The everyday answers to questions, we somehow just know. The questions we want answered to quench our thirst for knowledge we often turn to books.
All it may take to find the right book is to have someone talk about it or possibly you will read a review and decide to search out that certain book for your own library.
Reviews of books done at Comfy Country Creations are written to inform you of books that are available on various topics.

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This Month's Feature | Crafts | Christmas | Home Improvement & Wood Working | Gardening | Just for Mom |

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This Month's Feature Book
In the "olden days", as my children so lovingly refer to the time when I was younger than they are, I had the privilege and good fortune to be in one of my high school's first woodworking classes that allowed girls.
The one other female and myself were accepted by our male counterparts with more ease than the teacher. However, it was soon realized that our attention to detail, ability to read patterns and compile material lists overshadowed other areas. My final project, an oak coffee table of my own design received an A+ and is still very much in use.
I look back at that class as one of the stepping stones that encouraged me to pursue other areas of creativity. Occasionally, I will still doodle the design for a project, spend a day or so at the local hardware store with my list, dust off the saw horses and create!
Finding patterns for the quick and easy to the hard and time consuming can be a challenge in itself. It was with some excitement and trepidation that I opened the pages of not one, but two books that have been written by Stevie Henderson and Mark Baldwin.
For starters, one does not conjure up images of sleek furniture and accessories when one sees a heading that contains "2 X 4's". Intrigued and fascinated with the thought that a wall stud could actually become something that was useful and esthetically pleasing, I did a preliminary peruse. By the time I had glanced through both books, I was convinced that they needed to come home with me!
"2 x 4 Projects for the Outdoors" and "Great 2 x 4 Accessories for Your Home" both offer straight forward, easy instructions combined with diagrams, material and tool lists and patterns to complete the projects offered. You will be impressed with the ease of which you can make a wall ledge to show off your collectibles or an ottoman to rest your feet on. You can add hurricane lamps, a barbecue table or a porch swing to your backyard.
Novice or seasoned woodworker alike will enjoy having either one or both of these books in their library. More than 20 beginning woodworking projects to beautify the home. The perfect book for a woodworker just starting out or an experienced builder with a free weekend. In the fifth in her popular series, Stevie Henderson adds "icing to the cake" by offering readers another handsome book filled with projects built from stock lumber available just about anywhere. Truth is, if readers can cut a board to length and nail it to another board, they can make the items in this book! This 23-project collection includes handsome accessories that add style and pizzazz to the home. Some particularly special projects include an ottoman, a folding screen, a wine cabinet, even a grandfather clock. There are enough accessory projects here to allow gung-ho woodworkers to fill the entire house -- from kitchen and home office to bedroom and bathroom. As always, Henderson begins her book with a handy chapter on basic tools, techniques, materials, and safety. All projects are shown in color on location and have all the step-by-step instructions, clear illustrations, and exploded drawings that even the newest woodworker could want.

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Christmas

A Sesame Street Christmas
What a great book to create memories with your children. A book filled with poems, stories, songs and activities written by Pat Tornborg. Children and adults alike will enjoy the pages of A Sesame Street Christmas. The well know characters are part of the cast in this book. A blonde haired little girl with pigtails reads her version of A Night Before Christmas and the new rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas is performed to accomodate children everywhere learning how to count. Other classic songs with words that will be appreciated by young and old include White Christmas and Jolly Old St. Nicolas. There are recipes to make and crafts to create all from items you will find within your home. Make the Christmas Castle, or one of the tree ornaments and the book would not be complete without a recipe to make a special feast for birds. This book is written with Christmas in mind; however, you will find that some of the activities and recipes can be enjoyed all year.

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Crafts
I call it my "Quilting Bible" and from the number of page markers that stick out with reference notes, it's no wonder. It's the book I reach for first if I am trying something new and need a little guidance to get me past the first quilt block. A quilt block, by itself can make a charming pillow top, potholder or hot pad. Put several in a row and you have a table runner. Make a whole bunch and sew them together to make a bed cover. The question may be, just how does one go about making one of these blocks? The how to's of making a quilt block into beautiful heirlooms come to life chapter after chapter in The Art of Classic Quiltmaking. Names of various blocks and explicit directions on cutting, yardage required and piecing are all included. If you have seen a finished quilt that you would love to make? You think you know what pattern and material you would like to use, but your inexperience stops you because you don't know how to figure out the yardage required. Fear quilting no more! Harriet Hargrave and Sharyn Craig will guide you through your qualms. Each section is written so that the novice quilter will understand the techniques and the experienced quilters will read and re-read finding new tips and techniques to enhance their passion. This book takes you from choosing the best type of material for your project through to finishing. A definite must for every level of quilter and would make a wonderful addition in any quilters' library.

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Home Improvements & Wood Working
Finding a "how to" book to guide you through any type of home renovation can be like searching for a needle in a hay stack. One may be very explicit as to the type of tools and materials to use while another may have perfect instructions on how to do the project start to finish. The Complete Photo Guide to Home Improvements is a very good combination of both. The step by step procedures in this Black and Decker book are accompanied by clear concise pictures that will guide you through your project. The book encompasses over two hundred projects that include installing baseboards to large undertakings such as remodelling a basement or doing electrical modifications. If you ever had the urge to take a hammer to a wall just to see what was behind it, this book will guide you through the steps of removing or replacing drywall! Renovations of any kind can be a lot of fun and hard work. Women and men alike will find this publication well worth owning when planning changes to their living environment.

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Just for Mom

The job of a Mother does not stop at the end of each day. It is a life-long position filled with love, laughter, sorrow and tears. When you read from any of the selections chosen, time and time again, you'll know that you are not alone as there are millions of women who are sharing your day with you through these literary works.

Lynn Johnston is a Canadian who is probably best known for her daily comic strips that are found in over 2000 newspapers world wide. She has also written several books that will give you a sense of being part of the Johnston family as her work is based on her family and their day to day life.

If you have ever read a book and thought, "That's me!", chances are you are reading a book by Erma Bombeck.This was a lady who could keep you glued to your chair while the potatoes were burning in the other room just so you could find out what happened to the pet snake that had gone missing. Through the years, she expounded on family life like no other.
Soup anyone? Chicken Soup, according to most grandmothers will help to heal everything. The books available under the heading will take you to places you may have been and will bring a smile to your lips and maybe even a tear to your eye.


The title says it all! There really is nothing in life that needs to get you in a tither, especially the small stuff. Reality is, most of the big stuff isn't worth getting into a sweat over either! These are wonderful little books that help to put life in perspective.


Last, but certainly not least, is our selection . We have included selections that will pass humorous and wise stories on to those who are not yet grandparents; or perhaps, Grandma will want to leave her own written legacy in Grandmother's Memories.


Find your favorite reading spot, get a box of tissue and enjoy.

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Gardening
Garden Decoration From Junk
Flea markets, junk yards, basements and attics all become treasure chests filled with items waiting to be brought to life. Garden Decoration From Junk certainly brings new meaning to containers used in gardening! A little imagination, along with the unique suggestions in this book and your yard will have a character like no other. The operative word here is imagination and after reading this book, you will wonder why you threw out some perfectly good garden accessories. Everything from tin cans to car springs and cutlery can be incorporated into your garden setting whether is be on your deck and patio or in the yard. Visualize old garden tools as a support for clamatis, scarlet runner beans or sweet peas. Metal containers such as pots, buckets and tin cans housing your herbs. Books and foot wear that have been damaged beyond repair or restoration will make quite a coversation piece when used as planters. There is an abundance of pictures that will give you every opportunity to invent an end product that would add personality to your decor inside or out. One man's junk is another man's treasure certainly holds true page after page in this intriguing book by Leeann MacKenzie.

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