Ken Denmead struck a chord with parents and kids across America with his GeekDad blog on Wired.com, which receives more than one million page views per month. His debut book, Geek Dad, was on bestseller lists and in its seventh printing just two months after hitting store shelves. With The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun, he keeps the nerdtastic novelties coming, with projects that teach readers how to:-Build homemade robots from scratch -Write and direct simple stop-motion movies -Hack into mechanical toys to add cool electronic twists, and moreUnited by the premise that to really understand science and how something works you must design and build it yourself or remake it better, Geek Parents everywhere will celebrate this latest installment of weekend workshop wonders.Watch a Video

    They experiment, explore, test, and play, and they learn a great deal about problem-solving through questions and hands-on experiments. They don't see lines between disciplines; rather, they notice interesting materials and ideas that are worth exploring. This book is about creative experiments, in all fields, that help kids explore the world.Children gravitate toward sensory experiences (playing with slime), figuring out how things work (taking toys apart), and testing the limits of materials (mixing a tray of paint together until it makes a solid mass of brown). They're not limited by their imaginations, and a wooden spoon can become a magic wand as quickly as a bag of pom-poms can become a hot bowl of soup. This book is about helping parents and teachers of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers understand and tap into this natural energy with engaging, kid-tested, easy-to-implement projects that value process over product. The creative experiments shared in this book foster curiosity, promote creative and critical thinking, and encourage tinkering--mindsets that are important to children growing up in a world that values independent thinking.In addition to offering a host of activities that parents and teachers can put to use right away, this book also includes a buffet of recipes (magic potions, different kinds of play dough, silly putty, and homemade butter) and a detailed list of materials to include in the art pantry.

    Maker Dad is the first DIY book to use cutting-edge (and affordable) technology in appealing projects for fathers and daughters to do together. These crafts and gadgets are both rewarding to make and delightful to play with. What’s more, Maker Dad teaches girls lifelong skills—like computer programming, musicality, and how to use basic hand tools—as well as how to be creative problem solvers. The book’s twenty-four unique projects include:• Drawbot, a lively contraption that draws abstract patterns all by itself • Ice Cream Sandwich Necklace • Friendstrument, an electronic musical instrument girls can play with friends • Longboard • Antigravity Jar • Silkscreened T-Shirt • Retro Arcade Video Game • Host a Podcast • Lunchbox Guitar • Kite Video Camera Innovative and groundbreaking, Maker Dad will inspire fathers to geek out with their daughters and help girls cultivate an early affinity for math, science, and technology.

    Crafters dabble, collaborate, muse, and make, all in their own way and on their own timeline. For all crafts, there are established techniques to follow but wild, innumerable ways to experiment, using the basics to launch crafters to new heights. Crafter’s Devotional can aid that launch. Each day of the year is given its own focus, on which the reader will find a daily dose of craft content that inspires, instructs, and illuminates.

    Need some pillows for your new couch, and have a bunch of old wool sweaters? Turn those sweaters into felt! Knitting, felting, leather tooling, glass and metal work––it's all here. CRAFTIVITY is filled with 60 amazing DIY projects that make the most of what you have by taking old stuff and turning it into functional, breathtaking art.

    From simple clothing to toys, Growing Up Sew Liberated is packed with innovative, playful sewing patterns. Follow the structure of a child’s day with 20 projects including:Getting up and getting dressed: comfortable clothing patterns such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, and pocket pants.Homemaking and cooking: projects for engaging children in helping around the house and for in the kitchen, such as aprons, bibs, and placemats.Playtime: indoor and outdoor activities are celebrated with dolls, a cape, a satchel, and a tent.Bedtime: snuggle in for a night in cozy pj’s and a sleep sack.Meg adds in suggestions for projects and adventures for kids and adults to explore together and tasks that children can accomplish on their own.Includes a techniques section, how-to photos, extra tips and tricks, and a bonus full-size pattern section, Growing Up Sew Liberated collects designs, activities, and ideas that are perfect for adding creativity into the daily life of sewists, children, and families.

    It is the place where our families meet and mingle, where we share our meals and share our dreams. So much more than just a space to live, our homes offer us a place of comfort, nourishment, and love for us and for our children. In Handmade Home, Amanda Blake Soule, author of The Creative Family and the blog SouleMama.com, offers simple sewing and craft projects for the home that reflect the needs, activities, and personalities of today’s families. As Amanda writes in the introduction, “As a crafter, I’m always looking for the next thing I want to make. As a mama, I’m always looking for the next thing we need—to do, to have, to use—as a family. The coming together of these parts is where the heart of Handmade Home lies.” Filled with thirty-three projects made by reusing and repurposing materials, all of the items here offer a practical use in the home. From picnic blankets made out of repurposed bed sheets to curtains made out of vintage handkerchiefs, these projects express the sense of making something new out of something old as a way to live a more financially pared-down and simple life; lessen our impact on the earth; connect to the past and preserve a more traditional way of life; and place value on the work of the hands. Also included are projects that children can help with, allowing them to make their own special contribution to the family home. More than just a collection of projects for handmade items, this book offers the tools to create a life—and home—full of beauty, integrity, and joy. Projects include:    • Papa’s Healing Cozy: This hot water bottle cover becomes a simple way to offer comfort to a sick child    • Baby Sling: A simple pattern for an object that offers so much to a small child—refuge from the world and a place to lay their head next to a parent’s heart    • Beach Blanket To-Go: Repurpose old sheets to create the perfect picnic blanket for special outdoor meals    • Cozy Wall Pockets: A creative solution for storing a child’s small treasures

    Handmade Gatherings offers:∙ 16 seasonal party ideas ∙ 52 recipes ∙ 32 crafts and activitiesFrom the décor, to the entertainment, on down to the recipes themselves, Handmade Gatherings presents inspired suggestions for thoughtful, flavorful, festive communal dining. Here you'll find sixteen parties built around the rhythm of the seasons. Frosty winter fetes, lush springtime soirees, sultry summer get-togethers, and crisp autumn affairs--it's all here. Food, décor, crafts, and more are part of each event, all collectively assembled and executed. Throw memorable gatherings with your loved ones, enjoy the food, connect with your community, and get caught up in the splendor of it all.

    Best of all, it's easy to get started with step-by-step instructions and handy templates included in the back of the book. With lots of photos and plenty of geekery throughout, this one-of-a-kind book shows that geek and craft go together like...pixels and cross-stitch!

    Under Erika Knight's guidance even those who have never picked up a crochet hook before will soon be making gorgeous projects and all the while learning new techniques and adding to their skills. Each of the 20 projects in the book will teach you a new stitch, technique, or trick, and will build on and consolidate crochet techniques already learned in the preceding projects, until you have mastered a wide repertoire of skills and completed and enviable collection of crocheted items.Simple Crocheting showcases the incredible variety of finishes that different crochet techniques can produce. Erika begins with simple scarves and hats that are chic accessories as well as being the perfet items to practice basic stitches. She then takes you through the dense textures of double and treble crochet---which make excellent bags, purses, and even a laptop case---and then moves on to the more intricate, deilcate lace and cluster stitches---perfect for heirloom shawls and antique-style cushions. Freeform or random crochet takes the craft to a more demanding level and projects like the edge-to-edge cardigan will provide a new chlalenge for all creative crocheters. With exquisite photography by Yuki Sugiura that perfectly shows each of the beautiful designs, and supported with clear diagrams and illustrations, Erika Knight has created the ultimate book for all enthusiasts of this remarkable craft.

    A must-have book for any quilt or craft library." --Denyse Schmidt (author of Denyse Schmidt Quilts). . . My approach to quilting is an approach for true beginners. I don't like triangles, circles, hexagons, diamonds, rhombuses, or any shape that makes measuring a chore. (Can we stop right here and ponder the word rhombus? Man, that word is hilarious.) In this book, every project is designed using only squares and rectangles. Why just squares and rectangles? Because straight seams are easy to stitch!Craft a modern quilt with independent quilt-maker Boo Davis, whose fun, slightly quirky designs take quilts into new graphic territory. Using only simple shapes like rectangles and squares you'll see robots, skulls, alarm clocks, and owls come to life as fabulous, full-size quilts. With 10 charming quilt patterns, and 15 eye-popping patchwork projects perfect for afternoon or weekend crafting, Dare to Be Square Quilting reinterprets quilt traditions such as basket weave, rail fence, and housetop designs in a bold new way. With advice on color and fabric selection, and an extensive how-to section on quilting, Davis teaches the fastest, simplest, and most reliable methods modern quilting has to offer.Dare to make a quilt that's funny, fabulous, and from the heart . . . Dare to be square!

    Her innovative ideas are now collected and elaborated on in this unique volume. Carla offers a year's worth of assignments, projects, ideas, and techniques that will introduce more creativity and nonsense into your art and life. Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists offers readers a fun way to learn and gain expertise in drawing through experimentation and play. There is no right or wrong result, yet, the readers gain new skills and confidence, allowing them to take their work to a new level.

    Steffani starts with the basics, outlining two rub-off methods—tracing onto paper or draping with fabric—and explaining essential tools, materials, and sewing techniques. She then shows how to duplicate a skirt, a dress, a blouse, and a handbag, from rubbing-off the original, to creating the pattern, to cutting and sewing the new version, to making adjustments and incorporating a variety of other elements and details—not only refreshing your favorite fashions but replenishing your whole wardrobe with brand-new looks.

    This blend of history, mystery, and hands-on technique debunks myths about Victorian life as it inspires beginners and ambitious knitters alike. Included are instructions for Victorian lace as the Victorians never saw it—in glorious detail, up-close and on location in and around Cambridge, England. The lace patterns progress from the first, most basic, edgings to the sophistication of "real" lace. Forty patterns are included—scarves and shawls, capes, and fichus—with comprehensive information on the tools and techniques of lace knitting for beginners and enough challenges to keep experienced or ambitious knitters engaged. Delicate and decorative, historical lace patterns are within the reach of today's knitters in this book of adventurous ideas with a vintage touch.

    Every idea is amazingly clever: who would ever have imagined that plastic six-pack can holders could become a chic Moorish-inspired filigree tri-fold screen? Or that glass baby food jars would make a charming candle chandelier? Every project features at least one beauty shot in a modern home setting, easy-to-follow instructions, and step-by-step color photos, while handy icons spotlight the key techniques, materials, and the estimated time to complete each project.