Review: How To Sew A Button

How to Sew a Button and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew by Erin Bried

Publication Date: December 2009
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Formats: Paperback, 304pp & Ebook
ISBN-13: 9780345518750
ISBN: 0345518756

(Received for review from Goldberg Mcduffie)

Synopsis (Courtesy of Barnes & Noble):

"Waste not, want not" with this guide to saving money, taking heart and enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

Nowadays many of us "outsource" basic tasks. Food is instant, ready-made, and processed with unhealthy additives. Dry cleaners press shirts, delivery guys bring pizza, gardeners tend flowers, and, yes, tailors sew on those pesky buttons. But, life can be much simpler, sweeter, and richer - and a lot more fun too! As your grandmother might say, now is not the time to be careless with your money, and it actually pays to learn to do things yourself!

Practical and empowering, How to Sew a Button collects the treasured wisdom of nanas, bubbies and grandmas all across the country- as well as modern day experts- and shares more than one hundred step-by-step essential tips for cooking, cleaning, gardening, and entertaining, including how to...

• polish your image by shining your own shoes
  
• grow your own vegetables (and stash your bounty for the winter)


• sweeten your day by making your own jam


• use baking soda and vinegar to clean your house without toxic chemicals


• feel beautiful by perfecting your posture


• roll your own pie crust and find a slice of heaven


• fold a fitted sheet to crisp perfection


• waltz without stepping on any toes

Complete with helpful illustrations and brimming with nostalgic charm, How to Sew a Button provides calm and comfort in uncertain times. By doing things yourself, with care and attention, you and your loved ones will feel the pleasing rewards of a job well done.

Thoughts:

I really liked this book a lot for several reasons. It definitely made me remember things that my own grandmother taught me that most people would have no idea how to do today. Like taking, mayonnaise to shine the leaves on your indoor house plants to make them shiny and dust free or using a large tub over an open fire to can green beans grown from the garden, or how to use a mason jar over top of sprig from a rose bush to make more roses grow.

How to Sew a Button is filled with things that may have fallen by the wayside in our hectic everyday lives. I think we are more about convenience today than about doing things for ourselves and this book helps bring some of the old ways of doing things back to forefront of our lives. We are caught up in the rat race in more ways than we realize. There was a time when life was much simpler and many ways much happier or at least much more peaceful.

There were a couple of pieces of knowledge that I found particularly interesting. I am one of those people who is trying to reduce my carbon footprint on the world and the idea of using non-toxic cleaning supplies is one thing that never occurred to me. This book gives several ways for greening up your existence, without a lot of hassle. Another gem from this book that I found particularly interesting was how to make a hot tea toddy to soothe a cold. I have always wanted to know how my grandmother made chamomile tea. One of the funny tricks in this book was how to unclog your toilet LOL.. or how to wear red lipstick!

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to go back to a simpler way of life, to readers who want to remember their grandparents and loved one through old traditions and ways or doing things and I would recommend it for newlyweds who just don't know much about doing anything LOL... It's a great book and a fun read.

I am giving this one a definite 5 out of 5 apples from my bookbag!

How to Sew a Button is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.