Home is where the Heart is.
Written: Nov 04 '02 (Updated Jun 24 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: good low cost craft, decorating, cooking and collecting ideas - the next Martha Stewart?
Cons: Magazine has a distinctive artistic style that won't appeal to everyone
The Bottom Line: Good magazine for those who like Mary's style.
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: Mary Engelbreit'S Home Companion Magazine |
Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion offers a lot of ideas under the cover of one magazine. Mary Engelbreit is an artist/illustrator and has her own distinctive style. She is well known for her illustrations of Princess of Quite-a-lot and Life is a Bowl of Cherries. Mary writes some of the articles and clearly has a heavy hand in editing the magazine.
SECTIONS
Decorating: The magazine definitely favors bright colors and crafty decorating. Most rooms are layered with flea market finds, crafts and art. It encourages you to decorate your house yourself in your own particular style similar to Christopher Lowell. The furniture and other decor in the homes is usually old or found and is not easily found in stores. Therefore, this is not a good magazine to scope out furniture currently on the market. Instead, it can give good ideas on how to use color and accessories in your home. Usually, several houses are shown in one magazine.
Crafts: Mary is an artist, so there are several crafts in each magazine. The skill level ranges from easy to quite difficult. However, the results are usually beautiful. The crafts are also adult-orientated although some older children may be able to accomplish the easier ones.
Cooking: The magazine will provide several recipes in a theme. One summer magazine featured tomato recipes, a holiday edition featured food gifts and a February magazine featured a mardi gras party. The recipes are generally on the easy side with ingredients from your local supermarket. Occasionally, there is something more exotic. The cooking secion usually also shows creative ways to serve the food.
Collecting: This is my favorite section. Each magazine features a particular collectible, for example sock darners or dexterity games. Usually, the collectibles can be found in flea markets and antique shows for $5-$100. If you have ever wanted to collect something, but didn't know what or how much to spend, you can find a lot of information and inspiration in this magazine.
Travel: Each magazine has a section called "Saturday Mornings." Mary and her friends set out to go shopping or sightseeing. As the name implies, the trips can be accomplished in a day and usually cost little money. One magazine featured the Brimfield, Massachusetts flea markets. Another featured Portland's book territory.
Articles: Mary writes the editorial and some articles. There are other authors. One thing I like about the magazine is that most of the articles have a very upbeat feel.
Illustration: Each magazine has an illustration by Mary Engelbreit on cardboard ready to be framed.
Paper Dolls: Each magazine has a small, cardboard page of paper dolls.
DOWNSIDES AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Advertising: Since this is Mary Engelbreit's magazine, expect a lot of advertisements for her products which include prints, dolls, refrigerator magnets, books, fabric, pottery and tons of other items all in her distinctive designs.
Cost: The per issue cost is higher than most other similar magazines. I think this one has more pages of content than some other magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens.
Style: The decorating, crafts and even recipes all have a distinctive style similar to Mary's illustrations. There is a homey, do it yourself, recycle flea market finds, discover your hidden artist feel to the whole thing. If you love the style, then you will love the magazine. However, this style is not for everyone. If you have a subscription to Metropolitan Home or Elle Decor, this magazine is probably not for you.
For Chicks only: This is a magazine about women for women. Women write the articles and are featured in most of the stories. There is a lot of mother/daughter bonding. Adult friendships are also discussed. This magazine will probably not appeal to most men.
OTHER INFORMATION
Cost: The magazine is somewhat pricey. The cost is about $20 a year and you get 6 issues. The cover price is $4.95.
Toll free order line: 1-877-485-6430.
web site: www.maryengelbreit.com (didn't work last time I tried it, maybe it is no longer operational?)
The magazine is on good quality paper with glossy illustrations. Each magazine is about 115 pages.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
This is a great magazine for some people. If Mary's style appeals to you, then even if you are not crafty or redecorating your home or haunting flea markets, you will still probably find something in this magazine to like because there is a lot of content.
MY REVIEWS ABOUT DESIGN MAGAZINES
Architectural Digest is decorating porn.
Elle Decor is sultry.
House & Garden is pretentious.
Home is practical.
Metropolitan Home is modern and spare.
Dwell is intellectual modernism.
Better Homes and Gardens has something for everyone.
Budget Living is tacky.
Nest is artistic and offensive
Recommended:
Yes
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