Hope, Make, Heal: 20 Crafts to Mend the Heart

For anyone seeking renewal and restoration during life's transitions and after deep loss, Hope, Make, Healoffers a unique approach to healing: using one's hands to mend the heart. The twenty craft projects provide ways to make tangible objects that signify the qualities one seeks on a healing path: strength, calm, release, and hope. Full of gentle encouragement, each project is easy to make and suitable for those times when our minds are preoccupied and our spirits are low.

Grief and pain are universal experiences that touch everyone at one time or another. When we grieve, most of us reach for the steady hand of loved ones. But even if we're blessed with an understanding community, a deep sense of isolation comes with tragedy. No one else stands in our shoes. Rarely is there another person who can understand just what it means to be you.

For maker and artist Maya Donenfeld, when faced with the trauma of a sudden and unexpected ending to her marriage of sixteen years, she yearned to find something that would allow her to focus and channel her powerful flood of emotions into something she could see and touch. Knowing that busy hands can profoundly nurture the heart and quiet the mind, she began making things to wear, carry, touch, and gaze upon—beautiful and expressive objects that were simple, intentional, and most of all, meaningful. The result is the collection of projects here. This book offers a unique approach to mending wounds with inspiring projects that integrate hand, heart, and mind with thread, ink, and more. The projects encourage renewal and restoration during life's transitions and after deep loss. Each one offers comfort and support and is designed to have a personal impact on the maker and those around them. It's a resource for personal healing and a gift for your friend in need.