The Bust DIY Guide to Life

I remember when I was about 9 years old or so, I found a copy of a Girl Guides compendium that had belonged to my Aunt Connie when she was a girl. The book was a thick hardcover that covered many topics such as: how to play hopscotch properly (there is a method!), how to knit, when to start wearing makeup, how to clean your home. I was enthralled with the tips and ideas inside that could lead me from girlhood to being a young woman.

I felt the same sense of enthrallment when I discovered Debbie Stoller's most recent book, The BUST DIY Guide to Life. Stoller is the editor of BUST magazine and the author of the Stitch 'N Bitch series of knitting and crotcheting books. I have been reading BUST magazine since it was a quarterly zine printed on newspaper. The magazine is a new wave feminist mix of politics, funny interviews, DIY fashion, and tongue-in-cheek humour.

Just like the magazine this DIY guide runs the with the same humorous language. It's an updated Girl Guide compendium for the modern times AND the modern gal! Covering everything from funky home decorating and sewing clothes, to making your own deodorant and doing up a 50's style bouffant, to living on a budget and cleaning your home with homemade environmentally friendly cleaners. It even includes a tutorial on how to ride a skateboard - which I can assure you was not included in the Girl Guide book I used to have.

Here are some of the things I am planning on trying out in the coming months:
- Making Tye-dyed tights (this project I will be doing with my two daughters)
- Create ear-muffs (with my headphones inside!)
- Have a fizzy bath bomb creating party
- And paper mache a pinata from scratch for one of my kid's birthday parties

- Bronwyn