Cool Books for the Old Timey & Crafty Soul

I got a really sweet book at AC Moore last week with my 50% off coupon (Yay for coupons!). It's called The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life.

"Frontier fun meets a home-spun touch in this heart-warming mixture of pioneer projects and wistful nostalgia. Jennifer Worick teaches readers how to sew a quilt, master the art of bread-and-butter pickles, speak old-time slang, and much much more. This is for the legions of Laura Ingalls Wilder fans who have dreamed of what a pioneer life out on the prairie would be like. Combining step-by-step how-to on crafts, with tongue-in-cheek instructions on prairie slang, winning a spelling bee, and singing a lullaby, The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life allows fans to finally act out their childhood dreams or to simply enjoy the vicarious thrill of reading about it one more time. This is a book that will pull at the heart strings of every childhood Laura and also teach us a few prairie-time crafts along the way. " (description from Amazon.com)

I also found the author's blog! http://jenniferworick.blogspot.com/ That kind of makes her seem like a real person instead of an author. She has a blog and uses blogger like the rest of us normal people who've never published a book!

The Prairie Girl's Guide kind of reminds me of The Daring Book for Girls (the girl's version of The Dangerous Book for Boys), except a little more old-timey. Actually, at Amazon.com, The Daring Book for Girls is on the "Customers who bought this book also bought..." list.

"The Daring Book for Girls is the manual for everything that girls need to know—and that doesn't mean sewing buttonholes! Whether it's female heroes in history, secret note-passing skills, science projects, friendship bracelets, double dutch, cats cradle, the perfect cartwheel or the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking, this book has it all. But it's not just a guide to giggling at sleepovers—although that's included, of course! Whether readers consider themselves tomboys, girly-girls, or a little bit of both, this book is every girl's invitation to adventure." (description also from Amazon.com)

I think it's so funny how I'm drawn to these kind of books. I'm this contradiction of a very modern technology and media oriented woman (I love my laptop and cell phone)...but deep inside I see myself as having a heart for an older and simpler time...as evidenced by my love of Rennisaisance Faires and period piece films (I love almost any movie set before the 1900's). And I'm intrigued by learning to do the things that people did in the days before modern technology (even though I still love my modern technology...I feel naked if I leave the house without my cell phone!)

My husband and I first found The Dangerous Book for Boys at Sam's Club. I was walking past the books and the title caught my eye. We thumbed through it and thought it was brilliant. We bought 3 copies, one for us and two to give to friends. A couple months later, around Christmas time, I spotted The Daring Book for Girls and swapped a pair of pants I got as a present, which didn't fit, and was returning for it.

But these kind of books are the kind that make me look forward to having kids and teaching them all this cool, fun, productive, and useful stuff.

I'm really into knitting/crocheting right now (as anyone who actually reads this blog probably knows by my previous posts) and I'm really having a hankering to either go visit my grandma again for anoyther knitting lesson, or have her come visit me and have her as the guest of honor at a knitting party with my friends from church who knit/crochet or are learning to knit/crochet. I've been passing out my extra AC Moore coupons to my friends who are just starting to learn so they can get the materials.

I knit/crochet most often in church. There's just something about keeping your hands busy. And it's funny...it's become inevitable that during church, at least one or two people around me end up borrowing a ball of yarn and knitting needles/crochet hook. I'm contagious!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Paulina who was born and grew up in Kenya (she came to the US when she was in 7th grade) asked if she could pick up my knitting needles and I was amazed at how fast she was...and how she didn't even have to look at what she was doing! But she told me that she learned to knit at a young age because in Africa, it's not like you can just go to the store and buy clothes. Just hearing that kind of puts things into perspective.