
Easy Crafts for the Insane
A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $15.30
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kelly Williams Brown
About this listen
From the New York Times best-selling author of Adulting comes a story about how to make something when you’re capable of nothing.
Kelly Williams Brown had 700 bad days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: She wrote a best-selling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to live as grown-ups in an often-screwed-up world, though these accomplishments mostly just made her feel fraudulent.
One of the few things that kept her moving forward was, improbably, crafting. Not Martha Stewart-perfect crafting, either - what could be called “simple”, “accessible”, or, perhaps, “rustic” creations were the joy and accomplishments she found in her worst days. To craft is to set things right in the littlest of ways; no matter how disconnected you feel, you can still fold a tiny paper star, and that’s not nothing.
In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.
This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains crafting instructions, a supply list, and illustrations from the book.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 Kelly Williams Brown (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Adulting
- How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps
- By: Kelly Williams Brown
- Narrated by: Anjili Pal
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you graduated from college but still feel like a student...if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store...if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean...it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way. Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, Adulting makes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable - and even conquerable.
-
-
Great for Young Adults
- By steve on 01-22-14
-
Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition)
- Advice from Dear Sugar
- By: Cheryl Strayed
- Narrated by: Cheryl Strayed, Steve Almond - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tiny Beautiful Things collects the best of Dear Sugar in one volume, bringing her wisdom to many more readers. This tenth-anniversary edition features six new columns and a new preface by Strayed. Rich with humor, insight, compassion—and absolute honesty—this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.
-
-
A Spoonful of Sugar
- By Mel on 08-15-12
By: Cheryl Strayed
-
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult
- A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere
- By: Maria Bamford
- Narrated by: Maria Bamford
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it. In Bamford’s “trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy” (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult brings us on a quest to participate in something.
-
-
Hilarious and sincere
- By B. Bazzell on 09-06-23
By: Maria Bamford
-
Other Birds
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Addison Allen
- Narrated by: Siiri Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It's called The Dellawisp and it's named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment at The Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story.
-
-
Brilliance Audio should be ashamed.
- By joydox on 08-31-22
-
Conversations with Friends
- A Novel
- By: Sally Rooney
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frances is a cool-headed and darkly observant young woman vaguely pursuing a career in writing while studying in Dublin. Her best friend and comrade-in-arms is the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi. At a local poetry performance one night, Frances and Bobbi catch the eye of Melissa, a well-known photographer, and as the girls are then gradually drawn into Melissa's world, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband, Nick.
-
-
Interesting point of view; glad I listened!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-17
By: Sally Rooney
-
What My Bones Know
- A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
- By: Stephanie Foo
- Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.
-
-
Complex PTSD from a patient's point of view!
- By Howard_a on 05-24-22
By: Stephanie Foo
-
Adulting
- How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps
- By: Kelly Williams Brown
- Narrated by: Anjili Pal
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you graduated from college but still feel like a student...if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store...if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean...it's OK. But it doesn't have to be this way. Just because you don't feel like an adult doesn't mean you can't act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown's popular blog, Adulting makes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable - and even conquerable.
-
-
Great for Young Adults
- By steve on 01-22-14
-
Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition)
- Advice from Dear Sugar
- By: Cheryl Strayed
- Narrated by: Cheryl Strayed, Steve Almond - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tiny Beautiful Things collects the best of Dear Sugar in one volume, bringing her wisdom to many more readers. This tenth-anniversary edition features six new columns and a new preface by Strayed. Rich with humor, insight, compassion—and absolute honesty—this book is a balm for everything life throws our way.
-
-
A Spoonful of Sugar
- By Mel on 08-15-12
By: Cheryl Strayed
-
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult
- A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere
- By: Maria Bamford
- Narrated by: Maria Bamford
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it. In Bamford’s “trademark blend of disarming intimacy and dark whimsy” (Publishers Weekly), Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult brings us on a quest to participate in something.
-
-
Hilarious and sincere
- By B. Bazzell on 09-06-23
By: Maria Bamford
-
Other Birds
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Addison Allen
- Narrated by: Siiri Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It's called The Dellawisp and it's named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment at The Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story.
-
-
Brilliance Audio should be ashamed.
- By joydox on 08-31-22
-
Conversations with Friends
- A Novel
- By: Sally Rooney
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frances is a cool-headed and darkly observant young woman vaguely pursuing a career in writing while studying in Dublin. Her best friend and comrade-in-arms is the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi. At a local poetry performance one night, Frances and Bobbi catch the eye of Melissa, a well-known photographer, and as the girls are then gradually drawn into Melissa's world, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband, Nick.
-
-
Interesting point of view; glad I listened!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-17
By: Sally Rooney
-
What My Bones Know
- A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
- By: Stephanie Foo
- Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.
-
-
Complex PTSD from a patient's point of view!
- By Howard_a on 05-24-22
By: Stephanie Foo
-
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
- A Novella
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: David Morse
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day. The square is strange but also familiar, full of the odds and ends that have made up their lives: Grandpa's work desk, the stuffed dragon that Grandpa once gave to Noah, the sweet-smelling hyacinths that Grandma loved to grow in her garden.
-
-
Heartbreakingly Perfect
- By Jmo930 on 11-21-16
By: Fredrik Backman
-
A Deadly Education
- A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts; I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, making myself the dark queen of the world.
-
-
Intersting concept, way too much self pity
- By Rune on 10-13-20
By: Naomi Novik
-
Invisible Girl
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Donna Banya, Katherine Kelly, Connor Swindells
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his 30s and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct - accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen.
-
-
Hate it ended!! Lisa Jewell, you did it again!!!!
- By Lisa Lawson on 10-15-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
How to Start a Business Selling Arts and Crafts Online & Offline
- Sell Handmade Items on eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Facebook, Flea Market, Pop-Up Shops & More!
- By: Elaina Garcia
- Narrated by: Lauren Garvin
- Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Creating unique pieces of art comes easy to some people. Knowing the ins and outs of actually selling arts and crafts can sometimes be a little tricky. This book is designed to help those of you who want to sell your creations online or offline. It may be much more fun to create things than it is to do all of the research required to get you on the way to actually selling your arts and crafts.
-
-
Very general
- By Holly B on 12-06-23
By: Elaina Garcia
-
Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered
- The Definitive How-To Guide
- By: Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark
- Narrated by: Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, Paul Giamatti
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation. In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being "nice" or "helpful." They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful issues with empathy and frankness.
-
-
I just really enjoyed Karen crying
- By VOGUEMAG on 05-28-19
By: Karen Kilgariff, and others
-
Survival of the Thickest
- Essays
- By: Michelle Buteau
- Narrated by: Michelle Buteau
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stand-up comedian, actress, and host Michelle Buteau reflects on growing up Caribbean, Catholic, and thick in New Jersey, going to college in Miami (where everyone smells like pineapple), her many friendship and dating disasters, working as a newsroom editor during 9/11, getting started in stand-up opening for male strippers, marrying into her husband’s Dutch family, IVF and surrogacy, motherhood, chosen family, and what it feels like to have a full heart, tight jeans, and stardom finally in her grasp.
-
-
Enjoyable listen, unexpected moments
- By Jessica on 12-28-20
By: Michelle Buteau
-
Over the Top
- A Raw Journey to Self-Love
- By: Jonathan Van Ness
- Narrated by: Jonathan Van Ness
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A laugh-and-cry-out-loud memoir from the beloved star of Netflix’s Queer Eye, Jonathan Van Ness, sharing never-before-told, deeply personal stories of growing up gay, transforming pain into positivity, and embracing what makes you gorgeously different.
-
-
Everything I knew it would be and more.
- By Cookie2703 on 09-24-19
-
Quietly Hostile
- Essays
- By: Samantha Irby
- Narrated by: Samantha Irby
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Samantha Irby’s career has taken her to new heights. She dodges calls from Hollywood and flop sweats on the red carpet at premieres (well, one premiere). But nothing is ever as it seems online, where she can crop out all the ugly parts. Irby got a lot of weird emails about Carrie Bradshaw, and not only is there diarrhea to avoid, but now—anaphylactic shock. She is turned away from restaurants for being inappropriately dressed and looks for the best ways to cope, i.e., reveling in the offerings of QVC and adopting a deranged pandemic dog.
-
-
Extremely disappointed
- By Diana in Michigan on 07-20-23
By: Samantha Irby
-
Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff
- Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life
- By: Matt Paxton, Jordan Michael Smith - contributor
- Narrated by: Matt Paxton
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Your boxes of photos, family’s china, and even the kids' height charts aren’t just stuff; they’re attached to a lifetime of memories - and letting them go can be scary. With empathy, expertise, and humor, Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff helps you sift through years of clutter, let go of what no longer serves you, and identify the items worth keeping so that you can focus on living in the present.
-
-
amongst many, my favorite book on decluttering
- By bananasfosterwallace on 08-15-22
By: Matt Paxton, and others
-
The Wreckage of My Presence
- Essays
- By: Casey Wilson
- Narrated by: Casey Wilson
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Casey Wilson has a lot on her mind and she isn’t afraid to share. In this dazzling collection, each essay skillfully constructed and brimming with emotion, she shares her thoughts on the joys and vagaries of modern-day womanhood and motherhood, introduces the not-quite-typical family that made her who she is, and persuasively argues that lowbrow pop culture is the perfect lens through which to examine human nature.
-
-
Would have been 5 stars without the political commentary
- By Leslie Francis on 05-14-21
By: Casey Wilson
-
The Comfort Book
- By: Matt Haig
- Narrated by: Matt Haig
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Midnight Library Matt Haig comes a new uplifting book, for anyone in search of hope, looking for a path to a more meaningful life, or in need of a little encouragement. The Comfort Book is Haig’s life raft: It’s a collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years that originally served as gentle reminders to Haig’s future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem.
-
-
Best book ever!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-30-21
By: Matt Haig
-
Broken (in the Best Possible Way)
- By: Jenny Lawson
- Narrated by: Jenny Lawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken (in the Best Possible Way), Jenny brings listeners along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way. With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it.
-
-
The perfect follow up
- By Anonymous User on 04-07-21
By: Jenny Lawson
Critic reviews
“In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you might even make things.” (Country Living)
“[Easy Crafts for the Insane] combines basic crafting tutorials with moving and amusing biographical aspects in an effort to help readers tackle mental health issues…[Kelly’s] own experience of the positive impacts of crafting, which helped her get through her darkest days, inspired [her] to write this highly autobiographical, undeniably practical, and very entertaining self-help book.” (San Francisco Book Review)
"Kelly Williams Brown has created an incredibly valuable handy thing: a book you can either treasure for yourself or simply hurl to/at people in your life who don't understand about mental health obstacles but whom you really wish would. And! Another cool thing: anyone can follow the craft ideas to occupy a mind that desperately needs a break while creating neat whimsical objects. The book is humane, funny as hell, and relatable. It will help both our collective mental health and the glue and glitter industries." (John Moe, author of The Hilarious World of Depression)
What listeners say about Easy Crafts for the Insane
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Enders
- 05-24-22
Beautiful story for our times
Issues of mental health have never been more pressing in recent times than now. This beautifully narrated book is a wonderful read for all of us who wish to reflect on our own mental health and appreciate the struggles of people around us. What a terrific story, authentic and beautifully written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas A. Siewert
- 09-10-22
Stick with it
I have to admit, by the time I reached the half way point I was thinking of stopping. It was mostly a lighthearted romp through relationships and other ~30 year old girl stuff, which is fine if you're a girl of that age. I'm a 64 y.o. man and I just couldn't relate to it. Then things started getting more intense and interesting, so I stuck it out and I'm glad I did. The latter part of the book is very touching, the real heart of her story. This is where she takes off our rose colored glasses and gives us a look at what's underneath, in full color. This is where we learn of her mental health issues. It's amazing the trial of difficult life events that beset her in a relatively short period of time, and how she handled it (and sometimes didn't). By the end I was glad I stuck with it. My heart goes out to her.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- shellie
- 12-23-23
Resilience
I had also had a similar experience and so much reminds me of what I went through as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mason
- 02-25-22
Worth the listen!
This was a charming read and I definitely enjoyed it. I won’t buy a physical copy or listen again, but I don’t regret the time spent listening :)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 08-11-21
Not really what the title makes you think it is.
I would have to say that I was very disappointed in the book overall. This is just a platform for the author to scream out to the world how upset she was with a election. And she states this in several chapters.
The voiceover was great
The book title is probably correct " easy crafts for the INSANE"
Just not something I would have wasted my money on.
The bashing of people who voted differently that her was very distasteful.
Not a book for me
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!