MAKE THINGS GRANDMA MADE

Stapleton's commentary breaks all previous cliche-per-square-paragraph records though it is probably in the spirit of the kitschy crafts she illustrates here. Besides the edible creations -- stained glass cookies, toffee apples, sugar mice -- she dredges up the lost arts of rolled paper work (especially popular, once, for decorating tea caddies), pressed flower arrangements, clothespin dolls (the pins are called dolly pegs here but translated with other Britishisms in a British-American glossary), silhouettes, and even that dismal delicacy hair embroidery. It's the kind of stuff some of us were happy to throw out of our own grandmothers' attics and certainly not what we'd prescribe for developing either skill or creativity, though no doubt there are nostalgia trippers who will appreciate its mouldy authenticity. We'll take great-grandmother's quilts and candles.