Two new books on paper craft offer a wealth of inspiration for crafty thinkers. Some of these projects are suitable for older children who want to make their own gifts or lend a hand with Christmas decorating.

Paper Made! shows how to work with everything from candy wrappers to ticket stubs.

Small pieces of folded graph paper are pasted onto a round Chinese paper lantern. Light shining through this fixture makes a complex interplay of shadow and texture.

Old maps are snipped into birds with lacy wings and tails and assembled into a charming mobile. Maps also wrap the mats of framed travel photos.

What to do with a partial deck? Leftover playing cards are sewn together with zigzag stitch and attached to wire rings to create an imaginative lampshade.

Frank Gehry built iconic furniture from cardboard. Now, it’s your turn. Transform used cardboard into an end table, picture frame or curio shelf.

Book Art offers some fabulous projects which include clever Christmas decorations. The winter village scene which you see pictured on the cover has a fairytale quality when displayed with candles or cut crystal.

From an old book come curvy, sculptural ornaments. The spine of the book forms the core of the ornament with the cut pages fanning out from the central spine.

Strips of thicker paper are shaped into delicate, tasseled baubles. Circles cut from the colourful pages of a brochure create a spiky decoration. Silver leaf is rubbed onto the pages of a book from which oak leaves and acorns are formed. They can be tied with pretty ribbon to wrap a gift or dangle from a tree.

-Jane

Design students and groupies will enjoy the lavish new title from design writer Dominic Bradbury. The Iconic Interior: Private Spaces of Leading Artists, Architects, and Designers takes you on an extravagant international tour of famous personal digs.

These are interiors that have been widely photographed and shown in other sources. The charm is in finding them all together between the same hard covers. For each place, Bradbury offers a tidy essay about the designer’s work and what makes the place so special. Here is a sampling:

In London, UK, visit Nancy Lancaster’s lavish, traditional, butter-yellow living room or Jasper Conran’s handsome sitting room. In Conran’s home traditional style is filtered through contemporary restraint.

Step into the free-spirited, bohemian world of artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell at their renowned Charleston farmhouse in East Sussex.

In Belgium, Axel Vervoordt’s home is his castle – literally. This antiques dealer/ designer/entrepreneur is known for his unique combination of classicism and rusticity. He moved with his company into the castle after four years of renovation work.

Have a look at Vicente Wolf’s bright and airy New York loft which is the perfect stage for his photography and then check out Frederic Mechiche’s book-lined Paris apartment.

Todd Oldham owns a quirky country house in rural Pennsylvania filled with furnishings that speak of his creativity and success as a fashion designer.

And you get to explore Jonathan Adler’s exuberant and surreal surroundings. His playful home appears on the cover of the book.

- Jane