A couple of years ago I started a tradition of mailing a Valentine to my honey starting February 1st, till the actual day of Valentine. Yup, 14...sent by real mail. In the past it's been a collection of great cards I have found by talented folks, and some made by me. But this year I gave myself the challenge to make all 14.

I'm only sharing half of the collection since I've already started the mailing process, and haven't actually completed all 14 yet.

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1 Grouping of some. I used blues, pinks and reds as my color palette.

2 Clearly influenced by the magazine

3 "You are one in a million"

4 Kristin's Birthday Banner Card was the inspiration for this one

5 "Owl be yours"

6 Maybe a little too much glitter?

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8 A pretty rub on.

9 Printed text and punches get this sentiment out.

I only have few more to make, but I did score a beautiful card by Rosa Clifford, who is going to be on the show February 6th demoing this sweet love bird card. I know it's cheating on my challenge a little, but 13 out of 14 cards made by me is still pretty good.

December was crazy as always at TV, but as we did last year, a group of us from the TV Art Department took an evening in early December to create mini pieces of art to donate to Postcards From the Edge: A Benefit for Visual AIDS. It supports a great cause and since we all enjoyed partaking and attending the opening last year, we decided to make a tradition out of it. Over 1500 pieces get donated, and it's a very impressive thing to see in person. Kristin has a great gallery of photos of just a few of the cards from last year.

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1 When crafting after hours we like to be civilized and relax.

2 Careful weaving of paper strips.

3 Thoughts for a card, which was not used.

4 Glitter!

5 Plenty of wine needed to get all the felt coiled.

Seeing all the pieces in a gallery space is amazing, so if you are in the NYC area this weekend, stop by Cheim & Read,  547 West 25th Street, NY, to see if you can find any of ours below. And while there, consider making a purchase from the vast collection knowing the proceeds are going to a good cause.

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Since there is still plenty of time to get shiny for New Year's Eve, I wanted to share this great video made by the folks over at Etsy about the shiny stuff.

As Roger Ertle VP at Glittertex says during the video, "Glitter generally makes people happy. I mean just to look at it."  Very True.

All That Glitters: The History of Shiny Things from Etsy on Vimeo.

And now that you know a bit more about the shiny stuff, why not get crafting? As I said there is still plenty of time, and there are millions of ideas out there! And if you are looking for a little glint of inspiration, check out these galleries:
Decorations
Cards
Holiday Crafts

And that is just the beginning, search glitter and many pages of ideas come up!

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy New Year. See you in 2012!

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Seems we can not get enough of bracelets around here! Tomorrow on the show I am demoing how to make your own beaded wrap bracelet, and since I want to make sure people understand some of the steps, I have put together a little photo tutorial. Another easy to make bracelet for a handmade holiday gift for your best friend, co-workers or even better... yourself!

When selecting a leather make sure it's not too flimsy, otherwise it will not hold up to the wax twine and beads. For most female wrist I found that seven inches works. So a double wrap is 14, triple 21 and so forth. If you think that may not work for you, measure your wrist with a ribbon first.

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1 Start with a quarter inch wide strip of leather. Space selected beads to a desired pattern and with a screw punch, punch holes all along your strip. One end should have a single hole for the loop.

2 On the other end make sure to do two punches close together for the button. Since you are punching, do several strips at a time.

3 Take a long piece of waxed linen twine (longer then your piece of leather) and create a loop at one end.

4 Secure your loop with a knot.

5 Do make sure your loop will fit over your button, and then trim tail.

6 At the one end with only one hole, thread your twine thru from the back.

7 Take the twine thru the loop, and draw the twine thru the hole from the back again.

8 Make sure it's nice and tight.

9 Now wrap the twine around the back of the loop and draw the twine thru the hole from the front.

10 And tighten it to make sure it's good and secure.

11 This is the flip side of the leather, there is a knot, but it shouldn't be a bother when wearing.

12 Take the twine thru the next hole.

13 And on the front of the leather, add your first set of beads.

14 And continue all the way down your strip.

15 At the end add your button of choice for your closure.

16 And basically secure it on the way you would on a shirt.

17 Knot off in the back, and trim. If you want, you can add a dab of glue on the knot to make it extra secure.

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here is the link to the video.

ADDED INFO 12/20/2011

There has been some questions about how to connect short strips to get the length that you need. So I have put together a photo gallery that I hope will help.

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1 When setting up the spacing for the beads for the entire bracelet, keep in mind end holes on each strip that is being connected.

2 Loop the wax twine through the end holes.

3 Draw the wax twine tight, and loop through the two end holes again.

4 Draw second loop tight, assuring that you have a good connection.

5 Take your wax twine up through the next hole, and add your beads, and keep going accordingly.

6 There will be a stitch where the connection was made. If you select a wax twine that matches the color of your leather the stitch will not be so obvious.

Hope you are inspired to make lots of handmade gifts this year!

Today Joel Henriques from the popular blog Made by Joel is a guest on The Martha Stewart Show showing Martha how two pieces of wood and a little bit of imagination can create a clever doll house for a kid.

While prepping for the segment, prop stylist Robert Diamond made a request for small things that could be used as decor. I instantly thought of my collection of champagne chairs that I have been making for many years to mark special occasions or occasions that are marked with champagne. Based on the classic designs of ice cream parlor chairs, they are quick to create, and a fun memento. And so I don't forget the event, I write a note on the bottom of the chairs with the date.

Since it was just Thanksgiving (a great moment to celebrate) I thought I would share my how-to for a heart back chair. I do this style often as a gift for friends when they get married. I save a wire cage from their wedding, and give it to them the next time I see them. Big Hit.

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1 Finish heart back chair

2 Start with your saved wire cage from a bottle of champagne.

3 Untwist or clip where the wire ends meet.

4 Straighten out ends to remove from the "legs".

5 Work out as many of the kinks in the wire as you can. If paint flakes off it can be touched up later.

6 Fold in middle, and make a V shape. you may need pliers

7 Twist to create a loop.

8 Push twist down into the loop. Use your pliers if you need help forming your hear.

9 Fold ends down around the heart shape to create the back of the chair.

10 Twist each end onto a leg.

11 A couple of wraps makes it secure.

12 Don't forget to note what the occasion was for the celebration!

Not feeling so confident with your pliers? I also really like how a chair can look when the wire is simply twisted to the legs, leaving the bends and twist that happen naturally to the wire when the bottle is being opened.

So now that the holidays are upon us, don't forget to save those wire cages! Great for a doll house, a book shelf as a reminder of a great event or even as Christmas tree ornaments, the variety you can come up with is only limited by your imagination.

Enjoy!

This gallery is of some the quilts she has made in the past two years. All sewn completely by hand, no detail is over looked.

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1 Garden Quilt

2 Garden detail - dragon fly

3 Garden detail - bee

4 Garden detail - cricket

5 Atlantic Quilt

6 Cindy laying out Atlantic Quilt

7 Atlantic Quilt label

8 Wonderland Quilt

9 Wonderland detail

10 Wonderland label

Cindy also does adorable small projects like these sweet guys available as kits.

And for today Cindy is sharing her newest pattern, this beautiful reindeer.

"As a crisp chill begins to blow in and the frost settles lightly on the remaining leaves in the garden, I begin to look forward to the holidays and festivities ahead. With all of the hustle and bustle outside some instant gratification in the studio is just the thing!

The inspiration for this project came while I was talking with my mother recently. I have been designing a line of hand-stitching kits so she thought I might want to see the first stuffed animal I made as a child, which, as it turned out she had saved. She is a very good saver!

So I decided to revisit that early reindeer and design a new pattern for today.

This little fellow’s harness was inspired by my visits to Hungarian Christmas markets. Bundled in layers of sweaters and coats, muffled and mittened with mulled wine in hand, visitors wander through the market and the decorated streets of Budapest. Through Vörösmarty Square and down Váci Utca you can see handmade crafts stitched in colorful wool felt, leather and furs as you enjoy the glow of the season.

The pattern for this reindeer is available on my Etsy site as a $2.00 download this weekend!"

Tools: scissors, pliers, and an embroidery needle
Felt:
Beige:  9” X 16”
White: 7” X 14”
Brown: 2.5” X 4”
Black: 1” X 7”
Red:  1.75” X 7”
Green:  3” X 6”
Embroidery thread: beige, green, black, light blue
Wire:
14 gage aluminum or copper wire: 2 pieces 9.5” long
Twist tie or 26 gage wire: 2 pieces 2” long

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Getting started:

Embroidery thread is made up of 6 strands plied together. Cut thread into 30 to 36-inch lengths (longer threads can easily tangle). These can be separated into individual threads or used in groups of 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 to make a thinner or thicker stitch line. All of the stitching for this pattern uses 3 strand lengths of embroidery thread.

Baste: To sew loosely with large running stitches that will hold together fabric temporarily.

Running stitch: A running stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric (from front to back to front) in a straight line. The finished stitch looks like a dashed line.

Whip stitch: A whip stitch is worked by wrapping the thread of each individual stitch around the edge of the fabric.

(Get the full Reindeer directions.)

Thank you Cindy for sharing your project with us! And a big thank you to Karen Philippi for letting us use her beautiful photographs.

The Home Depot located on 23rd St in Manhattan.

Today’s post is by Anduin Havens, Supervising Production Designer for Broadcasting:

Every month or so, we produce a segment on the Martha Stewart Show that lets people know about the great products we offer at The Home Depot. Quite a process went into producing today's segment about our Holiday decorations, beginning with a meeting between TV Producer Barbara Fight, Decorating Expert Kevin Sharkey, Craft Expert Hannah Milman, Brand Manager Andrea DiPasquale, and Marketing Coordinator Olivia Spadafore. Once we came up with a number of ideas, we ran them by SVP of Merchandising, Patsy Pollack and with her approval, we were ready to start decorating!

This year, we have three great themes in our line: North Pole (in red, white, and silver with blue accents, including hand-painted and glittered onion ornaments that are my favorite!), Woodland (in red, green, brown, and gold, including gorgeous clip-on cardinals), and Celebrate (in very youthful pink and bright blue). Branching out into non-traditional holiday colors is a lot of fun and we enhanced our modern look with glass cylinders and cylindrical candle sticks.

We used the new line of Small Project Paints to take our holiday decorating to the next level, painting the plastic urn base of our Woodland tree a brilliant gold. With these new paints, you can transform anything into a metallic or glittered focal point. And of course, we are being environmentally conscious by using our new (and very bright!) LED lights that come in a number of great shapes and colors. The mini-lights are even battery-powered, so you can light anything without an extension cord!

I hope that your holiday decorating is as much fun as ours!

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1 Winter Wonderland!

2 Many shelves of beautiful ornaments.

3 The Woodland collection – a garland.

4 Celebrate!

5 So many lighting options.

6 You can test the new mini-LED lights to see what they look like.

7 A nicely-shaped, lightweight plastic urn.

8 It is sold in 2 pieces that fit together perfectly!

9 The display of Specialty Paints and Tools.

10 Our creative meeting. We have fun!

11 Set stylist Agnes decorates the Celebrate tree.

12 Cylinders of ornaments and cylindrical candlesticks.

13 In a perfect world, we would have decorated the tree after we put it in the urn…

14 It is a lovely finishing touch to our Woodland tree.

Recently on The Martha Stewart Show, we invited Erica Chan Coffman from the very popular blog Honestly...WTF to demonstrate the above glittered shoes with Martha. Who doesn't love a good project that upgrades your fashion into looking designer without spending too much? Since glittered shoes seem to be everywhere this fall, it's easy enough to DIY a pair in your closet.

And what better reward than to look out into the audience and see a group of ladies showing off their version of the craft! Visiting from Minnesota, this group of retired teachers, and friends for 30-plus years, caught my eye, and I wanted to share their handy work.

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1 From left: Judy Palke, Eva Kjear, Liz Lese, and Sherri Chrun, visiting New York City from Minnesota

2 Apparently they get together frequently and do crafts. Decorating shoes was their most recent gathering before their visit.

3 Ribbon is used to replace the shoe laces.

4 Iridescent orange glitter really makes these shoes pop.

5 The ribbon laces are a perfect match to the glitter.

6 Instead of rhinestones, pearls were used to embellish the toe. So cute!

Jodi kicked off the week with Martha introducing the paint line and the amazing fact that it works on an array of surfaces (paper, wood, glass, and more...?). It's hard to believe, but it's true! This paint is different from anything on the market right now and is just downright amazing! And today Hannah Milman joins Martha to highlight Weather and Fine Crackle Effects, and the many ways they can be used.

The last behind-the-scenes gallery I posted seems to be very popular, so I thought I would share another one, with details of the rest of the crafts this week. I hope you enjoy! And now on to the gallery...

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1 The new paint line. All the colors of the rainbow, plus more!

2 A great way to see all the colors is to display them on shelves. These are RIBBA shelves from Ikea.

3 The whole display as it appears on set. Not only is there paint, but there are wonderful mediums, effects, and accessories as well.

4 The brushes, pouncers, sponges, and more! Having used a bunch of these, I have to say they are top-notch. A+ to the Martha Stewart design team!

5 Jodi Levine joined Martha yesterday on the show. Here is the preliminary discussion before finalizing the segment.

6 Process for Jodi's segment being prepared.

7 More process...

8 These are the prepped umbrellas that Jodi demoed on Monday's show.

9 The new Holiday Crafts book was just released! So many great craft projects (grouped by holiday) make it a must-have addition to any crafter's bookshelf.

10 Here is a project from the Holiday Crafts book that is getting prepped—a Bat Pinata.

11 A busy craft room.

12 Today Hannah Milman joins Martha on the show to highlight more of the paint line.

13 Test samples of the Weather Crackle Effect.

14 With the Weather Crackle Effect these cylindrical canisters look like faux bois.

15 A close up the Fine Crackle Effect.

16 Gradients of green paper being selected for Wednesday's project, which will highlight features of the Paper Trimmer.

17 More paper selections.

18 The small and large Circle Cutters ready for their moment in the spotlight.

19 Figgy preps the demo table for the Circle Cutters...

20 ...or should I say Circle Critters, which will be demoed on the show on Thursday.

21 These great artwork ideas are all done with circles. So fun and clever!

22 On Friday, Kristin is showing off the beautiful elements from her wedding (she is getting married the next day!). Kristin has made about 99.9 percent of the décor herself.

23 Kristin made use of the Martha Stewart Scoreboard to make her favors. She will have Martha help her finish up the final few and demo the process on Friday's show.

24 Kristin shows off the large version of the favor.

25 I think this gets the message across. A big shout out to all of you, the readers and viewers out there! Hope you enjoy the crafts on the show this week, and make sure to check out the daily deals at Michaels everyday.

DIY bracelets of all sorts have been popping up everywhere. When grouped together they make a great fashion statement as well as fun eye candy. A quick search of bracelets over on Pinterest generates a seemingly unending supply of inspiration, with plenty of links to tutorials. Excited to use some of my saved up supplies, I have been on a making binge.

From left, here is the info for the bracelets above:

1. If you are wondering how to make the Wrapped Cord Bracelet, check out this process. Once you get the hang of it, variations are easy to make.

2. Vintage fan bracelet from my mother (mix things up!)

3. The shape of the coral beads changes up the look of the Wrapped Cord Bracelet.

4. Mystery Braid Leather Cuff. Yeah, I finally made one!

5. Kristin made the smokey quartz Swarovski crystal bracelet for me.

6. Another version of the Wrapped Cord, but this time with big brass beads.

7. Old coral beads I have had for a long time. I strung them on a simple cord, and then learned how to make a Sliding Knot for the back side.

I really like that the above three bracelets all use the same process, but have a different look depending on the bead. And to be honest, this is just a small sampling of the many DIY bracelets out there that I have been inspired by and have been making. There are more ideas over here.

Do you have a favorite bracelet that you are making right now? Have you been looking at Pinterest and feeling the bracelet love?