Review: Shall We See

SIMPLE ELEGANCE

By Katy Handley
The Big Little Homemade Gift Bible


Katy Handley believes that parenthood goes beyond raising children. Its everything in between that we often find most challenging, such as the perfect teacher present or the perfect way to say 'thank you'.

Katy has found a way to show that with a little time and imagination, you can being a little sunshine in to the lives of all of your friends and family.

This delightful book spans a very wide selection of things ranging from various craft projects, cooking and recipes (right down to stocks and preserves), pet delights and gift hampers.

In the introduction of the book we meet Katy herself and learn about her family and her reasons for writing it. A couple of lines immediately struck a cord with me:

‘What better way is there for a child of family to say 'thank you' or 'Happy Birthday to something; than with something made by them?

'Watching your child hand over their figt that they made is one of the most magival moment you will ever find'


Now we launch ourselves straight into the book after a brief explanation from Katy about all of the projects and recipes being simple to do and not complicated. And she’s spot on! Most, if not all of the creations in the book could be easily done with your children and don’t seem scary at all!

There is also quite a vast selection so there should be no trouble finding something to suit your mood or budget. I will certainly be trying some of these myself with my own children. Here is a quick taster from the contents:

Crafts
Dried Fruit Charms
Felt Stitched Hearts
Beaded Key Holder
Homemade Gift Book
Summer Sweet Bag

Recipes
Chicken Pie with a secret
Savoury Muffins
Peppermint Droplets
Biscotti
Super charged Spiced Raisins

Hampers
The Birthday Emergency Hamper
The Get Well Soon Treats
The Never Too Old Hamper
Child’s Birthday Hamper
Dinner Party Kit


So my verdict on this book?

I really like it. One of the best bits for me is that at the end of every item whether it is a craft project or a recipe there are ideas for how to turn it into a gift. If I had to find one thing to complain about it would be the fact that there are no images in this book! As many of the pages have blank spots on them after the text I do feel a bit let down by this but I’m still very pleased to have it in my collection.

Reviewed by Anna (Editor of Creative Crafting)

Grab the full issue here

http://creative-crafting.com/march_2014.html