All-Girl Crafts

Ross, who has more than 50 crafts books to her credit, targets elementary-school girls in this book in the Girl Crafts series. In her familiar, well-illustrated, step-by-step style, she demonstrates how to turn buttons, ruffles, paper dolls, bangles, beads, paper, fabric, and more into a variety of fun, useful, and frivolous creations--ranging from a picture frame made from old bangle bracelets to a tassel doll and a lace-trimmed shadow box. Instructions are very clear and precisely illustrated with color pictures, the first of which shows the finished project. A particularly nice feature is the illustrated list of materials, which heads the instructions; each required object, be it glue or junk jewelry, is both named and pictured. Most of the projects are designed for kids to make by themselves, although children will need to be skillful with scissors.