The Family Creative Workshop

The Family Creative Workshop is a 24 volume craft encyclopedia from the 1970s, edited by Allen Bragdon and Steven Schepp. It contains entries on “traditional and contemporary crafts” that range from Acrylics to Zoetrope Toys. Each one is written by an artist or craftsperson familiar with the medium and contains general information about the craft as well as projects you can complete.

From Bragdon’s introduction: “What counts most is the sure knowledge that few things work as well as our own hands. The satisfaction of making something ourselves – something lasting, something beautiful, something only we could have made – is rich and rare.” A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with!

It’s an absolute gem of an encyclopedia: at once completely inspirational and hilariously dated. I often think about what a craft encyclopedia would look like in today’s world. The topics in this version are listed below.

A

  • Acrylics

  • Afghan Stitch

  • Airplanes of Paper

  • American Indian Crafts

  • Animal Dolls

  • Ant Farm

  • Antiquing Furniture

  • Applique

  • Astronomy

B

  • Baby Food

  • Basketry

  • Batik

  • Beachcombing

  • Beadwork

  • Bean-Bags

  • Belts and Buckles

  • Bicycles

  • Birds and Birdhouses

  • Birthday Celebrations

  • Block Printing

  • Bonsai

  • Bookbinding

  • Bottle Cutting

  • Bottle Gardens

  • Boxes

  • Braided Rugs

  • Breads

  • Bread Sculpture

  • Brewing

  • Button

C

  • Calligraphy

  • Camera

  • Candlemaking

  • Caning and Rushing

  • Canoeing

  • Cardboard

  • Card Tricks

  • Carryalls

  • Cartooning

  • Carving

  • Casting

  • Ceramics

  • Cheeses and Churning

  • Christmas Celebrations

  • Clambakes

  • Collages and Assemblages

  • Colonial Crafts

  • Color Psychology

  • Confections and Comfits 

  • Cosmetics

  • Costumes

  • Crewelwork Sampler

  • Crochet

  • Cryptography

D

  • Decoupage

  • Diorama

  • Dollhouses and Furniture

  • Dolls and Doll Clothes

  • Dried Flowers

  • Dulcimer

E

  • Egg Decorating

  • Embroidery

  • Enameling Metal

F

  • Flags and Banners

  • Florentine Stitch

  • Flowers (Artificial)

  • Foam Forms

  • Folk Art

  • Framing

  • Furniture Refinishing

  • Fur Recycling

G

  • Geneaology

  • Gingerbread

  • Glass Working

  • Gold Leafing

  • Gold Panning

  • Granny Squares

  • Greenhouse Construction

  • Greeting Cards

H

  • Hammocks and Slings

  • Hardanger Embroidery

  • Heraldry

  • Herbs

  • Hibachi and Hot Pot Cookery

  • Hooked Rugs

I

  • Ice Cream, Sherbet, and Ices

  • Ikebana

  • Inkle Weaving

  • Insects

J

  • Jewelry

  • Kaleidoscopes

K

  • Kayaks

  • Kilns

  • Kites

  • Knitting to Fit

L

  • Lace

  • Lamps and Shades

  • Lapidary

  • Leaded Glass

  • Leather Working

  • Lighted Indoor Gardens

  • Linoleum and Woodcuts

M

  • Machine Stitchery

  • Macrame

  • Magic

  • Maps and Pathfinding

  • Marmalades and Preserves

  • Marquetry

  • Masks

  • Mineralogy

  • Mittens and Mukluks

  • Mobiles

  • Models and Mock-ups

  • Molding Methods

  • Monoprinting

  • Mosaics

  • Music Making

N

  • Napkin Folding

  • Neckties

  • Needlepoint

O

  • Oil Painting

  • Ojo de Dios

  • Organic Gardening

  • Origami

P

  • Papermaking

  • Papier-Mache

  • Parades

  • Pasta

  • Patchwork

  • Perfumes

  • Pet Habitats

  • Pewtersmithing

  • Photographic Printing

  • Pickled and Canned Foods

  • Piloting Small Boats

  • Pinatas

  • Pin Striping

  • Pipe Making

  • Plastic Pipe Constructions

  • Plywood and Foam Furnishings

  • Pod and Cone Art

  • Potpourris and Pomanders

  • Pottery

  • Preschool Activities

  • Puppetry

  • Puzzles

Q

  • Quilling

  • Quill Pens

  • Quilting

R

  • Raffia and Straw

  • Rag Dolls

  • Recycling Clothes

  • Repousse and Chased Metal

  • Reverse Applique

  • Ribboncraft

  • Rockers and Cradles

  • Rope Knotting

  • Rosemaling

  • Rubbings

  • Rya and Flossa

S

  • Sail Making and Repair

  • Samplers

  • Sandal Making

  • Sand Casting

  • Sand Characters and Castles

  • Sand Painting and Layering

  • Sashimi and Sushi

  • Scrimshaw

  • Sculpture

  • Seashells

  • Seed Sprouting

  • Serigraphy

  • Sewing without a Pattern

  • Shadow Theater

  • Shaker Furniture

  • Shelters and Tents

  • Ship Models

  • Silhouettes

  • Silversmithing

  • Skin Painting

  • Smocking

  • Soapbox and Skate Vehicles

  • Soaps and Bath Products

  • Soft Sculpture

  • Soups

  • Spinning

  • Spool Toys

  • Sprang

  • Square Dancing

  • Stagecraft

  • Stained Glass

  • Stamp Decoupage

  • Stenciling

  • Stone Painting

  • Street Games

  • String Art

  • Structural Furnishing

  • Sugar Shapes

  • Sundials

  • Supergraphics

  • Swedish Huck Work

  • Swings

  • Syrups

T

  • Table Games

  • Tables and Benches

  • Tablet and Frame Weaving

  • Tambour

  • Tatting

  • Tea

  • Terrariums

  • Terrines and Timbales

  • Tie Dyeing

  • Time Telling

  • Tin and Pierced Work

  • Tin Painting

  • Topiary

  • Totem Poles

  • Toys

  • Traditional Knitting Motifs

  • Trapunto

  • Tree Houses

  • Treen Ware

  • Trellises

  • Tropical Fish

  • Tying Flies

U

  • Upholstery

V

  • Valentines

  • Vegetable Dyes

  • Vinegars

  • Vivariums

W

  • Walking Sticks

  • Watercolors

  • Weather Forecasting

  • Weaving

  • Whistles and Flutes

  • Wind Harps

  • Wine Making

  • Winter Sculpture

  • Wire Sculpture

  • Wok Cookery

  • Wood Assemblages

  • Woven Tapestries

  • Wrapped and Coiled Work

  • Wycinanki

Y

  • Yard Toys

  • Yarn Painting

  • Yo-Yos

Z

  • Zoetrope Toys