KML alum Maura Madden has a rep for inventiveness. Not only has she written dozens of sketches for the group and performed in dozens of shows with us in the past, she used to gather hordes of friends for afternoon parties at her house, where they would fashion hot little crafts from yarn, paper, popsicle sticks, googly eyes, glitter, pipe cleaners and other unexpected items. She lead her troops like an art school MacGuyver.

Well, guess what? She wrote a book of her crafting sectrets. It's called Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Crafty with Your Friends All Year Long. The book may inspire you to host your own crafting parties. They're a great way to gather your community in a fun-filled, artistic environment that encourages potluck style sharing and the exchange of ideas and good times.

Crafternoon is available in bookstores and online now. And you really must explore Maura's Crafternoon site, with a blog, tips and a whole lot more fun: crafternoon.com.