American Country Folk Crafts: 50 Country Craft Projects for Decorating Your Home

Sterbenz (The Gnomes Book of Christmas Crafts, etc.) organizes her American Country-style handicrafts by room, combining instructions for a potpourri of wood, fabric, paintbrush and needle projects with recipes, historical data on American decorative crafts and 65 inspiring color photos. She provides actual-size, traceable patterns for dolls and stuffed animals, and woodworking designs for such diverse items as a checkerboard for the front porch, a barnyard-animal parade for the kitchen windowsill and a pull-toy lamb. Many crafts like cherry pie and heart pillows are quite ordinary; some, like a wood carving of a woman holding a quilt, are unusual. The variety makes for delightful reading, but such a range of media is potentially overwhelming. General directions for each type of craft appear in a separate section at the end, which keeps the body of the book manageable, but recommended skill levels would have been helpful. Also, the black ""Mammy'' doll may offend some readers. A source list of artisans is included. Better Homes and Gardens Crafts Club main selection. (September)