Martha Stewart Crafts - Christmas Tree Craft Punch

Miss Martha. She is everywhere, and I absolutely love that about her. Martha Stewart Crafts is a beautiful website that offers over 500 products online to buy for crafting beginners and pros.

I would consider myself a beginner, and that is probably giving myself more credit than I deserve. Currently on sale at MSC is a great product that would be perfect for the winter season. The Christmas Tree Craft Punch is beautifully made. It has a bit of heft to it, but provides a very smooth and easy punching mechanism.

It would be perfect for adults and children alike. Start with a few sheets of orange, yellow and red construction paper. Punch away, then add a dab of glue to the back of these beautiful little trees and your kiddos would be well on their way to creating a forest in the throes of Autumn.

If you haven't made it over to the Martha Stewart Crafts website yet, be sure to check it out. With Valentine's Day and Easter on the horizon, you'll be sure to find a variety of elegant and fun products to meet your needs.

Newsstand Alert - Martha Stewart Holiday: Halloween

The Halloween issue of Martha Stewart Holiday is available, and this issue is double the fun! One half is the Good Things, flip the issue over and you’ll find the Bad Things.

Good Things include recipes for candy corn cookies, candy jar clip art labels, instructions for gourd people, adorable pumpkin treat bags, and some great ideas for ways to use pumpkins, beyond carving faces in them. How about using one as a drinks cooler? Or maybe to hold the candy for the little ghouls and goblins who come to visit on Halloween night?

In the Bad Things section, you’ll find ideas for creepy containers that can be used as votive holders, instructions for a garland of bats to hang on your mantel, turnip jack-o-lanterns that can add a bit of scare in places where a pumpkin won’t fit, and frightening food ideas, like tomato soup with mini mozzarella ball “eye balls.”

I made the pumpkin “pie” potpourri this past weekend, and am saving it to light this weekend when we have company for dinner. I made the holes in the sides of the pumpkin as diamonds instead the circles, and just used a little paring knife to cut them. I’m sure it will fill the house with the scent of Halloween!

The magazine is a collection of Good Things and Bad Things that have been featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine. I love these holiday collections, because they assemble all the fun recipes, crafts, and decorating suggestions in one place. No combing through back issues from the past fifteen years to find which ideas to use this year!