Transform everyday objects into handcrafted pieces to wear, share, and display.

-Disclaimer- I received this book free from blogging for books. I am not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

 In Yellow Owl’s Make It Yours, you’ll learn techniques for bringing personal touches to objects all around your home. Upgrade your plain scarf with a colorful abstract design. Turn a dresser into an eye-catching art deco showpiece. Whip up a desert-inspired quilt to enliven your living room. Expert printer and Yellow Owl Workshop founder, Christine Schmidt, shares her trade secrets for creating gorgeous projects using unexpected materials, from gold leaf to cake fondant. What’s best: the included Yellow Owl Workshop templates and techniques can be mixed and matched to create countless more projects! Featuring inventive ideas for every room, skill level, and time constraint, Yellow Owl’s Make It Yours will teach you to print, stamp, stencil, and dye your way to a personalized life.

 

-My Thoughts-

This book is really cool(& this is coming from a guy)! I got this book for my wife and our 13 yr old daughter so they could do crafty things together. I can't wait to see what they come up with! 

I think it's great that the book comes with stencils for the projects in the back of the book. 

Projects include:

   • Monogram Leather Clutch 

   • Roll Stamp Table Linens 

   • Fruit Shoji Blinds 

   • Shibori Dyed Bed Linens 

   • Plaid Tote 

   • Upholstered Chair with Hand-Printed Fabric 

   • DIY Delftware

Book Review | The Dumpling Galaxy Cookbook

My Thoughts:
This is another new favorite cookbook of mine. The recipes are very well written and easy to understand. It is full of classic dumpling recipes and even has some new ones

Disclaimer:
I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest review.

From the restaurant where adventurous foodies get the freshest dumplings in New York City, comes the ultimate Chinese cookbook with 60 recipes for classic and unexpected dumplings and dim sum-like side dishes. New York Times critic Pete Wells calls Helen You "a kind of genius for creating miniature worlds of flavor" and, indeed her recipes redefine the dumpling: Lamb and Green Squash with Sichuan pepper; Spicy Shrimp and Celery; Wood Ear Mushroom and Cabbage; and desserts such as Sweet Pumpkin and Black Sesame Tang Yuan. With information on the elements of a great dumpling, stunning photography, and detailed instructions for folding and cooking dumplings, this cookbook is a jumping-off point for creating your own galaxy of flavors.

Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery and Cafe

My Thoughts:
The pictures in this book highlight the amazing food, which you feel like you could eat right through the pages!

The directions for the recipes are very thorough, ensuring that your food should look and taste like the authors.
The recipes usually make enough for 8-12 people, which is great because we are a family of 7.

I recommend this cookbook to anyone looking to make new foods.This will be a wonder addition to our cookbook collection.

Disclaimer:
I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest review.

A charming collection of 100 recipes from Cambridge's Sofra Bakery and Cafe, showcasing modern Middle Eastern spices and flavors with exotic yet accessible sweet and savory dishes geared toward everyday cooking and entertaining.

Ana Sortun and Maura Kilpatrick have traveled extensively throughout Turkey and the Middle East, researching recipes and gaining inspiration for their uber-popular cafe and bakery, Sofra. In their first cookbook together, the two demystify and explore the flavors of this popular region, creating accessible, fun recipes for everyday eating and entertaining. With a primer on essential ingredients and techniques, and recipes such as Morning Buns with Orange Blossom Glaze, Whipped Feta with Sweet and Hot Peppers, Eggplant Manoushe with Labne and Za'atar, and Sesame Caramel Cashews, Soframiz will transport readers to the markets and kitchens of the Middle East.

— New York Times, "Best of the Rest" Honorable Mention
— Bon Appetit, Fall Round-Up
— Food52, Most Anticipated Cookbooks
— LA Times, Fall Cookbook Round-Up
— Food & Wine Magazine, Gift Guide
— Tasting Table, Most Exciting Cookbooks Fall 2016 Round-Up
— Mind Body Gree, Best Fall Cookbooks
— Sweet Paul, Best Fall Books
— The Boston Globe, Gift Guide
— Milk Street Magazine, Holiday Recommendations
— Eat Your Books, Fall Round-Up
— The Story Exchange, Gift Guide

How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives

The cats of America are under siege! 

 

Long gone are the good old days when a cat’s biggest worries were mean dogs or a bath. Modern cats must confront satanists, online predators, the possibility of needing to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and countless other threats to their nine lives.

For over four decades, the American Association of Patriots have stood at the vanguard of our country's defense by helping to prepare our nation's cat owners for the difficult conversations they dread having with their pets. Written in a simple Q&A format, How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safetyanswers crucial questions such as, “What is the right age to talk to my cat about the proper use of firearms?” and “What are the benefits of my cat living a lifestyle of abstinence?” and especially “Why does my cat need to use the internet? Can’t he just play with yarn like cats used to do?”

Our country—and our cats—stand at a precipice. It will take courage, and it will take hard work, but armed with the knowledge within these pages, we can make our cats—and America—great again!

*My Thoughts*

This book is just downright hilarious! Every cat owner and future cat owner NEEDS to read this book. That's all I can really say. If you are having a bad day, just pick this book up and read it and you will be laughing in no time. 

Disclaimer: 

I received this book free in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

Queen Bees and Wannabes, 3rd Edition | Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boys, and the New Realities of Girl World

“My daughter used to be so wonderful. Now I can barely stand her and she won’t tell me anything. How can I find out what’s going on?”

“There’s a clique in my daughter’s grade that’s making her life miserable. She doesn’t want to go to school anymore. Her own supposed friends are turning on her, and she’s too afraid to do anything. What can I do?”

Welcome to the wonderful world of your daughter’s adolescence. A world in which she comes to school one day to find that her friends have suddenly decided that she no longer belongs. Or she’s teased mercilessly for wearing the wrong outfit or having the wrong friend. Or branded with a reputation she can’t shake. Or pressured into conforming so she won’t be kicked out of the group. For better or worse, your daughter’s friendships are the key to enduring adolescence—as well as the biggest threat to her well-being.

In her groundbreaking book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, Empower cofounder Rosalind Wiseman takes you inside the secret world of girls’ friendships. Wiseman has spent more than a decade listening to thousands of girls talk about the powerful role cliques play in shaping what they wear and say, how they respond to boys, and how they feel about themselves. In this candid, insightful book, she dissects each role in the clique: Queen Bees, Wannabes, Messengers, Bankers, Targets, Torn Bystanders, and more. She discusses girls’ power plays, from birthday invitations to cafeteria seating arrangements and illicit parties. She takes readers into “Girl World” to analyze teasing, gossip, and reputations; beauty and fashion; alcohol and drugs; boys and sex; and more, and how cliques play a role in every situation.

Each chapter includes “Check Your Baggage” sections to help you identify how your own background and biases affect how you see your daughter. “What You Can Do to Help” sections offer extensive sample scripts, bulleted lists, and other easy-to-use advice to get you inside your daughter’s world and help you 

help her.

It’s not just about helping your daughter make it alive out of junior high. This book will help you understand how your daughter’s relationship with friends and cliques sets the stage for other intimate relationships as she grows and guides her when she has tougher choices to make about intimacy, drinking and drugs, and other hazards. With its revealing look into the secret world of teenage girls and cliques, enlivened with the voices of dozens of girls and a much-needed sense of humor, Queen Bees and Wannabes will equip you with all the tools you need to build the right foundation to help your daughter make smarter choices and empower her during this baffling, tumultuous time of life.

My Thoughts:

This is not the type of book I would usually read, but being a dad of three girls(one who is a teen)...I thought it would be helpful. This book isn't about how to deal with "mean girls" as in Teens, but also little girls as well as grown women.

This isn't the kind of book that you can just sit down and read all at once. You need read, and then process what you just read and then go back and read some more and then process that..etc.

Disclaimer

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

The Dim Sum Field Guide: A Taxonomy of Dumplings, Buns, Meats, Sweets, and Other Specialties of the Chinese Teahouse

A whimsically illustrated yet authoritative guide to the "taxonomy" of dim sum, based on a popular Lucky Peach story.

Author and illustrator Carolyn Phillips demystifies the rich, nuanced culinary institution of teahouse snacks in The Dim Sum Field Guide, a pocket-sized, definitive resource featuring 80 hand-drawn illustrations. With entries for all the dim sum classics--including siu mai, xiaolongbao, char siu, roast duck, and even sweets like milk tarts and black sesame rolls--this handy reference is perfect for bringing on-the-go to your next dim sum outing. Armchair travelers and Asian food enthusiasts alike will be delighted by this detailed yet accessible look at the distinctly Chinese art of eating well.

When I requested this book, I thought I would be getting a book with recipes. Sadly, that is NOT what this book is about. There are no recipes in this book, instead, it guides you to dishes with complementary flavors and helps you push the envelope of your taste buds.  

 The only thing I could want from this book is pictures instead of illustrations

If you are new to Dim Sum or have loved it for years, you will find a wealth of knowledge and enjoyment contained in this book. But beware! You will get hungry while reading!

*Disclaimer*

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I am not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

Marked In Ink

Megan Massacre, one of the most popular tattoo artists and reality TV stars with starring roles in TLC's NY Ink and America's Worst Tattoos, brings her wildly popular art style to a coloring book.

Tattoo artist Megan Massacre invites adult coloring book fans into her whimsical world of sugar skulls, sailing ships, mermaids, owls, and more. Now you can add your own bold, vibrant colors to her signature edgy and artistic tattoo designs--and tear each perforated page out for display!

My Thoughts
I originally got this book for myself(yes, I'm a dude who likes to color), but when the book arrived my 12 year old daughter requested that I give it to her..so that is what I did! The quality of this book is amazing. The pages are thick and markers will not bleed through. The details of some of these images are mind blowing. I will be ordering a copy of this book myself, because it's just too awesome not to own a copy.

Disclaimer
I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.