[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Microcosm Publishing
Formats: Paperback, eBook, Kindle
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | iBooks[/alert]

Making Stuff & Doing Things is a seemingly random compilation of (sometimes bizarre) ideas for making or doing things with as little financial investment as possible. The book started as a series of zines and the individual contributor-feel still lingers by the mishmash of pages; each article is a different font, style, or drawing. Some of the pages are difficult to read and others are just plain chicken scratch. Topics included range from self-education to self-publishing, clothing to art, travel, body, and home. Learn how to make dandelion wine, grow potatoes in a barrel, or DIY buttons. Topics are put in logical categories and an index completes the book.

“If nothing else, I hope that this book stands for the idea that we don’t have to just be passive consumers, but instead that we can take action to transform our world into whatever we want it to be, and that together, we can do it ourselves.”

Making Stuff & Doing Things presents the information in a cheeky, humorous style and some of the ideas are off the wall, but other ideas are quite inventive and useful. Perhaps the reader has always dreamed of making a utensil key chain or his own toothpaste. Well, now instead of dreaming, one can take action and actually create these items with little or no cost. It appears that only one’s lack of imagination will get in the way!

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