Dainty Dress Diaries: 50 Beautiful Home-Crafting Projects to Awaken Your Creativity (Hardback)

a new book with sustainability credentials offering multiple chances to creatively vamp up gaff in the process, involving minimal cost, if any. Written by Catherine Carton, our home-grown queen of DIY, upcycling, and make do and mend, she’s made it all nice and easy for us to grasp so far on her YouTube channel, Dainty Diaries, where 225,000 of us follow her, and on her Instagram, Dainty Dress Diaries, where 85,000 track and imitate her DIY crafting escapades … Her first book, Dainty Dress Diaries is especially good for those who believe they haven’t a creative or practical DIY-related thought in your head

I encourage everybody to go out and get your hands on a copy

if you’re looking to spruce up your home over the summer or get a few crafty ideas for your school holidays … a new book with endless ideas ... gorgeous ... a beautiful thing

with good photos to clarify the instructions

upcycling guru [Catherine Carton] urging us to ditch perfectionism and give cute home crafts a go ... the creative social media star has captured the magic of sewing, painting and gardening in a new book, further cementing why her tea-dress-wearing corner of the internet is a must-visit

absolutely stunning … lots of ideas for the garden, I love your teacup bird feeders … your Pom Pom cushion is a joy to behold … the book is a joy and you’ve been an absolute joy to chat with

I just came across your channel, one of your videos and I saw you had a lovely vintage-y dress on and I was like oh I like that … the next video I saw you were this little pocket terminator, produced this power tool and started putting up shelves and I thought this girl is brilliant I love her … You’re a good teacher and you have a lovely way about you in explaining things … It is a stunning book, your photography is brilliant… there’s so many different projects in it, anyone who’s into upcycling or sewing or anything, a bit of DIY… there’s something in this book for all of those people … You’ve given Monty Don a run for his money

a brilliantly clear explainer of otherwise daunting DIY projects, which she also videos, bridging the gap between frills, flowery teapots, and power tools. It’s all very empowering and deeply practical. She also knows when to draw the line between projects that she does herself and ones where she needs to hire someone with specific skills