childcraft library
December 7th, 2009
December can’t just be all black and white on the ol’ blog–it is christmas time after all. These beautiful colors came from my local thrift store and were absolutely free. I have always like the childcraft series and had my eye out for the “make and do” volume, but never could find it. The other day I was dropping some stuff at the thrift shop and spotted the whole series in the donation bin. I was tempted to swipe it, but the dude working there was right in front of me and besides stealing from charity is just bad mojo. So I asked him and he said the lady who gave it away was still there and I could ask her. She gave me a thumbs up and I threw all that awesomeness in my trunk.
It’s the 1964 edition and the illustrations are fantastic. The make and do volume is of course my favorite: the projects are super simple and make me feel like I could do them with my children, unlike when I look at Martha and feel like a second rate mom because I can’t deal with glitter.
There might even be some christmas presents in there for the kids to make, or if nothing else they have given me some quiet while the kids l0ok at all 15 of them on the couch, which is a huuuge christmas present for their mama.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:06 am
OH MAN!
What a FIND! I am completely jealous. We have one or two of these treasures from our local thrift store but WOW the whole set?! Just amazing. I think this just might be in the category of “Christmas Miracle”.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:17 am
That is super awesome.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I used to spend hours with this exact volume. The others are great, too. My mother still has the entire World Book set, because she can’t stand to get rid of a book. Sometimes when I’m home I’ll pull out the “Make and Do” volume for old times sake. It never gets old. Thank you for the bit of nostalgia.
December 7th, 2009 at 11:51 am
that is a great find! we had these in my house when i was growing up and i loved thumbing through them. they were already a good twenty years old by the time i got to them but i still enjoyed looking at them.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Ooo, congratulations on the great find! I inherited the whole set from my grandmother, the make and do volume was missing — probably because I borrowed it as a kid and it never found its way home — but I found it on ebay for a steal. I love the books and so do my children!
December 7th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Thanks for sharing–I love these books! I also like to collect old books, but usually just to destroy them…or as I like, repurpose them–into cards, bows, tags
http://juliewerks.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/gift-tags-how-to/
Have a great day, the pictures got my mind racing as to what I’d make from them! Kudos to you for being responsible and polite in asking permission to take them–what a sweet reward!
December 7th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
These books are what people dream of finding…how great…enjoy your find!
December 7th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I think this is your own karma coming back to you since you were so kind as to share all the advent coloring pages with us…
December 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Oh, SWOON! I love the simpler craft books, which didn’t require a trip to the craft store for glitter and specialty items. Combined with the graphics (my favorite cookbooks and the Junior Classics look just like this) and what a find! I’m off to seek my own copies!
December 7th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
What an incredible luck! The illustrations in the book are awesome! Lucky, lucky you :-)
December 7th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The illustrations are delightful!
December 7th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
What a great find!! I went yard sale-ing this past summer and found the complete set for $10. You can bet it went home with me!!
December 7th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
The make and do book was my favorite. I often thought about it while raising my kids…it was where I learned to draw faces and make snowflakes. A few years ago I saw a copy of it on a dusty shelf in my mother-in-laws attic, it came home with me and has a special spot on the shelf in our living room. Blogging is funny, I thought I was alone in my hyperventilating at old Childcraft books…I’m glad I’m not! Thanks for sharing.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Look for Nils Karlsson the Elf in the stories from around the world volume . . . one of my favorite stories ever! Hope it’s there, ours was from 1979, I think, but the make and do pictures you posted were the same.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Those are fantastic! How lucky are you?!
December 8th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
i’m so jealous! i’ve been looking for the very series for a long time too! So excited for you.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:13 am
The “Make and Do” volume – So so so good!!!
December 9th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I am again impressed by how much better your thrift store is than mine. What is it? I almost never find anything that good at our local Goodwill. . .mostly big fleece sweatshirt-type thing to turn into baby pants. (Which is lovely, but not nearly as nice as a Child Craft Library!) Enjoy your blog and ideas very much. Happy holiday!
Elizabeth
December 9th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I’m so envious! I absolutely love all those old children’s books and always pick them up when I stumble across them too. I love your advent colouring calendar idea too, fantastic!
December 11th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I had these as a kid! I loved them. I totally remember those photos!!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Ooh, great find!
Ah, glitter. Will I ever stop finding random glitter flecks around the house from that star 2 years ago?
December 13th, 2009 at 2:28 am
We had that exact set, and it came with us when we migrated from US to Australia in 1972. I can’t tell you how many times I thumbed through that Make and Do volume- didn’t it have the purple band on the spine? The thing that was great about craft books from that era is that they actually had content, not just 10 artisticly shot pages of one item.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I bought what must be the australian equivalent of these books just yesterday. It was great to see your version and inspiring to know that we mothers still crave this simple imagery and ideas