Nature Crafts With A Microwave

Nature Crafts With A Microwave (1994) by Dawn Cusick (Stirling Lark). ISBN: 9780806906676.

Yes, you read that correctly. Not “Nature Crafts With a Hot Glue Gun,” not “Nature Crafts With a Pair of Scissors and Too Much Time,” but with a microwave. Dawn Cusick, clearly a fearless pioneer in the 90s craft-book gold rush, looked at her humming beige Whirlpool and thought: “What this needs isn’t reheated pizza—it’s pinecones.” And thus a cult classic was born.

Between these perfectly intact (if slightly yellowing) pages, you’ll discover how to use your humble kitchen radiation box to dry flowers, preserve leaves, harden seeds, and create “nature crafts” that smell faintly of popcorn. Expect step-by-step instructions, charming line drawings, and colour photos that scream craft fair chic, complete with moss, acorns, and the occasional seashell that may or may not explode under high wattage.

Condition: Good. Which means it’s survived the decades without smelling like scorched bark chips, though the cover may bear a hint of shelf rub, like a pinecone pressed too long in a scrapbook. The spine is solid, the pages intact, and it’s fully capable of inspiring you to nuke an unsuspecting daisy at 600 watts for “artistic purposes.”

This isn’t just a craft book—it’s an artifact of that strange 90s moment when microwaves were seen as mystical portals, capable of everything from cooking a baked potato to transforming woodland detritus into a centrepiece. A glorious mashup of nature and technology, like a squirrel running DOS.

For collectors of oddball DIY manuals, lovers of kitsch, or anyone who has ever thought “but what if I just put it in the microwave and see what happens?” Another eccentric treasure carefully salvaged by Crappy Old Books, where our stock may be slightly cracked, but never overcooked.

Keep browsing: See more Crafts books Other books by Dawn Cusick