about the Christmas traditions around the world while having a blast with your family!

While the projects vary in skill level and use a variety of techniques, each project is beautifully photographed and includes simple step-by-step instructions, helping your little ones achieve delightful results. There are even some delicious treats to make, which are sure to get the kids excited to help in the kitchen. Get the kids involved and let their imaginations run wild as they make some magical and inspirational treasures. All of the projects in this festive book will make fantastic keepsakes or gifts for loved ones. 

No matter what projects you decide to make from this creative collection, everyone is sure to have a blast unleashing their creative abilities and learning about how things are done around the world. Kids will be proud to see their handiwork spreading happiness and the Christmas spirit. Craft It Up: Christmas Around the World is sure to be a holiday book you reach for again and again.

Read more at http://www.allfreekidscrafts.com/Book-Reviews/Craft-It-Up-Christmas-Around-the-World-Review#2cS1gzx3UawWWg3C.99

Reloved Magazine in the UK features 3 of our Christmas book projects!

It's so lovely seeing our projects in magazines. We're so pleased that Reloved magazine in the UK chose our Glacial Lace Hangings, Stacked Christmas Trees and Bondi Beach baubles.

Review: http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com.au

Monday, November 17, 2014

Craft It Up! Chirstmas Around the World -- Book Review

Disclosure: Ryland, Peters and Small gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Today I am going to share with you a fun Christmas craft book that helps teach a little bit about various countries around the world. In August of 2013, I had the pleasure of reviewing Craft It Up Around the World. Now the same authors, Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong have a second book published, Craft It Up Christmas Around the World. 

This book is divided into three chapters: The Americas, Europe and Asia, Africa and Oceania. With countries in each area of the world a Christmas craft is shared as well as some information about Christmas in the country. Now I went through the book and marked crafts I thought Hazel and I would enjoy doing together and find easy enough for her to do somewhat by herself. I used green stickies and then I gave her the book and some orange stickies and asked her to mark the crafts she wanted to do. She marked all of them. She even marked the chapter pages and some of the second/third pages of instructions for the same crafts. I then asked her to mark her top three crafts by putting an extra sticky on those pages. I had trouble finding them because our book looks like this:

Before she started marking, we did one craft however. I knew she would love the Rockefeller Ice Queens craft from the United States. We have not added the threads to any of the ornaments we made yet (I have been lazy). 

The craft is an easy one. A template for the skater is provided. I copied it onto cardstock and then we cut them out. The skirts are doilies and then the beads add some decoration. Hazel talked about drawing on faces, but never did. The fun fact was about the opening of the ice rink in Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Our second craft was the "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Snowflakes representing Argentina. We had fun searching through the beads for clear and white ones and added some silver sparkles as well. Hazel grew bored of beading hers, but I noticed her working on it this morning again. I am thinking we will hang them for her Frozen themed birthday party this year!

Hazel hard at work

 Hazel had fun coming up with patterns for each branch. I love watching her make her patterns like she does in school. The tidbit relating this craft to Argentina is that with the European influence in Argentina, they decorate their trees with cotton and such to represent snow.

The third craft (and last one we finished so far) is the Sweetness and Light Centerpiece representing Colombia. I was a little surprised that Hazel wanted to do this one as one of her top three. We changed it a bit. I knew Steve would not like us using a real candle with felt around it and Hazel can turn on and off the battery operated ones, so we used a white batter operated one. We also did not have purple-red felt, so we used purple felt. We also did not sew the line on the leaves since I could not find my green floss. 

 Since we did not use a real candle we also used a paper plate as our bottom instead of a cork circle. As a result we had to add a flower. Hazel had fun cutting the fringe for the fringe flowers while I cut the other pieces and did the hot gluing. She is so proud of this craft and has been telling everyone about it. The candle related to Colombia since the official Christmas season starts in Colombia with the Day of the Candles--December 7th. 

 We also started her third favorite which is "Make a Scene" Terrarium representing the Czech Republic. Since it is a more detailed craft that is going to involve more from me, we did not get very far. We made the snowman for her terrarium so far. Next we will make the skater and then find the right jar to put it all in. The connection to the Czech Republic is that ice skating is very popular there at Christmas time. 

I have to recommend this book for anyone who likes fun crafts and especially Christmas crafts. We have had so much fun making the few crafts we have already done, and I know we will be making more from it. Although I do not feel like it shares as much information about the countries as the first one, I do like the Fun Facts they do share. It gives just a tidbit of the information, but that is always enough to spark interest and perhaps do a bit more research to learn more about each country. Many of the craft ideas are new and fresh and not what I see everywhere. As you can tell from how our book looks, we will be working on more of their ideas over the next month and a half.

Happy Publication Day Craft It Up Christmas!

Hey Happy Publication Day! Craft It Up Christmas is now officially here. Whoop whoop! 

I know it's a little early for Christmas but over the next few months I'll give you little prods! Because as well as making a beautiful Christmas gift it would make an even more awesome pre-Christmas gift to someone else...or for you and your family! You can get a head start on some lovely Christmas crafting. Or planning craft group Christmas nights. Or Christmas decoration swaps. 

I can see it rolled up in a stocking too. So maybe tip off Santa now? 

Craft It Up Around The World and Craft It Up Christmas Around The World by Abadee and Armstrong are available from all good bookstores, online and also from our publisher.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Craft-it-Up-Around-World-Libby-Abadee/9781782490388

http://www.bookdepository.com/Craft-it-Up-Christmas-Around-World-Libby-Abadee/9781782491569

Craft It Up Around The World: Christmas

Unbelievably excited today to bring you news of our beautiful Christmas craft book! Called Craft It Up Around The World: Christmas, it is already available online for pre-order!

How awesome is that! Release date is August.

We had so much fun making the book and we think you're going to love it! Christmas is such a special time and what could be lovelier than making heirloom crafts with your family?

This is what Amazon say about the book...

'Bring Christmas from around the world into your home with these beautiful treasures. Ice-skating in New York? Gazing at starry nights in India? Jingling bells around your wrist as they do in Cuba? Let your imagination take flight, and join in a whole host of celebratory traditions from around the globe by making beautiful treasures, either as keepsakes or gifts. Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong, both keen travellers, have discovered Christmas traditions from around the world and cleverly adapted them into 35 accessible craft projects, complete with fun facts about each country. Not only will you love making a gorgeous Ice Queen, you will learn when and why the ice rink was installed at Christmas time at New York's Rockefeller Centre. From composing a Uruguayan crib scene to making a Japanese origami gift box, you can indulge your creative ability while learning about how things are done in other countries. Follow the simple step-by-step instructions and clear photographs to achieve delightful results. Christmas is a time of giving and spreading joy among friends and family, and this book presents a magical and inspirational way to help you do just that.'

Tiny table top tree

Here at Craft It Up! we know just how it feels to be a little overstretched in the run up to Christmas. Between us we have 8 kids, 2 dogs and a brand new book just about to reach deadline!

So whilst we may not have quite tackled the Christmas card list yet (New Years cards ok this year?) we have managed to make you a festive craft that'll take you moments to create.

Our tiny table top tree would look beautiful on a mantelpiece or as a centrepiece. Imagine several in different sized glasses running down the centre of your Christmas Day table!

 

A sneak peak at our Cuba project!

Did you know that one of the best times to visit Cuba is right now, in August? This is because the weather is starting to cool down a bit and that means less tourists!

If a trip to Cuba is just out of your reach right now, then why not have a look at the Cars of Cuba Collection project in our book Craft It Up Around The World? We've used paint cards to make a cool framed picture. And since paint cards are free, we reckon it's probably cheaper than a trip to Cuba too!

 

Need a copy of our book? Visit your local bookstore and order a copy or go online. One of our suppliers is Book Depository, who offer free post worldwide.

 

http://www.bookdepository.com/Craft-it-Up-Around-World-Libby-Abadee/9781782490388

 



Book review from www.mummyslittlestars.com

The awesome Fiona from http://mummyslittlestars.com/ has written us a great review! '

 

We love hearing what you've been trying out from our book and Fiona's daughter Miss M has done a brilliant job with our 'Three (Salt Dough) Coins in the Fountain'. We love that she's linked it to stories of her travels and a little educational maths play too!

 

And what's not to love about a rainbow craft project!

 

Thank you Fiona and Miss M and we hope you continue to enjoy the book and the projects on the blog!

 

Craft It Up Around the World – Fun Travel Inspired Craft ideas – Book Review

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Mummy's Little Stars    

With Miss M being a huge fan of anything craft related, we were really pleased to receive the new Craft It Up – Around the World book by Cico Books.  The chapters are broken down into continents with themed craft ideas for a selection of countries within each continent.  Each craft is beautifully illustrated over a couple of pages in a high quality book.
With Miss M having just finished her foundation year in school, one of the major topics she covered in the final term was different countries and cultures around the world.  This book gave us lots of talking points and ideas which not only broadened her crafting skills but helped build her knowledge of the world and different countries.
We had a look through and were inspired by many ideas – we have a constantly growing list of ideas that Miss is keen to try from the Greek Paper Crown Wreath, to the Snowman from Finland and the Austrian Paper Dolly Choir.

The idea that Miss M most wanted to try first was the Coins in the Fountain, an idea inspired by the Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy.  This was quite close to my heart as I had visiting here with daddy before the children were born, so I dug out some pictures and we had a little talk about Rome and Italy and some of the famous sites you can see there.

The idea of this craft is to make Salt Dough (using just salt/flour/oil – all of which we had in the house) and then cutting out some coin shapes to represent the coins that you would normally throw into the Trevi Fountain.  These are then painted and can be used for any sort of imaginative play or for number work – a key thing for Miss M right now as she is learning the basics of addition and subtraction.

First of all we mixed the ingredients to make the dough, then rolled it out before using a cutter to make the coin shapes.  We then used the blunt end of a small paintbrush to create holes and number designs across the coins.  Once completed these were baked in the oven until hard.  Miss M absolutely loved doing this and was totally enthusiastic eager to be involved at every stage.  She did let me help with the numbers but did instruct me what number to put on each coin!

Once the salt dough was baked and cooled we then had the exciting part of painting it.  Miss M decided that she wanted rainbow coloured coins so set to work painting her designs.

Once they were finished and dry, I have to admit that they did seem quite impressive.  Miss M had spent a whole day crafting to create them.  They are quite strong and should last with reasonable play.  Miss M intends on using hers for maths and adding up the numbers on the coins.  She has also laid them all out across the floor to make number lines in order and the five times table.

I love these salt dough coins.  I have never tried salt dough before but am impressed with how easy it was to form a dough, and think that it’s a great idea to bake it to create permanent artwork.  Our coins are brightly coloured and Miss M loves using them to practice her numbers and simple maths.  A great craft that I’d never have done without the inspiration from the book, and salt dough is definitely something you can use to make other crafty pieces.

The book Craft It Up – Around the World is full of inspiration from around the world of things to make that your children will love.  We have a list of things to make next and love that there’s an educational aspect too.  With each new project, is a new country, bringing new topics for Miss M to think about and she is always full of questions about the topic we are covering.  We’ve love the Craft Around the World book from Cico Books and it will continue to inspire us for many further months.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

Book release day in Australia!

We shared our book release with some wonderful friends at the fabulous Prints Charming Studio in Annandale. (Thanks Cath!)

To check out the wonderful courses run by Prints Charming (we were on the screen printing course) visit their website:

http://www.printscharming.typepad.com/

To see the range of extraordinary cakes at Buttercreme Lane (thanks Danni!), hop on over to:

http://buttercremelane.com.au/

Full list of Australian stockists for Craft It Up Around The World!

Craft It Up Around The World should have hit bookstores around Australia and the US today which is so exciting!

We checked out our local bookstore, Dymocks at Chatswood and were thrilled to find we didn't even need to do a bit of cheeky repositioning!

Here is the full list of Australian stockists. Remember, if your local store doesn't carry it or has run out, ask them to order it for you!

Stockists in Australia
act	Paperchain Bookstore - MANUKA
act	National Library Bookshop - CANBERRA
act	McCauley & Co Booksellers - WANNIASSA
act	Dymocks Belconnen - BELCONNEN
act	Dymocks Canberra - CANBERRA
nsw	Dymocks Chatswood - CHATSWOOD
nsw	Hill of Content Sydney - BALMAIN
nsw	Berkelouw Books Balgowlah - BALGOWLAH
nsw	Get Hooked on Books - ALSTONVILLE
nsw	Berkelouw Cronulla - CRONULLA
nsw	Gleebooks Dulwich Hill - DULWICH HILL
nsw	Constant Reader Bookshop - CROWS NEST
nsw	Myer Bondi 203 - BONDI JUNCTION
nsw	Myer Chatswood 204 - CHATSWOOD
nsw	Myer Macquarie 215 - NORTH RYDE
nsw	Myer Roselands 209 - ROSELANDS
nsw	Myer Sydney City 219 - SYDNEY
nsw	Books Plus Bathurst - BATHURST
nsw	Modern Times Bookshop - NEWTOWN
nsw	The Bookshop Mullumbimby - MULLUMBIMBY
nsw	Bloomin' Books - CARINGBAH
nsw	Dymocks Nowra - NOWRA
nsw	The Bookshop Bowral - BOWRAL
nsw	Bookoccino Pty Ltd - AVALON BEACH
nsw	Oracle Books - MOSMAN
nsw	Pages & Pages Booksellers P/L - MOSMAN
nsw	Better Read Than Dead - NEWTOWN
nsw	Deniliquin Newsagency & B/stre - DENILIQUIN
nsw	Shearers On Norton - LEICHHARDT
nsw	Kinokuniya Bookstore Aust P/L - SYDNEY
nsw	Maclean's Booksellers - HAMILTON
nsw	Dymocks Sydney - SYDNEY
nsw	Snowprint Bookshop - JINDABYNE
nsw	The Brown Bookshop - BOWRAL
nsw	The Bookshop Kiama - KIAMA
nsw	Oscar & Friends Double Bay - DOUBLE BAY
qld	The Book House - NOOSAVILLE
qld	Mary Ryan New Farm - NEW FARM
qld	Rosetta Books - MALENY
qld	Whileaway Book & Coffee Shop - PORT DOUGLAS
qld	Berkelouw Eumundi - EUMUNDI
qld	Myer Pacific Fair 070 - BROADBEACH
qld	Myer Chermside 063 - CHERMSIDE
qld	Myer Brookside 067 - MITCHELTON
qld	Myer Carindale 068 - CARINA
qld	Myer Brisbane City 059 - BRISBANE
qld	Jeff Hills - DOUGLAS
qld	Queensland Art Gallery - SOUTH BRISBANE
qld	State Library of Queensland - SOUTH BANK
qld	Myer Maroochydore 057 - MAROOCHYDORE
qld	Myer Cairns 062 - CAIRNS
qld	Books of Buderim - BUDERIM
sa	Booked at North A - NORTH ADELAIDE
sa	Booked at North A - NORTH ADELAIDE
sa	Dymocks Burnside - GLENSIDE
sa	St Georges Books - MAGILL
sa	Collins Bookseller Edwardstown - EDWARDSTOWN
sa	Shakespeare's - PORT NOARLUNGA
sa	Dymocks West Lakes - WEST LAKES
sa	Collins Booksellers Arndale - KILKENNY
sa	Dillons Norwood Bookshop - NORWOOD
sa	Pegi Williams Book Shop - MODBURY
sa	Dymocks Rundle Mall - ADELAIDE
sa	Timeless Books - TANUNDA
tas	Dymocks Hobart - HOBART
tas	Birchalls General Books - LAUNCESTON
tas	The Hobart Bookshop - HOBART
vic	Benn's Books - BENTLEIGH
vic	Dymocks The Pines - DONCASTER EAST
vic	Readings Pty Ltd Carlton - CARLTON
vic	Collins Fountain Gate - FOUNTAIN GATE
vic	Dymocks Victoria Gardens - RICHMOND
vic	Readers Feast Bookstore - MELBOURNE
vic	Cow Lick Bookshop - COLAC
vic	Andrews Bookshop - IVANHOE
vic	Myer Melbourne City 001 - MELBOURNE
vic	Myer Chadstone 004 - CHADSTONE
vic	Myer Southland 007 - CHELTENHAM
vic	Myer Doncaster 008 - DONCASTER
vic	Myer Knox City 010 - WANTIRNA
vic	Readings Pty Ltd Hawthorn - HAWTHORN
vic	DLS Australia Pty Ltd - BRAESIDE
vic	Books in Print Pty Ltd - MALVERN
vic	Lamont Books Pty Ltd - HALLAM
vic	Collins Booksellers Sale - SALE
vic	The Avenue Bookstore Pty Ltd - ALBERT PARK
vic	Antipodes Bookshop Gallery - SORRENTO
vic	Farrells Bookshop - MORNINGTON
vic	Dymocks Melbourne - MELBOURNE
vic	Torquay Books - TORQUAY
vic	Readings St.Kilda - ST KILDA
wa	Matilda Bookshop - STIRLING
wa	Westbooks - VICTORIA PARK
wa	Westbooks Childrens - VICTORIA PARK
wa	Collins Booksellers Kalgoorlie - KALGOORLIE
wa	Child Education Services - EAST PERTH
wa	Dymocks Garden City - BOORAGOON
wa	Myer Garden City 047 - BOORAGOON
wa	Myer Karrinyup 093 - KARRINYUP
wa	Myer Perth City 041 - PERTH
wa	Paperbark Merchants - ALBANY