I LURVE me some Halloween. I’m not sure if it’s the flirting with the dark side, the spooky fun, the costume, or my general fascination with the macabre, but I do love it. So when I was offered a copy of Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween: A Glittered Guide for Whimsical Crafting! by Stephen Brown, I was all like, “Heck yeah!”
You may recall that Stephen Brown, the author is also a judge on TLC’s Craft Wars. So let’s learn a bit more about him, first, mmkay?
As a boy, crafts and decorating guru Stephen Brown found himself in post-holiday doldrums after every big celebration, but he learned that through crafting for the next upcoming occasion he could turn those feelings around and literally “Make every day a holiday!”
After working as a costume designer for television and film in New York City, Stephen launched Glitterville, his successful line of giftware and holiday decor. He is the author of Glitterville’s new holiday how-to book series and can be seen in Hollywood as a judge on TLC’s Craft Wars hosted by Tori Spelling.
So yeah, this dude has crafting chops. Now let’s take a look at his book! Here’s your official description:
Celebrate the season of costumes and candy with Glitterville’s guide to creating a wondrously wacky and whimsical holiday!
Treat yourself to the kookiest compilation of crafts and decor assembled from Glitterville’s creator, Stephen Brown, judge of Craft Wars on TLC. Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween is full of bright, colorful photos, step-by-step holiday how-tos, and over-the-harvest-moon decorating ideas to make your home sparkle and shine this spooktacular season.
A great book for intermediate to experienced crafters, Glitterville’s Handmade Halloween will delight readers as they make their way through the playfully photographed pages of the book, which include full, never-before-published instructions for making some of Glitterville’s most sought-after items, including Halloween candy garland and the studio collection of folk figures.
At first glance, I have to tell you- the photography is stunning. I love the whole design of the book, from the cut projects, the color scheme, even the quirky poems (yes, poems) that accompany each craft.
Now, of course, the poems are going to ensure that your projects turn out right. So I decided to tray a new technique, straight outta the book: sculpting a head with a Styrofoam base.
I know mine looks nothing like the ‘Jack, but that’s OK. I was learning a new technique. I like to play around and get familiar with it before I try and “do it for real.”
I also learned not to mess with an opened package of paperclay. You are better off starting with fresh. *Ahem.*
What I can tell you is that the instructions are clear, and the step-out photos are designed to help you along.
There are a bevy of great projects. Here are the deets of what’s in the book:
- 20 step-out projects
- Patterns, Templates and Banner art section
- “Glitter Guide” (an overview of materials)
- 179 pages
- Softcover bound with flat binding.
- List price $19.99 USD.
There are great projects in here, and most of them are OK for beginners….but as you can tell, Stephen is a talented sculptor so any of the ones that use that medium might not look anything like his. (Again, ahem.) But the techniques are solid and the instruction is too- so I’d certainly recommend giving it a go!
Disclosure- sample provided for review purposes. My opinions are unsolicited and honest.
If you’d like to buy this book, we’ve got a discount through out Amazon Affiliate program:
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