Crafting Cute: Polymer Clay the Kawaii Way

by Dani Banani

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Crafting Cute: Polymer Clay the Kawaii Way is a tutorial and project guide for polymer clay by Danielle Clark (Dani Banani). Due out 26th Nov 2019 from Quarto on their Rock Point imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The book includes an artist's statement and introduction - her writing is upbeat, accessible, and positive. The intro (which includes a pretty good tutorial covering tools and materials) represents about 9% of the content.

There is a pictorial table of contents with a clear photographic gallery of all of the projects followed by the tutorials. All of the tutorials are well illustrated with numerous clear step-by-step photographs and accompanying instructions. Alternatives and variations on the basic models are given in a sidebar under the main instructions. The tutorials include a header box with time estimates, materials in a bullet style list, along with tools. The tools and materials used in the tutorials are easily sourced from a moderately well stocked crafts store (probably at Wal-Mart and similar big box stores as well).

All the projects are simply adorable. There are figurines, charms, and elements which can be combined into larger pieces such as a fairy garden (which made me squee like a 6 year old). All of them have a boatload of whimsy and humor.

This would make a superlative gift for a crafty friend, a school/classroom/library selection, as well as the basis for kids crafting class (supervised, especially the baking parts).

Five stars. Wonderfully cute. I sincerely hope there are more tutorial books in future.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.