The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining, and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency--on a Budget!

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Overview

With The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking, it's possible and even convenient to create an inviting space for living and entertaining on a budget. From unique decor ideas to growing strawberries on your fire escape, Kate Payne shares fun, low-cost (and often free!) creative solutions that will make anyone feel more accomplished in minutes.

Inside this savvy motivational guide filled to the brim with small-scale creative home projects, Kate's tongue-in-cheek tone will keep you tuned...

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The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining, and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency--on a Budget!

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Overview

With The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking, it's possible and even convenient to create an inviting space for living and entertaining on a budget. From unique decor ideas to growing strawberries on your fire escape, Kate Payne shares fun, low-cost (and often free!) creative solutions that will make anyone feel more accomplished in minutes.

Inside this savvy motivational guide filled to the brim with small-scale creative home projects, Kate's tongue-in-cheek tone will keep you tuned in to her much-needed advice. In three easy sections, you'll learn how to create a comfortable space while being time- and budget-conscious. Section One, Home-ify Your Pad, features quick, convenient ways to make your place cozier with low-cost, special touches to help you tap into and show off your inner artist. Section Two, Impressive Acts of Domesticity, teaches how to impress others (and yourself) with the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency—a first-time guide to cleaning, sewing, repairing, and other previously out-of-the-question tasks. Section Three, Life After Restaurants, frees you to release the take-out menu, avoid pricey bar tabs, and entertain others in the space you've so thoughtfully and gorgeously created.

User-friendly "how-to" sidebars, illustrations, and tips and tricks throughout the book offer easy-to-follow recipes and do-it-yourself craft suggestions for making your home hip, comfortable, and inviting. Keep in mind that this is not your grandmother's handbook and it's not the kind of wisdom your mom knows how to impart. Modern women need a modern approach to domestic pleasures—a guide to doing household things on our own terms, because most of this stuff isn't as hard as we've been led to believe. Don't worry, she's not asking you to host Tupperware parties or iron your underwear. But as all beginning home keepers know, a sure fire way to feel bad about ourselves is to consult Martha Stewart. So ditch that 2-inch thick handbook, dust off your pots and pans, and join Kate on this journey to incorporating creativity and self-sufficiency on the home front.

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Editorial Reviews

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Making a space your own can be almost uniquely satisfying; doing it on a tight budget can be even more rewarding. With its hard-won savvy, Kate Payne's The Hip Girl's Guide To Homemaking takes you thru the basics of "home-ifying" your apartment with low cost special touches that express your personality. With its lively tone, quirky illustrations and clever sidebars, this book has an inviting real-world feel and Payne's imaginative suggestions about achieving practical domesticity while releasing yourself from restaurant dependence will strike chords of recognition in readers. A fun read; a real money-saver; and thus a superb gift edition.

Eugenia Bone
"My daughter is moving into her first apartment next year. Along with boxes of second hand linens and furniture from the attic, she’s getting this fresh, modern, and enthusiastic primer on all things housekeeping."
Zora O'Neill
Living comfortably in your home is endlessly rewarding, and all it takes is attention and creativity. I’m so convinced that I’m taking Kate’s advice on bread baking this very week!
Kim Barnouin
I am a huge fan of The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking! Kate nailed it in this humorous, creative guide for fabulous, chic, and easy-on-the-wallet ideas. It’s a joy to read a book that makes you laugh and get great ideas from—another must have for my girlfriends
Sally Schneider
The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking is a wonderfully insightful, encouraging, non-perfectionist guide for creating a pleasurable home without killing yourself (or the planet). It’s full of information your mother forgot to tell you, that will help you live well and sustainably, and have fun in the process.
Ashley English
This should be required reading for anyone with a roof over their heads. You’ll find yourself returning to it again and again, whether you’re looking for party ideas or which side of the place setting the napkin goes on.
Marisa McLellan
The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking will release your hidden domestic talents. Kate’s friendly voice will transform even the most clueless guy or gal into a homemaking marvel. Loaded with smart, frugal, and pragmatic tips, it is the ideal home-life manual for the modern age.
Library Journal
Payne presents a disappointing companion to her excellent blog of the same name (hipgirlshome.com). While the book boasts superb visual style and organization, it lacks the blog's friendly, spontaneous tone and clear how-to instructions. These are unfortunately replaced with trite advice and the stilted feel of an attempt at simultaneous authority and h ipness. A handy "Resources" section at the end of each chapter is this book's most notable redeeming feature. Since one of Payne's greatest strengths is her connection to the ecohip blogger scene, the web resources are especially outstanding. However, the quality and depth of these sections are inconsistent, and they frequently omit important resources discussed in the chapters. VERDICT This book is directed at a very specific audience—ecochic, crafty, tech-savvy young adults living in urban shoe boxes. Its shelf appeal and the blog's name recognition may make it initially popular with those readers, but their needs will be ultimately better met by a good variety of housekeeping and ecolifestyle manuals, e.g., Erin Bried's How To Sew a Button.—Audrey Barbakoff, Milwaukee P.L.
Kirkus Reviews

Simple instructions for how to make the household apron fit the frame of your life.

Proving that you don't need fancy equipment or a doctorate degree in home economics to be a successful homemaker, Payne gives easy-to-follow advice. This eclectic, if sometimes dry, guide is a starting point for anyone struggling as a homemaker. The author shows how home décor can be both practical and economical when you rediscover the versatility of common household items, such as mason jars and clothespins. Cleaning does not have to be stressful, costly or dangerous when you are armed with confidence, knowledge and basic products like vinegar, baking soda and salt. Dining in is as exciting as going to a fancy restaurant when you are not afraid to undertake new endeavors such as canning, baking and entertaining. Payne discusses how she was able to feed eight guests a three-course meal for $70. She provides essential household survival lists such as a basic tool kit, which she hopes will encourage "creative problem solving, helping you to conjure up your inner Girl or Boy Scout." The author expands outside of the confines of the house and into the garden with tips that can be useful even if you don't have the space or patience to cultivate. With a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt—"You must do the thing you think you cannot do"—Payne effectively summarizes her own approach to homemaking.

Useful dos and don'ts for the domestically disabled.

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062014702
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 4/19/2011
  • Pages: 288
  • Sales rank: 489,176
  • Product dimensions: 6.90 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Kate Payne

Kate Payne is a grant writer, creative writing instructor, part-time nanny; after-hours poet; occasional painter, big-time procrastinator, tea, toast, and jam obsessed Austinite; and former Brooklynite. The creator of the Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking website, she is an expert on thrift stores, flea markets, and Craigslist, and a frequent consultant for design, decorating, cooking, and crafting sites.

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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 20, 2012

    Welcome to the district 2 house

    Any bad launguage or\and actions and you will be disqualified from the games. This is a resting and place for district 2.

    0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 26, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

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