5 Sweet Summer Craft Books

Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates: Over 90 Pictured Crafts and Dozens of More Ideas, by Highlights and Hank Schneider 
One of my favorite parts of summer as a kid was cookouts and eating watermelon and burgers on picnic tables with friends. And one thing we always had a huge stock of over the summer months was paper plates. Why not repurpose these paper plates into cool new crafts? This book, with the help of plenty of photographs, will show your kids how to turn their ordinary dinnerware into boats, animals, and special gifts. You’ll never look at your picnic place setting the same way again!

Just Us Girls: 48 Creative Art Projects for Mothers and Daughters to Do Together, by Cindy Ann Ganaden
If you are looking for some new ways to bond with your daughter over the summer break, this book is full of great projects mothers and daughters can do together. This craft book was inspired by items that Cindy Ann Ganaden and her daughter collected over summer vacations and other trips, like sea glass and sea shells, which they later turned into new mementos and new memories. What a sweet idea!

Made By Dad: 67 Blueprints For Making Cool Stuff, by Scott Bedford
This awesome book is for dads who want to get in on the summer crafting fun!What kid wouldn’t be psyched if their dad made them a “Bunk Bed Communicator” out of tubes for staying up late on fun summer nights? Photos, diagrams, and instructions will turn even the most clumsy dad into a crafting superhero.

Craft-a-Day: 365 Simple Handmade Projects, by Sarah Goldschadt
This book will give your young crafter a new and exciting project for every single day of the summer—and the rest of the year as well! Crafts are grouped by themes, so each project makes sense for the season. From cupcake toppers to finger puppets, you’ll always have an answer to: what are we going to do today?

Martha Stewart’s Favorite Crafts for Kids: 175 Projects for Kids of All Ages to Create, Build, Design, Explore, and Share, by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living
Can you imagine if Martha Stewart ran a summer camp? Well this book, chock-full of Martha approved crafting projects, is probably as close as we’re going to get to that summer fantasy. According to Ms. Stewart, the crafts in this book “were all designed with simplicity in mind, making good use of common materials, and encouraging colorful, happy, uncomplicated results.” So roll up your sleeves, take out the paper and glue, and get to work!