Gettin' Crafty

Find Your DIY Niche

March may be National Craft Month, but crafting isn't for everyone. Some people love to DIY, while for others it's about as fun as filing their income taxes. Either way, we've put together a collection of craft categories that are a bit off the beaten path. Whether or not you identify as a maker, we hope you will find something here that suits your personality. Read on to discover your new obsession.

Keeping Little Hands Busy

A staff member here at ThriftBooks shared a story of being horrified when her five-year-old daughter began begging to do crafts. She had always felt tortured by craft time growing up. "How can this be my offspring," she moaned. But, she was pleased to find some great books on hand to help her fulfill her child's dreams. (She may have even started enjoying herself.) For an all-purpose guide, try Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids with 175 fun, yet practical, projects for children aged three to twelve.

Maker Dad by Mark Frauenfelder is another great option. The book may be specifically aimed at daddy-daughter duos, but it would work well with any parent-kid combo, with 22 cool projects including lunch box guitars and anti-gravity jars.

Crazy Cat Lady Crafts

What is it about booklovers and cats? They just seem to go hand-in-paw. So hopefully we're appealing to a large portion of our audience with these craft books that specifically cater to the fanatical feline lovers out there. First, build elaborate fanciful structures for your beloved kitty with Cat Castles by Carin Oliver, featuring instructions for 20 unique cardboard playscapes you can build yourself.

And talk about recycling! Stop throwing away that cat hair that's covering all of your furniture and, instead, make stuff with it! Crafting with Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya shows you how to transform stray tufts of fur into soft and adorable handicrafts—including cat toys! Most of these projects are doable in less than an hour.

Paper Gardens Never Say Die

So what if you have a black thumb! You can still have beautiful flowers and plants around your house. Just make them with paper! Using Paper to Petal by Patrick Farrell and Rebecca Thuss, you can create lush bouquets, an oversize wreath, and easy-to-make gift toppers. The gorgeous gallery of blooms includes one inspired by a Dr. Seuss book.

From expert crafter Corrie Beth Hogg, Handmade Houseplants is a stylish guide, including step-by-step instructions and templates for making 30 of the most popular houseplants. No watering required.

Needlepoint for Rebels

Cross-stitch and embroidery are often thought to be the activities of docile, mannerly types. Available patterns tend to be conservative and modest, but perhaps you've been wishing for something a little more incendiary to make with your needle and thread. From Renee Rominger comes Edgy Embroidery offering 25 unconventional designs like a haunted house on a hill or a cow skull with a flower crown

Subversive Cross-Stitch by Julie Jackson gives you 50 full-color patterns for sassy, insurgent stitching. This ten-year anniversary edition includes 17 brand-new delightfully snarky designs.

Cuddly Creations

Get ready for a cuteness overload. Amiguri is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed yarn creatures. They may look intricate but many of these designs are aimed at beginners. Whimsical Stitches by Lauren Espy offers step-by-step instructions for 30 unique and darling designs.

And finally, perfect for readers like us, Literary Yarns by Cindy Wang provides patterns for making 16 adorable crocheted characters from beloved novels and plays.

See anything intriguing? Some of these unique DIY ideas inspired even the least crafty of us! Hopefully, something here has caught your fancy. And if you have suggestions for other unusual crafts, we'd love to hear about them.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon