diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 17e3468..5d0605a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,13 +9,19 @@ Use your own starting point when setting up a new app, e.g. CSS, JS, manifests a
     $ npm install -g create-react-app
     $ npm install -g craftool
   
-## Create a new app
+## Create a new app from remote ZIP
 
     $ craft MyApp https://github.com/stoyan/fail/archive/master.zip
     $ cd MyApp
     $ npm install . # sets up create-react-app
+
+## Create a new app from local ZIP file
+
+    $ craft MyApp ../template.zip
+    $ cd MyApp
+    $ npm install . # sets up create-react-app
   
-This creates an app called `MyApp` using a zip template from github
+This creates an app called `MyApp` using a zip template.
 
 ## Get serious
 
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index cc188c0..4daca32 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 if (process.argv.length < 4) {
   console.log('Please provide an app name and a ZIP with the template');
   console.log('e.g.');
-  console.log('$ craft MyApp https://github.com/stoyan/fail/archive/master.zip');  
+  console.log('$ craft MyApp https://github.com/stoyan/fail/archive/master.zip');
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ const path = require('path');
 const request = require('request');
 const url = require('url');
 const unzip = require('extract-zip');
+const resolve = require('resolve-file');
 
 const stat = fs.statSync;
- 
+
 const zip = process.argv[3];
 const app = process.argv[2];
 
@@ -23,16 +24,20 @@ const replacebles = [
   '.css',
   '.js',
   '.json',
-].reduce((res, el) => {res[el] = 1; return res;}, {});
+].reduce((res, el) => {res[el] = 1;return res;}, {});
 
 let tempDir;
 let tempUnzipDir;
+let localZIPPath;
 const appDir = path.resolve(process.cwd(), app);
 
 log('Validating...');
 const uri = url.parse(zip);
 if (!uri.host || !uri.path || !uri.protocol) {
-  fail(zip, 'is not a valid URL');
+  localZIPPath = resolve(uri.href);
+  if (!localZIPPath) {
+    fail(zip, 'is not a valid URL or file');
+  }
 }
 
 try {
@@ -46,38 +51,51 @@ fs.mkdirSync(appDir);
 tempDir = fs.mkdtempSync(appDir);
 tempUnzipDir = fs.mkdtempSync(tempDir);
 
-log('Downloading template...');
-const localZip = path.resolve(tempDir, 'template.zip');
-const file = fs.createWriteStream(localZip);
-
-request
-  .get(zip)
-  .on('error', err => fail(err))
-  .pipe(file);
+if (localZIPPath) {
+  log('Local file detected (' + localZIPPath + ')...');
+  unzipFile(localZIPPath, tempUnzipDir)();
+} else {
+  log('Downloading template...');
+  const localZip = path.resolve(tempDir, 'template.zip');
+  const file = fs.createWriteStream(localZip);
+
+  request
+    .get(uri.href)
+    .on('error', err => fail(err))
+    .pipe(file);
+
+  file.on('finish', () => {
+    file.close(unzipFile(localZip, tempUnzipDir));
+  });
+}
 
-file.on('finish', () => {
-  file.close(() => {
+function unzipFile(zipFile, targetPath) {
+  return () => {
     let packageDir;
     log('Unzipping...');
-    unzip(localZip, {
-        dir: tempUnzipDir,
+    unzip(
+      zipFile,
+      {
+        dir: targetPath,
         onEntry: entry => {
           if (entry.fileName.endsWith('package.json')) {
-            packageDir = path.resolve(tempUnzipDir, path.dirname(entry.fileName));
+            packageDir = path.resolve(targetPath, path.dirname(entry.fileName));
           }
         },
-      }, err => {
+      },
+      err => {
         if (err) {
-          fail('Error unzipping, giving up', localZip);
+          fail('Error unzipping, giving up', zipFile);
         }
         if (!packageDir) {
           fail('package.json missing from the template, giving up');
         }
-        log('Configuring app...')
+        log('Configuring app...');
         createApp(packageDir, appDir);
-    });
-  });
-});
+      }
+    );
+  };
+}
 
 function createApp(source, dest) {
   fs.copy(source, dest, (err) => {
@@ -86,7 +104,7 @@ function createApp(source, dest) {
     }
     const packageJson = path.resolve(dest, 'package.json');
     const oldPackage = require(packageJson);
-    
+
     // replace all app names in all files
     replaceFiles(dest, oldPackage.name, app);
 
@@ -98,21 +116,21 @@ function createApp(source, dest) {
         logError(err);
       }
     });
-    
+
     // write readme
     fs.writeFile(
       path.resolve(dest, 'README.md'),
       `# ${app}\n\nHello`,
       () => {}
     );
-    
+
     done();
   });
 }
 
 function rmTemp() {
   if (tempDir) {
-    fs.removeSync(tempDir);  
+    fs.removeSync(tempDir);
   }
   if (tempUnzipDir) {
     fs.removeSync(tempUnzipDir);
@@ -127,17 +145,17 @@ function replaceFiles(dir, seek, replaceWith) {
     if (f === 'package.json' || f.startsWith('README')) {
       return; // special plan for these
     }
-    
+
     const file = path.resolve(dir, f);
     const stats = stat(file);
-  
+
     if (stats.isDirectory()) {
       return replaceFiles(file, seek, replaceWith);
     }
     if (!replacebles[path.extname(f)]) {
       return; // images and such
-    } 
-    
+    }
+
     fs.readFile(file, 'utf-8', (err, contents) => {
       if (err) {
         logError(err);
@@ -157,13 +175,13 @@ function fail(...msg) {
   logError(msg.join(' '));
   rmTemp();
   if (appDir) {
-    fs.removeSync(appDir);  
+    fs.removeSync(appDir);
   }
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
 function log(...msg) {
-  console.log('\x1B[90m'+ msg.join(' ') +'\x1B[39m'); // thanks echomd
+  console.log('\x1B[90m' + msg.join(' ') + '\x1B[39m'); // thanks echomd
 }
 
 function logError(...msg) {
@@ -176,7 +194,7 @@ function done() {
   console.log('  cd ' + app);
   console.log('  npm install .');
   rmTemp();
-  
+
   const postcraft = path.resolve(appDir, 'postcraft.txt');
   fs.readFile(postcraft, 'utf-8', (err, contents) => {
     if (err) {/* whatever */}
@@ -185,4 +203,4 @@ function done() {
     fs.remove(postcraft);
   });
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5eff26a..122bf4f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "craftool",
-  "version": "1.2.3",
+  "version": "1.3.0",
   "description": "Create React App From Template",
   "main": "index.js",
   "author": "",
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@
     "craft": "./index.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
+    "extract-zip": "^1.6.0",
     "fs-extra": "^1.0.0",
     "request": "^2.79.0",
-    "extract-zip": "^1.6.0"
+    "resolve-file": "^0.3.0"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",