The Wrapping

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5 Jodi's gift to Silke

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The Gifts

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1 Shane made this beautiful cameo necklace for Blake. The cameos are made from Sculpey.

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3 I made Eric a group of drawstring bags from Menswear fabrics and a porcelain plate. The bags were a project that Silke had done in living a few years back.

4 Eric restored and recolored a beautiful spun glass butterfly ornament for my Christmas tree.

5 Steph hand dyed the fringe on this scarf for Laura. Similar are for sale on her coup-coup.tumblr.com site

6 Steph also made a lovely tissue box cover.

7 Jodi made Silke a flower collage

8 Laura knit Stephen a beautiful scarf

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10 Blake made Jodi these bright and beautiful necklaces

11 Athena made Steph hand printed napkins

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13 Stephen's gift to Athena - his cards are available at http://www.cyberstephen.com/

14 Beautiful notebooks!

15 Silke made Shane fingerless mittens and fabric covered notebooks

Here are a few links to some similar projects

Menswear Bags

Hand-printed towels

Paper cut-outs

Fingerless Mittens

Hand dyed fringe scarf

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Just in time for Valentine's Day, Matt and Mary have made a series of limited edition chocolate bars.    They come wrapped in marbleized papers that Mary made herself.  She used the marbleizing instructions that we have online.  I am particularly fond of marbleizing because it is one of those techniques where the results will completely surprise you.  It is part skill and part chance.  Try as hard as you can - it  is nearly impossible to achieve the same results twice.  Below are some images from our  marbleizing story.

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1 Our February 2005 cover marbleized boxes

2 Marbleizing bath before paper is applied

3 Valentines and gift wrap made from the paper

4 More boxes

1 Silk prints and linen backings cut to size

2 Right sides facing inward before sewing closed.

3 Finished pillows - 2 with grandchildren and one vintage photo from her childhood.

About 10 years ago I made my mother photo pillows for Christmas.  It was before she had grandchildren,  so I made them with some vintage photos from her childhood.  Those pillows have definitely seen better days and this Thanksgiving she mentioned how much she loved them but that they were getting "a little ratty".    The originals were made with iron-on transfers and I thought this time I would try something different.  I had been wanting to experiment with Jaquard's line of inkjet fabrics - so this was the perfect opportunity.  I opted for the silk habotai, it comes in 8.5 x 11 sheets as well as 8.5" x 120" rolls.  The fabric is fused to a paper backing that is easily removed once you print. After printing and removing paper, I backed the silk with fusible interfacing to give it a bit more structure and then sprayed them with Scotch Gard (to make them water resistant).  I cut heavyweight linen for the back of the pillow and sewed it on all 4 sides (leaving a hole in the bottom to stuff - which I then hand-sewed closed after filling.)  For a project like this I much prefer the printable fabric to an iron-on.  They were a bit hit with my mom as well- she definitely preferred the silk - but I think she was most excited that this time I used photos of my niece and nephew!

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2 Walking through the field of trees

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5 We selected two trees one for our story and one for another. The concolor fir is in front.

6 Nelson wrapped the tree so we could transport it back

7 On the roof and ready to go. We definitely got some funny looks on the ride back.

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In the summer when most people are thinking about going to the beach and cooling off, the Craft Department is thinking about Christmas. On a hot and sunny morning this past July, Blake and I headed to Simonson Tree Farm in New Jersey to pick out a tree for the Star Power story. We were looking for something a little different with an interesting shape. We ended up choosing a concolor fir. It has soft needles and feels a little different than your classic Christmas tree. It also has an interesting citrusy scent. Check out our Christmas tree glossary to get a sense of the different varieties available and if you want to locate a Christmas tree farm near you, have a look at the Christmas Tree Farm Network. What kind of tree are you going to have this year?

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2 In addition to the pieces on top of the cake, these small gift boxes were made using the same technique.

3 The wood pieces and boxes were painted with watercolor using a small detail brush.

4 The wood pieces are inexpensive and can be found at bayerwood.com.

5 Miniature birdhouses being painted.

6 A template for the wings and arms can be found here: http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/2011Q4/traditions-pyramid-msl1211.pdf

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If you want to see the cake in action check out our December IPAD or watch the video below.

1 Here is the finished table. A mixture of pieces that I have collected and pieces that I have made.

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4 Selvage edge linen napkins and runner, topped with a place card by my niece.

In our November issue I was one of three editors asked to set a table as they would for Thanksgiving. It was a fun assignment, I brought in dishes, silverware and glasses from home - mixing in some pieces that I collect with some porcelain pieces that I made. They are all shades of white so they mix really nicely together.  I made a table runner and napkins with linen yardage, incorporating the selvage edge.  It can often be quite beautiful and looks like a fringe trim.  Grayline linen and B & J fabrics have great selections of linen at affordable prices.

I am a bit shy when it comes to flower arranging so I made it easy by using spider mums and craspedia in shallow bowls and cups down the table.  My favorite part of our Thanksgiving table is making place cards with my niece.  She decided to make drawings of the flowers for everyone's place.

How are you setting your table this Thanksgiving?

1 Kids getting started with their drawings. Letter size paper is good for an average size pumpkin.

2 You will need to cut the template into pieces and then tape it to the pumpkin so it lies as flat as possible.

3 Use the awl tool to poke holes following the lines of the drawing.

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6 Using a miniature saw, follow the outline made by the awl.

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8 The kids and their finished pumpkins!

If you are looking for a fun and easy way to approach pumpkin carving with your kids this year, consider turning your child's drawing into a template.  If you had a chance to check out our October issue, you may have seen the pumpkin carving party where the kids did just that. Parents may need to help with the carving, and tiny details may need to be simplified—but the results are usually quite similar to the drawings. Click on the following links for more pumpkin carving ideas, basic tools, and techniques.

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It is an annual occurrence in the crafts department to develop a costume with Martha for the cover of our Halloween Special Issue. Martha loves Halloween, so she always brings a great enthusiasm to the project. In this year's issue, Blake developed a B-movie-themed costume story. Martha opens the story, so we proposed several ideas and Martha chose "Motha." We pulled inspiration from a variety of places. A vintage illustration and some great images from Alexander McQueen really helped us to visualize the concept. Have a look at the photo gallery to see how the costume came together.

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1 Image from Alexander McQueen's Fall/Winter 2006 show

2 Image from Alexander McQueen's spring 2011 show

3 Vintage Illustration inspiration

4 Many of the costume ideas came from this image of a gypsy moth—specifically the patterning and the fur collar.

5 We also look for makeup inspiration as well—we thought these eyelashes were fun.

6 An early idea for eyes and antenna.

7 The Initial cape sketch was in a heavier weight fabric. Martha asked for something a bit lighter and softer.

8 Shane wearing the first pass at the moth wings for Martha's eyes.

9 Makeup artist Kristopher Buckle getting Martha ready for the shoot.

10 Art director Stephen Johnson modeling an early version of the lighter cape.

11 Steph steaming the final cape on the shoot.