Trust me, you really want this book:
It’s Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities,
Why do you want this book in book-form? Because it contains 1500 personal reviews of cool tools. Not insert-your-favorite-online-store-here type reviews, but the kinds of reviews that only come from repeated, considered use of a tool. And the tools themselves? A cool tool is (as laid out on the very first page):
Anything useful
That increases learning
Empowers individuals
Does work that matters
Is either the best
Or the cheapest
Or is the only thing that works
The definition of “tool” is broad enough to include Goodwill Online Auctions (super-cool), Amazon’s almost-secret 1-800 customer service number, and an encyclopedia of Russian criminal prison tattoos (which I suppose could be a tool given the right chain of horrific circumstances).
I think you, Dear Reader, will want this book because it’s decidedly for makers (it’s not called “Cool Stuff,” after all). Every page will help you be a better maker (or just help you make your life better). What makes it dangerous is that it is also full of ideas … if you do not think of five new projects on every page, you are reading with your eyes closed. (The “Construction Materials” section nearly sent me into a projectgasm. Check out Strong-ties, which Kelly calls “he-man K’NEX”.) And don’t even get me started on the “Organizers” section … and I still found things I didn’t know about in categories (like Sewing) where I think I have a good grasp of the cool tools. (Did you know there is KEVLAR THREAD? Soon, my buttons will be BULLETPROOF.)
Why do you want this book, rather than just browsing through the blog? Because it’s HUGE — roughly 11 x 14. It’s the kind of book that demands that you sit on the sofa with someone else (preferably a kid) and chat about possible projects while you page through it together. (Protip: mark pages with post-its for easy recall later — there’s a good index, but post-its mean you don’t have to remember the name of whatever doohickey caught your fancy.)
So, grab this book when it comes back into stock (supposedly this week or next) and then go to town. (And send me links to your projects!)
A Dress A Day 
Sounds super cool!
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Darn it! I was meant to be on a budget! 🙂
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I thought you had stopped blogging, ’cause when I type in your address or click your home page button, I always get the party Party Dress! post. To get my fix I decided to explore older posts by clicking on Recent Comments and that took me to the Cool Tools post, so clearly there is at least one more recent post, but that is not where the home button or dressaday address takes me. [insert confused expression]
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That’s so weird! (I also have a confused expression.) Could it have been cached?
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It’s happening to me too no matter what device I use (ipad, iphone, laptop). It always goes to the party dress and I have to click on another post to see anything else.
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I did just upgrade to a new version of WordPress … can you let me know what browser you’re using? (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera?)
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This is happening to me too, and I use Chrome.
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My browser is Safari with Maverick OS, but I think it has been the same on my other computers, some PC w/ IE, some Safari w/ Mountain Lion OS. Today when I typed in the the URL http://www.dressaday.com, it brought me here, as did clicking the home link on the Party Dress! post. If this is your last post, then I think it is working properly now. (But then 😦 because no newer posts!)
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I’m using Chrome on my pc and safari on the i devices.
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Thank you! I will figure this out … sorry for the hassle!
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Yup, here too. Glad you’re “back”!
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