Cute Crafties: Rosy Stationery

Leafy vegetables make great-tasting salads -- and sumptuous floral-shaped stamps, too. Here, the end of a head of Treviso radicchio yields a roselike print. Cut off stem end with a sharp knife, and stand stem on a paper towel, cut-side down, for 5 minutes to dry. Press cut side onto a large stamp pad, then onto cards, stationery, and more, blotting on paper towel between presses. Vary stamp shapes with other vegetables, such as romaine lettuce stems or even brussels sprouts cut in half.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Rosy Stationery - Martha Stewart Crafts 

Cute Crafties: Scrapbook Covers with Monogrammed Velvet Ribbon

To imprint monograms on velvet ribbon, you'll need an iron, rubber stamps, and velvet ribbon wide enough to accommodate the stamps (silk ribbons and silk-rayon blends work best).

Stamps that have intricate patterns or are too shallow will produce less-than-perfect results.

Plan on making a test ribbon or two with your chosen materials to determine how much heat, time, and pressure produce the best imprints.

How-To
1. Cut a ribbon to desired length; to create a monogrammed ribbon for a photo album, cut the ribbon the length of front and back covers, plus binding, and 2 extra inches (the extra ribbon on ends will wrap around inside covers). Use a fabric pen on the reverse side of the ribbon to mark stamp placement.

2. With the steam function off, preheat the iron to the cotton or wool setting. Place the rubber stamp, relief side up, on a sturdy, heatproof surface. Place the ribbon, pile side down, over the stamp. Using the portion of the iron's soleplate that has no steam holes, press down evenly on the ribbon, covering the stamp.

Hold the iron in place without moving for 10 to 30 seconds. Then lift the iron straight up off the ribbon. (If the ribbon sticks to the iron, the heat setting may be too high or the velvet used may contain heat-sensitive synthetics.) Gently remove the ribbon from the stamp, and check whether the image is clear. Let ribbon cool.

3. To attach the ribbon to a photo album, carefully apply a low-moisture paste-style glue, such as Yes Paste, to inside front cover, and secure ribbon end. Let dry 5 minutes. Then wrap ribbon around album, and glue other end inside back cover.

Cute Crafties: DIY Leather Planner

There are many reasons leather is the best material for everything from day planners to checkbook covers: It's durable and weather resistant, conforms to different shapes, and develops a soft, well-worn feel.

But perhaps the best reason is that you can easily fashion little luxuries from it yourself. Making you own accessories costs far less than buying the finished products, and you can use surprising colors and details that you won't find in a store.

Leather is forgiving to work with -- it doesn't fray, so there's no need to finish edges, and if you purchase a 1/16-inch or thinner hide, it can be fed through a sewing machine. You'll need sturdy poly-cotton thread, a leather needle, and a Teflon pressure foot, which will keep the leather steady. Raise the tension according to your sewing machine's instructions, and make the stitches slightly longer than you would with fabric, to prevent the leather from tearing. Mark lines by scoring with a bone folder before sewing.

Tools and Materials
One hide (5 1/2 square feet) leather
No-slip ruler
Rotary cutter
Multipurpose cement
Poly-cotton thread
Sewing machine equipped for leather
Leather hole punch
1/2-inch binder rivets
7-inch 6-ring spine
Rivet setter
Mallet
Paper inserts
Grommet kit or elastic cording (optional)

Leather Planner How-To
1. For standard refills (6 3/4 by 3 3/4 inches), use a rotary cutter to cut a rectangle of leather that is 10 3/8 by 7 1/8 inches. Mark the midpoint of the length, and score with the bone folder. For the closure, cut a 3 1/2-by-1-inch tab to fit in a 3-by-1/4-inch strip.

2. Cement a 1/4 inch of the tab halfway up the inside of the back cover of the planner; let dry, and then sew. Cement the strip halfway up the outside of the front cover; let dry, and sew ends. For side flaps, cut two 3 1/4-by-7 1/8-inch pieces. Cement them on all but the inside long edge; let dry, and then sew all around, leaving a 1/4-inch border.

3. Backstitch at start and finish. Place the spine on the halfway point, mark each hole with a pencil, and punch out marks with a hole punch. Align bar over holes, and stick rivet posts through each one; snap the cap pieces onto posts from the other side. Position rivet setter over each rivet head, and pound them into place with the mallet. Fill binder with paper inserts. Use flaps to store loose items.



Read more at Marthastewart.com: Making Leather Accessories: Day Planners - Martha Stewart Crafts

Cute Crafties: Wall-Mounted Organizer

Maintain order in the house with an easy-to-make wall-mounted wire organizer.
Whether your work space is an office or a garden shed, this wall-mounted wire organizer can help maintain order.

Wire Organizer How-To
1) Wrap 14-gauge wire tightly around a 1/2-inch wooden dowel 3 times to create a loop; measure 5 inches along wire, and repeat, continuing to wrap and measure until you have 5 loops along 20 inches of wire. Snip off excess at first and last loops.

2) Form a diamond shape: Bend wire at loops, overlapping first and last. Using flat-nose pliers, twist 28-gauge wire around overlapped loops to secure. Repeat to make 3 more diamonds. Using nails, hang diamonds on wall in a larger diamond configuration. Slip in business cards, photographs, seed packets, and anything else you want to have handy.



Read more at Marthastewart.com: Wire Organizer - Martha Stewart Crafts