When my dear friend told me she was expecting, I wanted to make her something useful and (relatively) timeless. Here’s the thing: I love knitting but hate following patterns. There’s something relaxing about the repetitive motion of my hands clicking away with their own muscle memory, and throwing a pattern into the mix always disrupts …

In the current issue of Martha Stewart Living, we show you how to mimic a caning pattern in paint. All you need are a few supplies: painters’ tape, spray adhesive, spray paint, and a sheet of caning. Begin by taping off edges and other areas that you don’t want painted. For this bureau, we also …

“The results are in! And the winning school supply is… All of them—well, almost all of them. We were so excited about the challenge that we decided to do more than just one revamp. Here are some ways to spice up back-to-school supplies! Why search for the perfect notebook when you can make one on …

Heading to the beach this weekend? In the new issue of Living, Shane proves that shells and sea specimens can be as beautiful in the home as on the beach—like these graphically displayed treasures. Here he shows us how to display our own finds…

With the sun at full force these days, it’s best to stay in the shade—with a little help from these summer hats, a project in this month’s issue of Living. Not only are they reversible, they are also simple to make. I love rooting through the fabric closets at the office. It’s like shopping the “ends” …

Seems like we can’t have enough stripe in our lives. If you were inspired by Silke’s coasters, which were inspired by Blake’s pillows from July’s Good Things, here’s a quick video how-to: Still seeing lines? We have many more striped projects over here…

Today’s post was written by Ashley Little, a Web producer for marthastewart.com: “On Mother’s Day weekend, sewers across the country hosted Singer Sew Very Easy house parties sponsored by Singer and House Party. I’m always up for a craft party, so I invited 16 friends to my Brooklyn apartment. (Somehow, we all fit in there!) …

Have you noticed that the best things in life always have an element of surprise? Surprise endings, surprise parties, surprise fillings (in pastries and in pinatas)…you name it. There’s just something so satisfying about unveiling a secret. In this month’s issue of Living, we were inspired by surprise balls for our Crepe Paper Carrots. With …