According to me, these are 2025’s best eco-friendly craft books!
I love a good craft book, and I keep track of the new ones that come out every year. Obviously, books that highlight eco-friendly crafting methods and supplies are the best–boo to resin and polymer clay and vinyl! 2025, fortunately, was a great year for eco-friendly craft books. There were titles teaching specific techniques, like rug tufting, knitting, and quilting; titles focused on specific genres of crafting, like eco-friendly Christmas crafts or children’s fantasy crafts; and plenty of titles with fun and unique ideas for crafts, like embroidered field guides, or landscape quilts, or knitted socks. But out of all of those titles, these are my very favorites of the year!
Sew Much Love, by Lesley Domier
Quilting is my favorite hobby, so I’m pretty good at it, but I was nevertheless able to learn some new techniques from this book. Since quilting is my favorite hobby I also have too many quilts, so I also really loved that there are so many non-quilt projects here! There are mug rugs and table runners, pillow covers, a needle book, and several types of bags, including the exact tablet case that I sorely needed for my geriatric e-reader.
I’ve been getting more into quilting as wall art, so my favorite project in this book is the rainbow prism wall hanging (pictured on the cover). It’s so bright and cheerful, and a great size for displaying on my wall!
Cross-Stitch Mandalas, by Isabelle Haccourt Vautier
I discovered cross-stitch this year, and although my favorite way to cross-stitch is definitely in front of the TV, I also appreciate its meditative aspect. The beautiful cross-stitch patterns in this book allow you to focus on that, or to just enjoy making your own abstract art pieces. There’s also a full cross-stitch alphabet included in the patterns–I think all cross-stitch books should include an alphabet!
I might just still be in the Christmas spirit, but my favorite pattern set in this book is the Finland set. I think the Finland mandalas would make wonderful ornaments!
The Big Book of Fantasy Kid Crafts, by Jennifer Buchheit
Eco-friendly kid crafts are just as important as eco-friendly adult crafts! Honestly, they’re probably even more important, because this is how we raise up our next generation of eco-friendly crafters. These fantasy-themed crafts offer kids lots of ways to upcycle materials like cardboard and paper, as well as to utilize fun natural materials like twigs, leaves, and shells. Tutorials do sometimes call for new materials like coffee filters, tissue paper, and clothespins, but with a little creativity you can sub out pretty much anything with something that you have on hand.
I especially love all the fantastical small-world elements in this craft book. Who needs a Barbie Dream House when you can create your very own upcycled cardboard treehouse for a gnome, or a papier mache toadstool for a doll to sit on, or your own mini forest made of corks for your toy dinosaurs to wander through?
The Field Guide to Embroidery, by Jessica Kemper
This is the craftiest field guide you’ll ever see! This book shows you how to reproduce realistic animal (and a few plant!) portraits via embroidery. The techniques required for an individual animal can range from confident beginner to advanced, so depending on the animal you might have to take a practice run first, but think of the delight on your loved one’s face when you present them with a beanie embroidered with a green sea turtle, or a tote bag with their favorite animal, the coyote, embroidered on it.
I love to travel to national parks, so I already have my sights set on embroidering some of my favorite animals that I see onto my scrapbook covers for that trip. My Yellowstone National Park scrapbook will look so awesome with an embroidered grizzly bear on the cover!
Upcycle Your Room, by Chelsea Luciow
Redecorating is so fun, but nearly every Tiktok or Instagram post a young person might look to for inspiration will try to influence them into buying stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Where’s the creativity in simply spending money? No matter your kid’s personal style, this book will show them some really cool ways to add new elements to their personal space by upcycling something old. Featured projects include catch-all baskets made from denim, a message board made from an old TV tray, and bookends that utilize old toys.
I love how there’s so much room for personalization even within a single project. Take those denim catch-all baskets. A kid could paint them, stencil them, pin buttons onto them, line them with fun fabrics, thrift a specific color of denim, or anything else they can think of to make their baskets match their personality.
P.S. Want to know what I loved in previous years? Here are my favorite craft books of 2024, my favorite craft books of 2023, and my favorite craft books of 2022!
