Playful: A book of easy crafts for kids that will inspire imagination and play.

This summer I mapped out fun crafts to do with my kids every week, and we completed exactly zero of them. It might be because I pinned things like build a lap-sized loom and learn to weave. I'm still not giving up on making beautiful, modern and, ahem, easy crafts with kids, though, and right now I'm drawing inspiration from Playful, the new DIY book from Merrilee Liddiard.   If you haven't seen Merrilee's blog, MerMag, you should bookmark it right now. Her modern French aesthetic is so beautiful, and it comes through in even the simplest crafts she suggests for kids, which is what I love about the book. The crafts can pretty much be created with the supplies I have in my pretty average craft drawer--like cardboard, paint, a glue gun, cotton thread and a hole punch. But if you're a bit more advanced, she also includes a few projects that require drills and sewing machines. There's also a whole section of templates that include guides for cutting or even for copying onto iron-on paper so you can just apply her lovely artwork (like the trapeze doll's face, at top on the book cover) directly onto the craft. Voila! What I really, really appreciate is that almost every project can be used for play when it's finished. From the sword and shield to the squiggle floor tile puzzle to the duct tape portfolio, all of these crafts will inspire kids to imagine and create even more. I'm so glad to have Playful on hand as we look toward the winter months and more hours inside. At least we'll have lots of fun and beautiful projects to make, and to play with for a long time. Playful will be in your local bookstore on September 16, or pre-order now at our affiliate Amazon. Find more easy crafts for kids on our Crafty Pinterest board.