[Book Review] Glitterville's Handmade Christmas By Stephen Brown & Dunkin’ Donuts Eggnoggin’ Ground Coffee

Title: Glitterville’s Handmade Christmas: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting!
Series/Universe: Glitterville
Author: Stephen Brown
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date: September 9th 2014
Page Count: 208 pages
Age Rating: All Ages
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received an ARC to review
Publisher’s page: Glitterville’s Handmade Christmas

Have yourself a Glittery Little Christmas — with twenty new whimsical, winter-wonderful projects from the Craft Elves at Glitterville!

Following the success of Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween, Glitterville is back for the sparkliest holiday of all! Glitterville’s Handmade Christmas is as bursting as a mantle-hung stocking with twenty new whimsical, winter-wonderful craft projects that will fill your home with sleighfuls of cheer. Hundreds of beautiful, easy-to-follow, step-by-step full-color photos and how-tos make the crafting fun and the results foolproof. From a Jolly Dolly Holly Wreath or a charming Glittery Village you can nestle into its own Sparkle Forest, to the frostiest Magic Snow and the jolliest pine-cone-bodied Glitter Gnome, “yule” find everything you need to make your home glisten and shine this holiday season!

My Review

Every year my family and I make Christmas ornaments for our tree (it’s our holiday tradition), so I’m always on the lookout for craft ideas that will make pretty ornaments, but won’t break the bank and are simple enough that everyone can do them, even the kiddies. When I first saw this book I thought the crafts looked amazingly beautiful and fun (and so so sparkly – I’m a girl who love love loves her some sparkles), but they also looked complicated and expensive to make and I didn’t think it would be something for the whole family – I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Glitterville’s Handmade Christmas is full of wonderful ideas that are not only fun and sparkly, but also surprisingly easy and super affordable to make!

This how-to holiday craft guide provides easy to follow step-by-step written instructions accompanied by gorgeous, full-colored simple-to-follow illustrative pictures, making these wonderful crafts do-able for even the beginner crafter (some are a bit harder, but still very do-able, even for me and Christmas is pretty much the only time of the year when I feel crafty). The back of the book also has some very useful patterns to make things that much easier.

My family and I ended up making the Ginger Cookie Kids as ornaments and they came out looking fantastic. The adults and kids had a blast making them, they barely cost anything to make (all you need for that particular project is styrofoam, craft paint, glue, and some different colored felts) and they look so pretty on the tree. I absolutely recommend this craft guide to anyone, from beginner crafters to advanced, who wants to add a personal touch of sparkle and fun to their holiday season. I’m holding on to this book and will treasure it as a valuable holiday crafting resource for the years to come – I’m already eyeing the Pinecone Gnomes for next year.

What better way to accompany fun holiday crafting then some eggnog? Give the kids some nice, cold eggnog and pour the adults some Dunkin’ Donuts Eggnoggin’ Ground Coffee – it’s a little strong and bitter if you try to drink it black, but add a splash of creamer and it tastes exactly like eggnog, creamy vanilla sprinkled with nutmeg (bonus points if you use some refrigerated eggnog as creamer).