Blog Tour- TYV Crafting with Kids: review and giveaway!

Jennifer Casa, of the ever popular blog Jcasa handmade, has just published a brand new children's craft book titled Teach Yourself VISUALLY Crafting with Kids. It's bursting with art and craft projects- 75 to be exact. Wow! It's organized by each season, but also includes:

• holidays
• gift giving
• party crafts
• games

Jennifer, with the help of her two girls, has created a fabulous resource filled with tried and true classics (play dough, marbled paper, tie die) with fresh approaches.  Plus tons of fun new ideas that will inspire children and their grown-ups, alike. It's the perfect book to have on hand for rainy days, vacation time and any time you need help coming up with an enticing activity. It's geared towards young ones, with each project having a step by step visual guide, but many crafts would be engaging for an older child to do on their own. I was honored when Jennifer invited me to be part of her blog tour and strategically requested the week that my children were off on school break. Seemed like the perfect time to dive into some fun art time. And it was, however, I must apologize to Jennifer... I am so off my game this week (absorbed in some family stuff with kids at my side), and somehow changed the date of my tour stop in my head. My calendar told me otherwise this afternoon  and I felt like such a bumbler!  So now I'm here, a day late, but gushing no less about her lovely new book
 Here's our first project that we enjoyed together:
At the beginning of the week, when the the temps were still so low, there was a need for  a colorful pick me up. These "stained glass" butterflies did the trick. They were made by grating old broken crayons onto wax paper and melting them together. Instead of using craft sticks for the bodies, I was inspired to sew them into a strand like this other project in the book which we'll make next:

They came out beautifully, but the process was the best part.We all had fun!

Don't they just glow in afternoon light of our sun room? Might have to make some more soon to go with our upcoming sun catcher strands... we have a lot of windows!

Crafting with Kids a fantastic book to have in any parent, caregiver, or teacher's library. And yes, I have a signed copy for one of you courtesy of Jennifer and our shared publisher,Wiley! Please leave a comment in this post between now and Sunday night at 8pm EST. Don't forget to leave your email if it's not linked to your blogger profile. I'll announce the random winner on Monday morning. Good luck!
Here's the whole tour schedule for more reviews, giveaways, and interviews:
Tuesday, April 5 (release date)  -  JCasa *handmade
Wednesday, April 6  -  The Crafty Crow
Thursday, April 7  -  Sparkle Power
Monday, April 11  -  WhipUp
Wednesday, April 13  -  A Stitch in Dye
Friday, April 15  -  Smile and Wave
Monday, April 18  -  Elsie Marley
Wednesday, April 20  -  Maya*Made (Oh dear!)
Friday, April 22  -  Stitches in Play
Tuesday, April 26  -  Aesthetic Outburst
Thursday, April 28  -  Artsy Crafty Babe