Monday, July 20, 2009

The Family Creative Workshop

One of my joys is browsing through thrift stores looking for treasures. Stores such as Salvation Army or Goodwill have been gold mines when it comes to finding inspirational and prop building materials.

Several months ago I stumbled across a set of books titled The Family Creative Workshop published in 1976 by Plenary Publications International, Incorporated out of New York, NY.

The series of 23 books covers a very eclectic range of topics from making your own vinegar to building a canoe, very creative stuff for your family. The cover art of the books comes straight from The Brady Bunch which honestly I find comforting because not only did I grow up during the 70’s but also because I really love books.

The internet is great but a book is better by a mile, there is nothing better than picking up say a volume from an encyclopedia and spending hours browsing page after page.

My set of The Family Creative Workshop is missing volumes #5, #7, #20 and #21. I’m really curious as to what treasures those four books contained.

1. Acrylics to Batik
2. Beach Combing to Bottle Gardens
3. Boxes to Card Tricks
4. Carryalls to Confections
5. MISSING
6. Embroidery to Gingerbread
7. MISSING
8. Hooked rugs to Lace
9. Lamps and Shades to Maps and Pathfinding
10. Marmalades and Preserves to Mosaics
11. Music Making to Papier Mache
12. Parades and Festivals to Piñatas
13. Pin Striping to Puzzles
14. Quilting to Rope Knotting
15. Rose Maling to Scrimshaw
16. Sculpture to Silhouettes
17. Silversmithing to Sprang
18. Square Dancing to Sugar Shapes
19. Sundials to Tatting
20. MISSING
21. MISSING
22. Vinegars to Winter Sculpture
23. Wire Assembly to Zoetrope Toys

Now I ask with all seriousness where else would you find a collection of books covering such a diverse range of topics. The Family Creative Workshop is a true treasure from the 70’s.


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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 14, 2010 at 7:09 PM

    Volume 21 is Traditional Knitting to Vegetable dyes and contains the following:
    Traditional knitting motifs (2 color shoulder bag; child's Irish-knit tank top; Norwegian-pattern sweater; bias-knit scarf);

    Trapunto (trapunto sheet & pillowcases; a yoked dress; batik handbag; lion t-shirt; face pillow; crazy-quilt wall hanging);

    Tree houses (tree house in a grove; a platform roost; a traditional tree house);

    Treen (Treen for the cook; treen for the party table);

    Trellises (fan trellises; freestanding trellis; doorway trellis);

    Tropical fish (assembling an aquarium for fresh or salt water fish; aquatic plants for a freshwater aquarium; tropical fish for a freshwater aquarium);

    Tying flies (the TW secial; the Rat-faced MacDougall; the Royal Coachman);

    Upholstery (a cushioned bench; a padded chair seat; a stuffed easy chair);

    Valentines (name your heart; king and queen of hearts; lovebirds in a tree; valentine gift box);

    Vegetable dyes (making dyes colorfast; dyeing wool yarn).

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  2. AnonymousDecember 14, 2010 at 7:13 PM

    Volume 20 is tea to toys and contains as follows:

    Tea (herb cultivation; brewing tea; the Japanese tea ceremony);

    Terrariums (a simple tropical terrarium; a fern terrarium (nontropical); a cactus terrarium);

    Terrines and timbales (terrines; timbales);

    Tye dying (knotted and folded t-shirts; tie-dye stitchery; velvet table throw; block-dyeing a design);

    Time telling (a light show at noon; a candle clock; a sandglass; a star dial);

    Tin & pierced work (cookie cutters; candle sconce and snuffer; fruit bowl);

    Tin painting (country tin painting; cannister; freehand bronze design; antique stenciling on tin);

    Topiary (simple geometrical topiary; a three-ball ivy topiary; shaping a privet hedge);

    Totem poles (a totem-mask wall plaque; a totem-pole miniature; a full-sized totem pole);

    Toys (moonwinder; bull roarer; gee-haw whimmy-diddle; jumping jack; sports car; stern-wheeler; elephant toy chest; hammer man).

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  3. AnonymousDecember 14, 2010 at 7:18 PM

    Volume 7 is Glassworking to Hibachi and contains:

    Glass working (lead glass beads; swizzle sticks; form-a-lop sculpture; lampblown glass bottle; blown glass beads; blown glass ornament);

    Gold panning (where to look for gold; the techniques of sniping, panning and winnowing gold; underwater prospecting);

    Granny squares (traditional granny-square afghan; place mat; floral granny-square afghan; cap-and-scarf set; popcorn granny-square afghan; shoulder tote bag);

    Greenhouse construction (coldframe; hotbed; insulated pit; corrugated fiberglass lean-to greenhouse);

    Greeting cards (ribbon-bookmark card; pressed-flowers cards; needlepoint card; stained glass window card; cardboard printed card; birth announcement);

    Hammocks & slings (canvas log tote or sling; naval hammock);

    Hardanger embroidery (bookmark; cocktail mat; dark red placemat & napkin; white place mat & napkin);

    Heraldry (designing your own coat of arms);

    Herbs (hanging garden; harvesting & drying herbs; gift-basket garden starter; herb note cards; recipes);

    Hibachi & hot pot cookery (hibachi dishes; hearty hot pot).

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  4. AnonymousDecember 14, 2010 at 7:24 PM

    I was fortunate enough to receive these books when the ex-husband of a friend of the family died. They are in excellent shape and I need to use them more, but I'm in a position to fill you in on what you're missing.

    Book 5 covers Cosmetics to Egg Decoration and contains:

    Cosmetics (making economical & safe cosmetics at home; cold creams; astringent; powder & shadow);

    Costumes (making costumes from found materials & paper; drapes & wraparounds; circular patterns; thrift-shop finds; basic one-dress pattern; caftans; making a period dress; theatrical make-up);

    Crewelwork sampler (early American crewel sampler; 36 embroidery stitches most often used in crewel);

    Crochet (crocheted tie; beaded bag; evening dress; Irish-crochet pincushion; crocheted sisal rug);

    Cryptography (sending hidden messages; encoding and decoding; making and breaking codes; devising and solving ciphers; substitution and polyalphabetic ciphers; code-ciphers you can use);

    Decoupage (Daisy mantel box; swich plate; family-room lamp; decoupage cabinet);

    Dioramas (train diorama; portable diorama; Scottish Highlands scene);

    Dollhouses & Furniture (easy cardboard dollhouses and rooms; dollhouse furnishings and people; antique wooden dollhouse);

    Dolls & Doll Clothes (walnut, egg, clothespin, apple-head and corn-husk dolls; Indian 'pieces' doll);

    Dried Flowers (Drying flowers with sand and with silica gel; air-drying and pressing; making dried flower arrangements; spice bouquet);

    Dulcimers (children's fretboard dulcimer; Appalachian teardrop dulcimer);

    Egg Decorating (Margutis method of egg dyeing; Imperial Easter eggs; decorating with notions).

    ReplyDelete
  5. STOLLOWEENDecember 16, 2010 at 9:10 AM

    Thanks Anonymous for filling in the missing links....much appreciated...someday I may find the missing volumes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    I have a the full series, I have been researching lately what they are worth. During my research I have nogiced that from time to time these books are available on e-bay and sometimes went for as little as a dollar a book, you may want to check there for your missing volumes.

    ReplyDelete