The Crafts Dept. » Behind the Scenes

February Valentine's Cover

Silke Stoddard — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:40:25 +0000

Take a look at this animated version of the cover for our February issue of Martha Stewart Living. Doesn't it just look happy and fun and full of love ?! Just like the perfect Valentines Party, which you can read more about in the issue. What you don't see, is Daniel, our art director (with a broken foot), myself and the photo assistant, lying on the floor all holding onto a group of balloons and letting them go at various commands. Magic in every way !

Creating this heart however isn't magic ... it is very simple using the Martha Stewart Crafts tissue paper pom pom kits. The large size pom poms can be found here, and the medium size pom poms can be found here. They are precut and all you need to do is fold and twist a little. You could also use only the smaller sizes and make a scaled down version. Which doesn't mean it would show less love. Happy Valentine's day !

Craft Room Clean Up!

Laura Kaesshaefer — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:04:23 +0000

With 2012 well underway, we thought the Craft Room here at our offices could use a good clean. This three day undertaking was well worth the work (hauling heavy bins while breathing in dust and glitter), as there's much to be said for working in a clean, organized environment. We even found some inspiration along the way while uprooting decade (!) old projects and development. Take a look below to see the transformation!

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1 A very disheveled craft room.

2 The back of the craft room (pre-clean!).

3 We gave lots of fun materials to our beloved MFTA (Materials for the Arts)!

4 Lots of Styrofoam shapes - we stored these lighter materials on higher shelves.

5 Old Christmas inspiration/ development.

6 Gingham from Silke's story.

7 Blake was so inspired by the back of an old pin board (used for egg dying!).

8 Chocolate tomatoes!

9 Pretty!

10 Color swatching on a bamboo mat.

11 Old paint waiting to be sorted.

12 What a mess!

14 Pearl paint waiting to be sorted.

15 We are obsessed with our new way of displaying MSC Paint!

16 A very tidy sewing/ paint station!

17 Organized pens, pencils, scissors and blades.

18 We reorganized our bins so that they were more accessible.

19 The back of the craft room.

20 Freshly papered tables ready to be used.

21 Blake reorganized the paper drawers by color.

22 Clean!

Handmade Holiday Week!

Jim Noonan — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:06:53 +0000

This coming week is Handmade Holiday week at The Martha Stewart Show and we'll be bringing you all new episodes detailing how to add that extra special touch to your holiday giving. From homemade photo cards and festively-stamped gift wrap to easy-to-make jewelry and unique fabric crafts, we have lots of great ideas to make this holiday season one to remember, without breaking the bank or eating into your valuable time.

With appearances from the likes of in-house crafters Hosanna Houser, Kristin St. Clair, Kirsten Earl & Hannah Milman, author and P.S.-I made This... fashion-crafting blogger Erica Domesek, sisters Julianna, Jade, Jamie & Janae of The Letter 4 Blog, and last year's Remarthable Contest finalist Kari Tarr, you won't want to miss a single show!

Check out the photo gallery below for a preview of the week's offerings!

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1 On Monday, Erica Domesek shows Martha how to make simple and fabulous jewelry out of the new Martha Stewart Crafts / Lion Brand "Mambo" yarn!

2 Then, Kari Tarr is back on Tuesday to make these gorgeous glittered ornaments.

3 Wednesday morning Martha will reveal her own gorgeous tree decorating ideas with the help of these adorable, glittered bears.

4 On Thursday, The Letter 4 Blog sisters will show Martha how to turn simple, dried citrus fruit...

5 ...into lovely, fragrant and glittery ornaments for your tree!

6 Then, Martha shows the sisters how to make simple, stamped Noah's Ark gift wrap...

7 ...in festive and fabulously-icy silvers, whites and blues!

8 On Friday, head TV crafter Hosanna Houser shows Martha her latest ideas for on-trend, hip jewelry that's a snap to make at home.

9 And they look absolutely fabulous!

10 Then, stay tuned for Handmade Holiday ideas all month and see Kristin St. Clair show Martha how to make these dip-dyed felt animal art pieces...

11 ...and a collection of adorable felt wine toppers!!

And, in the meantime, while you wait for these new shows to air, be sure to check out our Handmade Holiday Gifts galley for more easy and fabulous DIY gifts!

Time to Decorate - it's not just for trees anymore!

Kirsten Earl — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:00:19 +0000

This week at TV, while we are "dark" in the studio (actually the studio is literally quite dark - see my photos) our own elves prepared our set for the holidays. I love seeing the old favorites come out of the basement (we really have a basement), and I love seeing all the new decor our set stylists bring in and create. I'm personally sweet on the silver/green theme in the kitchen. Browse below to see us prepare for all the upcoming celebrations ... and tune in on December 5th to see everything finished, polished, and in full effect and sparkle (with the lights on!).

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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?

German Pyramid Cake

Marcie McGoldrick — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:03:58 +0000

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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

Sometimes it takes a while for an idea to make it into the magazine. Not because it isn't a good idea, sometimes it just doesn't find its' way into the right story. In our December issue in a story called "Customs Made" one idea that had been brewing for a number of years finally found a home. Customs Made is a craft story with ideas that are twists on holiday traditions from a number of different countries and regions. My orphan project was inspired by German Christmas Pyramids and is part craft and part science. Christmas pyramids range is size many of them are multi-tiered and rely on the heat of candles to propel the fan to move. The how-to instructions and sources are available at marthastewart.com.

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

Stars in the December Issue

Blake Ramsey — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:36:50 +0000

Thanksgiving is just next week, and for me that signifies the beginning of the Holiday season- yippee!! Ok, let's be honest, I started getting excited for Christmas right after Halloween. But to be exact, at Living, we've been scheming about this Christmas since November 2010. That's when we started brainstorming many of the ideas that you will find in this December's issue. And it was in late March of 2011 that we chased the last bit of snow up to Vermont, to get some beautiful wintery shots for our Star Power story.

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1 You may recognize this shot from the cover!

2 We watched the sky get lighter and lighter- it was beautiful.

3 It was snowing lightly, but fortunately the equipment was covered.

4 After shooting the tree, we headed down to the greenery star set up. The building is an old one-room schoolhouse.

7 Our photographer Dana Gallagher and her assistants.

12 Marcie and Stephen- all bundled up!

13 Marcie and Stephen imitate Hummel figurines.

15 The clouds broke for a minute.

18 After all of our shots for the morning were done, we went for breakfast at a cozy little inn. Stephen enjoyed some hot chocolate.

19 During the daylight, we cleaned up the starry tree and greenery shots. Our next shot wouldn't be until dusk.

21 While dismantling the Moravian stars that hung in the tree, Stephen tried one on for size.

22 Looks like a punk rock hair style to me!

Months later, we finished shooting the projects in our studios here in New York-

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1 Our beautiful Concolor Fir from Simonson Farms.

2 After a little bit of pruning, we set it in the stand and add lights.

3 Now for the ornaments!

4 I loved making these comets- they are so simple and graphic.

7 I think these Sputnik inspired ornaments were my favorite. They look so spacey, and they're actually just made with styrofoam balls, toothpicks, glitter, and silver ball picks or beads.

8 These glittered mat board stars were inspired by a large plastic vintage one I found. You can make so many from just one piece of mat board and a small amount of glitter.

9 The large star "wreath". Just made with heavy paper and glitter- it looks very deluxe in person!

10 These starbursts are made using the same paper and folding technique as seen in the comets, with a little punched paper in the center for a finishing touch.

11 Accordion folds ready to become ornaments.

12 These little shooting stars couldn't have been easier- just glue a couple of tinsel icicles in between two Dresdens.

14 We decorated late into the evening to prepare for the next day's shoot.

15 I think the addition of blue with those glass ornaments is a nice touch.

17 Making our greenery stars. Marcie is working with Juniper- love the berries.

18 I have Cedar- it has the most amazing citrus scent. This would be a lovely fragrant indoor decoration.

November Good Things

Blake Ramsey — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:00:29 +0000

You've tossed the jack-o'-lanterns, but that doesn't mean that you have to be without decorative gourds! I love all the varieties that you can find at the Farmers Market- so many exquisite colors, shapes and textures. They can be beautiful displayed on their own, or if you want something a bit more special, try this seasonal arrangement from November's Good Things-

That's the version that ran in the magazine, but we also shot another version-

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Here are some other options we tried in development-

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Phobias on the IPAD

Marcie McGoldrick — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:17:16 +0000

Working on the IPAD edition of Living can be a lot of fun, it allows us to bring the content to life in exciting new ways. In our October Phobias story we did a series of short stop animations and then incorporated sound to help set the mood. They are created with slight movements through a series of photographs. You can click through the photos quickly to get a sense of how the animations work. If you don't mind watching a short commercial, you can also see the finished animations for a few of the projects complete with sound at the end of this post.

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Martha Stewart's Haunted House!

Jim Noonan — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:14:07 +0000

Shooting Martha Stewart's Haunted House Halloween Special was an incredible treat and so much fun! If you missed it last night, be sure to tune in to the Hallmark Channel on October 31st at 10am, where the special will re-air in the regular Martha Stewart Show slot. Here are a few pictures to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the amazing work the Art Department (headed up by Aaron Caramanis, Tamara Dilworth and Anduin Havens) did on this special!

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2 A very organized tent!

3 And a staging area for all the prep.

4 Paul Moreno works on the beginning touches of the Voodoo Shanty and the Mad Scientist Lab.

5 James Morse hangs festive lights.

6 All Haunted Houses need an accompanying graveyard.

7 I liked this headstone the best.

8 Scary Fun-kin ghouls waiting for placement.

9 Placed and lit up - Scary!

10 A gorgeous skull made from wire and gauze.

11 The Skeleton King.

12 The Skeleton King at night!

13 Tiki torches all wrapped, filled and ready to go.

14 Javier Avila details one cardboard wall of the Voodoo Shanty using pages of old books and sheet music.

15 Shredded cheesecloth and plastic bones make for a scary entrance to the Haunted House.

16 Kristin St. Clair's favorite - preserved bugs!

17 More of Kristin's collection.

18 Beautifully crafted and terrifying touch boxes (full of gross and scary things)!

19 Aaron Caramanis and Kristin wait for their cue to enter the scene.

20 Professor Figgy's staging area in the very organized tent.

21 Javier creates one of the Mad Scientist Lab walls using just household aluminum foil.

22 X-rays add an extra creepy effect in the Lab.

23 Glow water and crystallized bones are a must too!

24 Candy wall before...

25 Anduin Havens and Tamara Dilworth open and place all of the candy.

26 Gorgeous candy wall after!

27 More candy!

28 Kristin makes slime while Javier fills latex gloves with Jell-O. Ew!

29 The tent stays organized!

30 Anduin preps for her shoot about making and distressing the spandex wall.

31 POV of the gorgeous gauze and wire skull.

32 The Lab through a crystallized spider web. Gorgeous!

33 Mr. Bones - getting a glow water sinus treatment!

34 Glow gak in the creepy Lab.

35 Aftermath of 8 runs through the Haunted House - that's a lot of elephant toothpaste!

36 More aftermath. What a mess!

37 And even more! Thankfully that's just soap foam that will clean itself!

38 Martha Stewart labware by Grandin Road. Brilliant!

39 I can't believe that the tent is STILL organized!

40 Javier has his moment on camera, decorating the eves of the Maple Avenue house.

41 A splendid set-up with beautifully carved pumpkins and window clings.

42 Window cling detail.

43 Sharkie and Francesca stop by for a photo shoot!

44 What a FABULOUS haunt!

Pumpkin Faces

Blake Ramsey — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:00:09 +0000

Just a little pumpkin carving can go a long way—take it from these guys.

People aren't the only ones to dress up for Halloween. In the October issue of Martha Stewart Living, you'll find some pumpkin costumes to get your patch picks ready for the big night. They require barely any carving and just a few basic supplies you'll find at a party store. Take a look at these story-development shots.

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1 We collected a selection of pumpkins. It helps if they already have some character—a twisty stem or a unique shape for example.

4 I started with the fangs...

5 Then added a bat—he hasn't turned into a vampire yet.

6 Much better with the map-pin eyes.

7 I tried party-store eyeballs.

8 And Ping-Pong balls with dots drawn in permanent marker. I kind of like these—they're funny!

9 There's even something kind of cute without the eyeballs.

10 Move the eyeballs around for different expressions.