and Jim Noonan (a.k.a. Professor Figgy) demonstrated some outstanding science experiments you can do with materials you have in your own home. Martha was crazy impressed. Be sure to catch her freaking out over the egg.

I worked on the Ice Wreaths, which is a project from the Martha archives. I'm sure this would be a really fun craft to do in the very chilly climates ... in a warm studio, I had trouble finding the freezer space!

Click here to watch the web exclusive behind-the-scenes of creating our snow day.

Aside from the Halloween Snowstorm of 2011, we've had very little snow in New York City, but we hear that a good portion of the US has had its share of snow already. Here are some more of my favorite snow day crafts from the past, for the next time you're stuck inside:

The classic paper snowflake - don't you always forget how to make them? This gallery shows you step-by-step.

These polar bear and muskox shadow puppets are appropriate for a snowy puppet show.

Make beads from bread, glue, and lemon juice. Really!

On snow days when I was a little girl, my mom used to give me wooden shapes she had collected at craft stores to paint with her "fancy" craft paints that I wasn't normally allowed to touch. What's your favorite thing to do when you're snowed in?

I have a few favorite storage "devices" I always turn to:

First, almost everything gets sorted into what my husband calls The Great Wall of Crafts, the versatile Ikea EXPEDIT shelf unit.

It can get pricey to buy one of these door add-ons for every cubby, but it's valuable for childproofing at least the bottom few rows:

Ikea also makes boxes and baskets that fit perfectly inside each cubby, great for things like yarn and fabric:

BRANAS basket in white

LEKMAN box in clear

Inside my cubbies, I use these acrylic boxes from The Container Store. They can store just about anything tiny, and they come in several different configurations.  My favorite thing about them is that the lid is flush with the dividers, so even the tiniest beads don't migrate from one area to another.

I love these small polypropylene bins from Muji. The tall divided ones are great for storing pens, paintbrushes, or tools, especially when you need quick access to them. The flatter ones fit inside drawers - or they stack inside a cabinet! I find them so adaptable and useful.

"Make" box with partition

1/4 "Make" box

"Make" tray

Finally, to corral everything that you collect in 2012, I like this rolling bin from The Container Store (I call it the Mobile Craft Unit, or MCU - I guess we like naming things). It's a good catch-all for supplies and current projects, and you can roll it into a closet when you have guests.

Happy organized new year! What are your favorite ways to store your crafts?

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1 Glorious display of green candies in pretty vessels in the kitchen.

2 A tower of candy, sorted by color.

3 Hammond's candy makes these beautiful retro candy ribbons.

4 Just SOME of our decoration storage - I love that there are bins labeled "dirty snow."

5 Beautiful glass and drinkware ready for display.

6 A festive corner of the kitchen in progress, *almost* ready for any party imaginable.

7 Ooh cocktails!

8 Beautiful pieces in the kitchen cubbies.

9 A dash of greenery makes functional shelves festive.

10 Shatterproof balls can be stored in a big pile, seen here! - delicate ornaments are better off in egg cartons or wrapped in tissue paper.

11 *Lighted* bead garland - and lots of it!

12 James creates a lighted bead garland "wall."

13 Silver was getting too much attention - out comes the gold!

14 Artificial trees being unwrapped ...

15 Ooh presents!

16 A sleigh in the potting shed, of course ...

17 The craft room - in transition (powered by tea, bottom right).

18 Snowflake wall!

19 The back wall display.

20 Frolicking polar bears.

21 Handmade stars.

22 Carefully decorated cubbies.

23 Glittery berry wreath - with lights! (currently unlit) - from The Home Depot.

24 Even our fabric stash is festive.

25 Our craft room birds hold themed branches.

26 Mushrooms one corner of the craft room ....

27 One day this other corner had some tiny deer ....

28 The next day, it was birds.

29 I love this sparkly baby's breath.

30 A woodland scene, in progress ...

31 Lots and lots of pinecones.

32 Look at this sweet thing.

33 Little guys hanging out under the tree.

34 Beautiful birch for displays.

35 Well, hello. Where do I fit in?

Obviously we decorate more than just the tree. With no real staircase, mantle, or outdoor space, our stylists get creative with every shelf and cubby. What parts of your home do you traditionally decorate?

I found a spooky font on my computer and used these instructions to chisel the letters into the surface of the flesh (way easier than cutting them out entirely). Carving in front of the TV was relaxing and quite fun; the biggest challenge was getting a squirmy 8-month-old to sit still for the photo shoot!

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1 The finished product with YodaJack... click through for my process.

2 I separated the letters to make them easier to arrange and tape to the curved pumpkin. Carbon paper behind the paper helped me transfer the design.

3 I borrowed all these carving tools from our department over the weekend, not knowing which I'd need.

4 Turns out I only needed a linoleum cutter, a scoop, and a scraper, plus a sharp kitchen knife. See marthastewart.com for where to find pumpkin-carving tools.

5 Expresses how I felt at the beginning - notice where my hand slipped on the "K" - but then I got the hang of it

6 My husband photographs my progress ... carving with the linoleum cutter is easy if you do many small cuts and take your time.

7 Finished! Lit with a string of cool LED Christmas lights. What's next? Should I mold "Jack's First Thanksgiving" out of mashed potatoes?

*disclaimer: After forcing Jack into the Jack-in-the-Box and Baby Sushi handmade costumes already this October, I allowed my husband to BUY him a much-coveted Yoda costume.  Only fair. (Poor, patient Jack.)

Now I'm looking for craft/photo ideas for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Our rule since the beginning has been that everything on the set WORKS. Nothing is simply a prop. You've seen the beautifully styled craft room, and probably noticed the gorgeous ribbon, fabric, and tools that our talented stylist Chip Glynn sets out to coordinate with every season. But did you know that every drawer and cabinet is functional? Kristin St. Clair and I spent a day last week stocking the craft room with the supplies we most often need when we're on set with Martha. We have two of everything: one for Martha, and one for a possible guest. Here's a peek at the inside of our well-organized, indispensable craft room storage.

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1 Clean paintbrushes at the ready from the new Martha Stewart Crafts paint line.

2 A photo of a messy, pre-production craft room on a dark set, being readied for our first live show on September 26!

3 Each drawer and cabinet contains valuable supplies for quick set-ups. Don't you wish you had this much craft storage space??

4 A stationery drawer for quick notes to ourselves, to Martha, to coworkers, and crew (i.e. "don't touch—hot!!").

5 Extras and bulky items are placed in bins, clearly labeled, and stored in lower cabinets.

6 Sharp, sharp, SHARP scissors for sewing only.

7 Cutting mats, rulers, and Xyrons ready to be grabbed in a hurry.

8 Miscellaneous craft tools and stopwatches for timing segments in rehearsal, each in their cozy little nook.

9 A place for everything means we can quickly see when something is missing and replace it ASAP.

10 My favorite—the sewing notions drawer!

Before each new season, every tool is checked, replaced if damaged or too dirty for camera, and sharpened if necessary. Could your craft area use a refresh? We always find organizing clears our heads and makes room for unlimited creativity!

I'm going to show you a couple of my projects in the hope that publicly embarrassing myself may kick my butt into finishing one (or two?) of them, or giving up altogether. It would certainly be nice to make some space in my UFO bin for the next doomed craft. Maybe it will inspire some of you to do the same.

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1 I challenged myself to knit this cabled tote bag in college. I even made most of the shoulder strap! I just have to line it and stitch it all together, but I'd rather knit quick winter caps.

2 This was obviously a sampler quilt of some kind. I like most of the blocks, but it's a little intense to complete a full-sized quilt. Maybe a wall-hanging?

3 My MOM finished this quilted needle-keeper for me. It keeps my needles, plus a sparkly beaded choker that I did not finish (still on the needle).

4 Three Christmases have gone by and this poor punch-needle Santa still just has half a sky and some gloves.

So here's the pièce de résistance—a project I started in middle school and continued working on through high school: It's a hand-painted Periodic Table of the Elements quilt. (I majored in Physics in college. Yeah.) I was, obviously, a huge nerd, and I still am. So I'm having a hard time parting with a nerdy sciencey quilt, as horrifying as it is.

I'd love to finish it for my son, Jack, so any suggestions are welcomed (be nice!). I obviously have to rip out and restitch, but I'll take any thoughts on what I can add or what I can do about that weirdo canvas fabric in those AWFUL colors. Let me know what you think.

Now go finish some projects!

Before: The disorganized bottom half of our built-in bookshelf

After: These "drawers" could also work under a bed or couch, yes?

Click through the gallery below for the how-to.

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1 A regular old assembly-required pine box from Ikea.

2 All these parts for $6.99? I love Sweden!

3 I painted the outside of the box (check instructions for which side this is) with the leftover "baby blue" from the nursery walls.

4 The inside of the box (again, check instruction illustrations) was painted with the white used to paint the nursery room trim.

5 Assembled, painted box. Painting first is much easier, but I found I had to sand the edges so the box still assembled properly.

6 I marked the center and placement of the handle over painters' tape, so I didn't have to erase pencil lines from my paint job.

7 I suppose I could have drilled these holes first, but I didn't think ahead! I also wanted to choose the "prettiest" painted side for the front of my drawer.

8 Handle attached! I used a cabinet handle from Ikea; they also sell lovely ones at Home Depot. I placed it slightly above the vertical center for balance.

9 The boxes come with corner supports and round surface protectors.

10 At the last minute, I added a strip of surface protector (purchased from Home Depot) all around the bottom edge for extra glidey-ness.

11 The nonfunctional (and not pretty) "before."

12 The glorious "after." We'll need to move these up a few levels when Jack can stand up and grab them!

With the functional aspect of the project complete, I'm now considering stenciling a design onto them, and polyurethaning them to make them really last. I'm also thinking of lining the bottom of the inside with pretty scrapbook paper, even though you'd never see it! Any thoughts/suggestions?

Here's my top five types of iPhone apps I use the most in my crafting life, and which I feel no on-the-go crafter should be without:

1. A list app. So important! Now you don't need to write lists on scrap paper and forget to bring them to Michaels—there are plenty of to-do and shopping-list apps out there to keep it all in one place. I like GoTasks (free), which is quite simple, syncs with my Google Tasks account, and lets me edit my lists from both my computer and phone.

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1 GoTasks list of lists!

2 List of floss colors I need to buy—simple checklist format.

2. A color app. You can use palette-creating apps to remember choices for projects, or just to play with color. Most will pull colors from a photo, so take a picture of that sunset and work from there. I like Cliqcliq Colors ($2.99). And of course there's the Martha Stewart Egg Dyeing app ($0.99), which isn't just for Easter—stare at the gorgeous egg color wheels to get inspired. You can also use the color recipes for mixing icing or as reference for mixing other pigments.

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1 CliqCliq Colors: Slide the controls to create colors in RGB, HSB, or CMYK.

2 E-mail or share the details of your palettes.

3 A few of my palettes...

4 Martha Stewart Easter Eggs 101: One of three beautiful color wheels.

5

6

3. A doodler or sketchbook. Whether it's just for playing or for creating your own drawings and motifs, no creative person should walk around without a place to scribble. I like Brushes ($4.99), which is simple enough to use but has incredible possibilities (check out what some artists created with just that app—it's nuts).

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1 My pathetic apple in Brushes

2 In Brushes, use layers to add elements step by step

4. A measurement converter. What if you want to know how many yards of ribbon to buy for that garland you measured in inches? Or what if you need to convert the fragrance in a European candle recipe from mL to tsp? iConvert ($0.99) is a nice basic converter with an easy-to-use interface.

5. Finally, an app specific to your favorite craft(s). I use BlockFab (free) often to browse traditional quilt blocks, plan layouts, and calculate yardage. A quick search turns up plenty of high-rated apps for knitting, crochet, scrapbooking...you name it.

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1 BlockFab calculates fabric needed for traditional quilt blocks

2 Try out different quilt layouts

3 Many traditional quilt blocks to choose from

All the iPhone apps mentioned here can also be used on the iPod touch. To find out more about the iPad/iPhone apps and digital media available from Martha Stewart, go to www.marthastewart.com/apps.

Several TV seasons ago, guest crafter Marie Hejl showed us how to personalize wooden Dr. Scholl's sandals for summer. I used her technique to make my own, and added an anchor stenciled onto each of the heels.

Below, my brilliant and generous "Martha" coworkers incorporate the anchor every way they can to welcome my baby boy. He was born a Pisces and I was thrilled about that (Aquarius would have worked too!)—and his birthstone is aquamarine!

1. Gift tag created with the Martha Stewart Crafts Anchor punch.
2. A literal "inside" joke—Hosanna embroidered my son's in-utero "code name" on a pillow with a tiny anchor.
3. Kristin went felting-crazy on a wool blanket and shared the how-to here.
4. SweetDaniB's sea-themed shower favors featured a cookie anchor.

Feel free to keep and use my two favorite anchor shapes below by clicking on and saving each from your browser. I'm thinking I'll use one of them to stencil some anchors on my son's wall (hopefully before he's in college) and I'll post a follow-up when I do. Send us pictures of what you choose to create with them this summer and you may be featured in my follow-up!

]]> http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/05/anchors-aweigh.html/feed 4 http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/04/baby-or-child-footprints-for-mothers-day.html http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/04/baby-or-child-footprints-for-mothers-day.html#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:00:06 +0000 Kirsten Earl http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/?p=13109 I took a break from crafting for a bit while I welcomed this guy to the world ...

Jack Millan, three weeks old

..and yesterday I decided it was time to pull out my supplies and make something. Jack is now 8 weeks old, and like most new moms, I have been meaning to capture those TINY FEET since the day he was born.

Jack's scrumptious left foot

There are plenty of kits out there that help you make clay impressions—complete with frames or plaques. I don't have anything against them (in fact, I received one as a gift that I think I'll use for his hands), but I wanted to use a specific shadowbox frame, and I wanted to add a few touches of personalization. I used Deco Claycraft soft air-drying clay to make the impressions, and a set of Martha Stewart Crafts clear letter stamps in Sans Serif to make a few debossed clay labels. A dark-brown stamp pad provided the ink to make his tiny feet and the labels really stand out.

Below is a gallery showing how I put together my custom footprint impression—forgive me for the absence of cute baby-printing action shots; I was home alone and this was my first attempt at crafting with a squirmy newborn!

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1 The finished product.

2 I used less than one package of clay—that's including a large number of do-overs due to squirming.

3 To flatten the clay, I used an old pasta maker (that is no longer used for food). A dash of white flour discourages sticking/warping and doesn't show up in the clay.

4 Labels first: an irregular strip of clay from pasta machine on thickest setting. I set Jack's name in decals on a stamp mount, pressed it into regular stamp ink, and gently stamped the clay.

5 Another label. The walnut-colored stamp pad ink looked great in the clay.

6 Side note: I tested the stamps first on some junk mail to be sure my letters were aligned properly.

7 I layered two strips of clay for the footprint, to give Jack enough depth to squish his foot into.

8 I placed the clay on a plate and pressed it to Jack's foot while he was lying down, rather than trying to get him to step on it.

9 Cut out my labels and footprints with a sharp craft knife, leaving the edges irregular. I let the clay air-dry on a flat surface.

10 A piece of half-inch foam board cut to fit my frame, along with a piece of paper for the background.

11 The thick foam board base brings the artwork up from the very back of the shadowbox. I attached the clay pieces to the background with white glue.

12 A 6" by 6" Ikea "RIBBA" shadowbox frame fits his little feet nicely (for now!)

Note: Most stamp pad ink is nontoxic (check the package) and does not stain the skin, but you'll want to wash it off with a mild soap as soon as you get a good impression, if only to save your house and furniture from duplicate prints. Keep all materials (especially clay, which can look yummy) out of reach of children while working.