Review: ′52 Nature Crafts Projects′ — Simple and Elegant Ideas for Every Season

This book by Barbora Kurkova began with a feeling of displacement and a very low budget: she had just moved from her home to Norway and had no money whatsoever for decorations. However, her mindset allowed her to look for an opportunity instead of a problem, and, of course, a little bit of Hygge helped her as well.

Remember Hygge? It was (or is?) a very trendy concept adapted from Denmark, and it really boils down to coming home to a warm and beautiful scene, a comforting place. Now that we are finding ourselves stuck at home, as I’ve said before, I’m diving into everything that can be comforting, calming, and crafty. I can’t keep my hands still and I get mightily bored at Zoom meetings. So, this type of book is my new-found obsession.

While organized into 52 projects, the idea behind each of them is to use whatever natural elements the season has to offer, from dry leaves and pine cones in autumn to pressed flowers and green leaves in summer. You get the idea.

However, Kurkova has a unique way of using these materials in a way that feels both easy to do and beautiful when finished. Not a single piece of plastic is used, except perhaps that in acrylic paint and adhesives. That, in this day and age, feels strange, magical, eerie—weird even. I long for warm decorations, and nature crafts seem to bring that to life. Don’t get me wrong, we still have die-cast cars and LEGO bricks all over the place, but other things are waning out of favor in this household.

From deceptively simple seashell candles to ice lamp holders for the outside in winter to hammering leaves in order to bring their green pigment out, this book is all about the natural and the affordable. You just have to take a walk and see what you can come up with. I find it ingenious and resourceful, and perhaps you will, too.

52 Nature Crafts Projects is available now.

Genre: Non-Fiction – Activities
Price: $15.99
Publisher: Thunder Bay Press
Publish Date: June 09, 2020
Pages: 144
Type: Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9781645172444