Book Review: Fun and Easy Crafting with Recycled Materials

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Are you a gifted visionary who can pull random objects together to create a beautiful piece of art like some sort of Maguever of crafting? Me neither! This is why I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Fun and Easy Crafting with Recycled Materials. This book, written by Kimberly McLeod, author of the wildly popular kid’s crafts blog, The Best Ideas for Kids, will make you feel like a crafting superstar. 

This book is bright and fun and packed full of cool crafts that can be made with items you likely already have in your home. Check in the plus column for this super busy mama.  

The book is broken down into seven chapters, with each chapter (2-7) focusing on crafts that incorporate a specific type of recycled material. Each craft spans two pages, which makes following the directions a breeze. I just open the book to the craft I want, and the pages practically lay flat. 

Top 5 Reasons Why Fun and Easy Crafting with Recycled Materials Makes Me Feel Like a Crafting Rocking Star

Using recycled materials

Many of these crafts use materials that you likely already have in your house. I like to recycle and now I can recycle my old containers into a craft project. You may want to stock up on a few of these supplies.

Try This!

Fun and Easy Crafting not only gives you 60 craft projects, but it also gives you more ideas with the “Try This!” section. This gives you additional ideas of how you can tweak the craft just a bit to make something new. So what was 60 projects has now become over 100! I am a visual person that I would have loved to see some examples, but the suggestions are enough to get the creative juices flowing. 

Something for Everyone

What I love most about these projects is that they can be done with kids of all ages. Toddlers (with their parents’ help) will love gluing and pressing. Preschoolers can practice those scissor skills, and grade school kiddos will love the independence of creating their very own project with minimal assistance. 

Crafts with a Purpose

I am a former classroom teacher who recently turned a new homeschool mom. I am always looking for ways to incorporate projects into our learning activities. Flipping through the book, it wasn’t hard to see how many of these crafts would fit nicely into a themed unit. Learning about the weather? Why not create some weather puzzles (page 108)? Your kid loves dinosaurs, no problem! Just flip to page 124 and make a dinosaur terrarium. 

Templates Please

There are four pages of templates in the back of the book. These will help with creating the perfect outline for cutting. What a special treat for me as I am not so great at freehanding things. So if you are like me, I know you will enjoy these templates as much as I do!

What I love the most about Fun and Easy Crafting with Recycled Materials is that it’s an effortless way to spend some quality time with my girl. She loves to craft and I tend to shy away from them. But this book makes Mother-daughter bonding time fun and easy. Make sure to grab your copy today by clicking here.