Member Reviews
This is a lovely book to get the Christmas season started! Filled with warm and cozy crafts, this will set you up for Christmas success. This books is filled with new classy crafts that you are not in other holiday books.
Some wonderful ideas in here. The kind of book I’d love to have a physical copy of, to savour the beautiful photos and sense of Hygge you get from turning the pages. Delightful.
If you want to create your own Christmas theme in. Scandinavia style this book is perfect for inspiration. With lovely photos as well as ideas for decorating your tree, table etc. a lovely craft book.
Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion! I'm leaving this review voluntarily!
Overall, a good book. For me, it was missing more step-by-step photos for some of the crafts. Also, while I liked that the author included lots of recipes with "clean" ingredients, I doubt that it is easy or cheap to get the ingredients in the U.S. Including an alternative would have been nice, but then again, I'm not sure if the author would know any substitutes. It's a cute little book (paperback) for any waiting room (e.g., doctor) and makes a cute gift for a friend or family member, but I believe the content of the book does not justify the price tag for the paperback.
I love books and I love crafting. So this really was an ideal read for me. Really enjoyed it.
Thank you net galley for letting me read in return for an honest review
This was a very lovely book. The projects and inspiration were very nice, nothing was too complicated, and everything described in the book would create a delightful holiday. I do wish there had been more history or explanation which each entry to add a bit more context or opportunity to learn more.
What a beautiful book on Scandinavian crafts and designs for a peaceful holiday. I loved the simple, easy to follow instructions and the cute ideas for homemade decor.
I’d definitely recommend for those that like easy crafts and simple, sweet touches of joy around the home.
A thoroughly cute book on crafts and food recipes that can be used to give yourself a cosier Christmas!
Each activity is explained well and comes with colour photography to help you see the steps and what you are making.
I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.
Scandi Christmas evokes feelings of coziness, comfort, and hygge. The hook is full of delightful crafts and recipes. I didn’t see many things that I would make, but if you’re into Scandinavian culture I imagine it would be more practical.
I loved the introduction and hearing about her own Scandi Family Traditions. My mother is Swedish, and while our family has been in America since the 1800’s, we still keep up a couple of traditional customs.
I love how she explained Hygge (hoo-gah) to be more of a way of thinking and feeling rather than a decorating trend that has swept across North America in the past few years.
All the crafts and recipes mentioned are explained well. However, I would have loved more photos of the crafting process. I love how she repurposed almost an entire old sweater into different things. Her scavenging the forest near her house is awesome, and works for me because I live in a Canadian forest, however it may not work for readers who dwell in the city.
Overall, a great Crafty Christmas book that I can see myself referring to each holiday season.
4/5
Thank you to Pen & Sword, White Owl & NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas
Author: Becci Coombes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed this book! It has a great collection of decorations, gifts, recipes and more with beautiful pictures to accompany them. There are many in process/tutorial photos that go along with each craft which makes for a super useful book. This would be a great addition to anyone who loves crafts and is looking to make cozy holiday projects.
Thanks to NetGalley, Pen + Sword, and Becci Coombes for an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts in this review are my own.
I really liked this book! It gives a much better explanation of the idea of Hygge. It also has a lot of fun crafts and recipes that look easy to do and fun to try. The author also does an excellent job of explaining where in Scandinavian culture each item comes from. I can't wait to try some of these with family and friends and make our home cozy for Christmas!
Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas is a well written and accessible guide with tutorials to creating seasonal gifts, craft projects, and recipes by Becci Coombes. Released 30th Oct 2022 by Pen & Sword on their White Owl imprint, it's 168 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a beautifully photographed and appealing collection of food, decorations, gifts and more, for helping readers create the perfect holiday with family and friends. The book is well laid out and the tutorials are appealing and easy to follow. The projects are arranged thematically: decorating, edible gifts, quick & easy crafts, Christmas comfort food, and family fun.
The tutorials are written with an introduction, examples of the finished project, supplies in a bullet list, and step by step instructions. Full size templates are included in the back of the book. Tutorial supplies and recipes have ingredients given in metric measurements. There are many beautiful ideas for upcycling and recycling which look professional and appealing and would be welcome in any crafter's home.
The book stands out especially with the lovely photography. All the projects contain a finished photo, but also many (many) tutorial photos. Photos are clear, in colour, and well staged so that hands and tools aren't in the way of the action.
Four and a half stars. Lovely and useful book. This would be a nice choice for public library acquisition, maker's groups, and for home crafters.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas is a wonderful craft book for ideas and things to make to decorate your home Scandinavian style for Christmas and gifts to make for loved ones. The book starts with an introduction from the author and explains what hygge means (cosiness, comfort and a sense on contentment and belonging). The crafts in this book are simple to make and accompanied by easy to follow and understand steps. I've screenshot so many crafts from this book to try my hand at and can't wait to give some a go! Some of my favourites are; wonderful wrist warmers, marzipan, mini nisser, walnut pixies, decoupage advent calender, lavender Bath salts and the felt coasters. I'm hoping to make some of these as stocking fillers for my family on the run up to Christmas.
With Christmas not so faraway, this book brings lots of ideas to make for a homemade Scandi style celebrations.
Starting with easy and quick decorations for the home and tree, followed by some lovely eatable treat and gifts for guest and family. In the next chapter there are some easy gifts to make, which will be well appreciated. Forward to the day of Christmas with lots of ideas and for food to make to celebrate the day in the Scandinavian fashion. Finally there is also some games to play to add to the fun.
Well photographed, with lots of great ideas and lots of fun.
Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DRC
Such beautiful creations from Scandinavia, home of the hygge idea of warmth, family and friendship. Crafts from wreaths to recipes offer you the minimalist but cozy Christmas experience.
This was a really fun one to check out!
Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas had such a great selection of crafts for decorating and gifting. I also love that this book includes recipes. Not all the recipes would be to my taste, but there were still lots I would enjoy.
It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas….
This is a sweet little book full of craft ideas and recipes for a cozy Christmas, with added games and templates at the end. A glue gun will be need for many of the crafts!
The crafts and recipes seem easy to follow for novices or for kids in some cases, with a handful maybe more suitable to someone a bit more experienced.
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I’m looking forward to trying my hand at some of them!
Becci Coombes’ Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas is like a 101 course on creating a hygge Christmas, covering gifts, crafts, decor, food, and games. Coombes, who lives in England, spent holidays at a family farm in Denmark and shares traditional goodies and crafts.
One of the best aspects of this book is that Coombes’ uses found objects in nature or repurposes items in her craft. She uses an old Christmas sweater to make a new pillow, gloves to make nisse, the Danish equivalent of a mischievous gnome. Walnut shells become ornaments. Socks become a larger version of a nisse. Birch twigs become a wreath. The ideas allow you to think outside the box and perhaps come up with your own substitutes. Each craft has its own recipe, with pictures included.
I was very interested in a pattern for a cowl in which the author uses her fingers instead of a crochet hook. I’ve heard of arm knitting but didn’t know a similar thing could be done for crochet. Her instructions are very good and I suspect a person who has never crocheted before could easily make the cowl based on her notes.
Usually I’m all about the food in books like this, but I have to admit that I wasn’t very intrigued by these recipes. One I might try is called chocolate salami and incorporates chocolate, cookie (or biscuit, as the author says), nuts, and glacé cherries that are all rolled together like a salami. It sounds yummy, although I wonder if dried cherries might not be more interesting. Brunkager also sounds nice; it’s a spicy Danish cookie.
The final chapter is all about games that can be played with the entire family.
While the author has included a list of possible sources for some items, they are in the UK. Likewise, the units for cooking and in crafts are all UK.
Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas would be an excellent choice for anyone wanting to do something a little bit different this year for the holidays. Put a little hygge in it.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This how to book is so cozy and cute, it is the perfect addition to the winter/holiday/Christmas season. I love how the descriptions and the how-tos in this book are very easy to read and easy to understand and how it makes you want to craft and make your own cute additions for your home. I think this book did a great job focusing on Scandinavian style and how to incorporate that into your decor and into your holidays.