Review: How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew

How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew
By: Erin Bried
ISBN: 978-0345518750
Other books by Erin Bried

1. How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew
2. How to Build a Fire: And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew
3. How to Rock Your Baby: And Other Timeless Tips for Modern Moms

Summary via Amazon:
“Waste not, want not” with this guide to saving money, taking heart, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Nowadays, many of us “outsource” basic tasks. Food is instant, ready-made, and processed with unhealthy additives. Dry cleaners press shirts, delivery guys bring pizza, gardeners tend flowers, and, yes, tailors sew on those pesky buttons. But life can be much simpler, sweeter, and richer–and a lot more fun, too! As your grandmother might say, now is not the time to be careless with your money, and it actually pays to learn how to do things yourself!

Practical and empowering, How to Sew a Button collects the treasured wisdom of nanas, bubbies, and grandmas from all across the country–as well as modern-day experts–and shares more than one hundred step-by-step essential tips for cooking, cleaning, gardening, and entertaining, including how to

• polish your image by shining your own shoes
• grow your own vegetables (and stash your bounty for the winter)
• sweeten your day by making your own jam
• use baking soda and vinegar to clean your house without toxic chemicals
• feel beautiful by perfecting your posture
• roll your own piecrust and find a slice of heaven
• fold a fitted sheet to crisp perfection
• waltz without stepping on any toes

Complete with helpful illustrations and brimming with nostalgic charm, How to Sew a Button provides calm and comfort in uncertain times. By doing things yourself, with care and attention, you and your loved ones will feel the pleasing rewards of a job well done.

Review:
One may question why I have included this book in zombie week, but one of the most important things about a zombie apocalypse is... survival! Some of the best survivalists in the world are our grandparents and great grandparents as they have lived through some of the most tumultuous times our country has seen. They have seen the Great Depression, World Wars, etc. and have always made it through (otherwise we wouldn't be here). That is how this book first caught my attention.

What kept me reading though was the spunky banter and clear directions! Erin Bried included wonderful quotes that really brought the time and the feel for how our mother's mothers lived and how different it was. I personally felt how warm and family oriented their time was and how today is so focused on work/school and technology. Overall, Erin did such a wonderful job not only with her choice of how-to's but also in her tone and respect to those who came before us and that's why she gets a rating of 5 for How to Sew a Button!

I fully recommend this book to anyone first moving out or even for anyone wanting to see a new/old way of doing things. And most definitely if your neighbors start too look at you more like a chicken nugget than a friend.

My Top Ten for zombie survival tips are:

1. Be A Good Catch: How to Fillet a Fish
   Most zombie books say large animals can also zombify but I have never heard of a zombie fish
2. Stay Sharp: How to Hone a Knife
   Knives never run out of bullets and the sharper the better
3. Grow Your Own: How to Plant a Vegetable Garden
   We all need to eat and its not like the supermarket is going to be getting a new shipment
4. Stash Your Bounty: How to Can Your Own Fruits & Veggies
   Once again we all need to eat especially in the winter
5. Harness The Wind: How to Install a Clothesline
   Mostly cause the smellier the human the more likely a zombie will find you as you smell meaty
6. Get Stoked: How to Build a Fire
   Fire is good for all kinds of things but remember a zombie on fire is just that a ravenous zombie on fire still trying to eat you.
7. Shoulder Up: How to Be a Strong Partner
   I don't know how anyone can survive without finding a serious backbone and survival instincts
8. Drive A Bargain: How to Negotiate a Better Price
   Great for if you meet people and need to trade for supplies (think Oregon Trail, hopefully without the dysentery)
9. Get Heard: How to Speak Your Mind at a Town Hall Meeting
   Group dynamics are always hard but once you add flesh eating zombies I am sure tempers fly even higher
10. Quench Your Thirst: How to Brew Your Own Beer
    Beer because at some point you will need to relax but only while there is someone watching your back.

Good luck with your survival and enjoy!