Entertaining Extras
This summery runner is 86 inches long; you can add or subtract leaves, depending on the length of your table. Handmade napkins can coordinate with either linens or tableware.

Photo Courtesy of Martha Stewart.com

For the Runner:
1. Using our leaf template, cut 27 leaves from linen (we used celadon, mint, and lemon).

2. Use a 1/2-inch-wide strip of store-bought single-fold bias tape and the one-step binding method to create a border along one side of each leaf, from tip to tip. There is no need to finish the tape's ends.

3. Bind the opposite side of each leaf with a separate length of bias tape, covering raw edges at tips with an overlap finish.

4. Arrange leaves in desired pattern; pin, and hand-stitch together.

Source: Martha Stewart.com Crafts

This season, spring style is all about metallics. Fashionistas have dubbed metallics "the new neutral" and, as trends go, home decor is following suit. Artist Ginger King, however, would stop short of calling her own work with metallics "trendy." She combines her expertise in digital design and her work with metals to create custom, timeless and surprisingly affordable fine art pieces for the home. Her company, Impel Ink, stands alone in the photo reproduction market because of its sophisticated approach to printing materials and frames that move beyond traditional canvases.

At impelink.com, King works closely with her customers to develop each work of art. "My customers provide the photograph, and I provide the technique and the artistic vision," she said.

What makes her process different is Impel Ink's signature photo reproduction on fine art metals -- satin gold, satin silver and satin white. Also available is a clear film overlay option, in which an image is printed on glossy clear film then overlaid on matte foam board in the customer's choice of five colors.

Yet it's the range of visual effects, from contemporary to abstract, that offers the most options -- 20 of them, to be exact. The art and design world has seen the increased use of digital photo technology in recent years, and King has been ahead of the curve.

Another option that sets Impel Ink apart is its custom acrylic frames with innovative mounting options. These frames are available in clear, opaque black or white, or pop colors: watermelon, periwinkle, gold and orange. For a dramatic finishing touch, the acrylic frames also come with one of six vibrant edges: blue, black, green, red, orange or yellow.

"We offer the convenience of online shopping," said King, "with the personal service of a local studio." She explained that a customer simply emails the photo to be reproduced and later can proof the finished product online.

"I'm especially proud of Impel Ink's work with unconventional media -- particularly fine art metal," said King. "With the surge in popularity of metallics, we are answering consumer demand but also showing that an image inspired by the moment can have staying power."

Impel Ink prints only on high-quality, fine art materials, including the unique fine art metals, using archival, water-resistant inks. Every step of the process is carefully controlled and inspected.

For more information, visit http://www.impelink.com.

SOURCE Impel Ink

Pearl Paint is probably the most famous craft store in New York City.  They even have one location dedicated to home and crafts at 42 Lispenard Street (downtown). Its huge selection and good prices brings in tons of artists and craft makers.  They do have several stores throughout the country, you can see them here.

 

Beach lovers can celebrate the official beginning of summer at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, where families and friends come together each year to celebrate Memorial Day.

Sandestin is hosting a great line up of Memorial Day free events. Join the fun at The Village of Baytowne Wharf beginning Friday, May 23 through Memorial Day, Monday May 26.

    -   On Saturday and Sunday, children can cool off on the Roaring River
        Slide in the Village from 10 am to 8 p.m.
    -   At 6 p.m. each evening, bring the kids for crafts and sandcastle
        building until 9.

    -   On Friday, bring a blanket and come out and watch the movie "Hannah
        Montana" under the stars, where 3-D glasses will be provided.
    -   Additional events include live music on Friday and Saturday from
        Coconut Radio, a three piece acoustic group.
    -   On Saturday, listen to a Pops concert 8 p.m. in cooperation with the
        Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra Guild.
    -   On Sunday, don't miss the annual Memorial Day Weekend Fireworks
        extravaganza at 9:15 p.m.
    -   The extended weekend concludes on Monday at 2:30 p.m. with a 30-
        minute program to salute veterans.

Admission to all events are free. Sandestin also offers a terrific value on overnight accommodations including a 25 percent discount on selected room types, plus other free offers like two free zipline passes or even free breakfast for two with overnight accommodations at the Bayside Inn. Call 1-866-91-BEACH or book online for additional savings at www.sandestin.com. Please mention codes 2292ET or 2292EU.

There are many benefits of staying at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort including many free amenities including bike rental, complementary tennis, kayaks, canoes, boogie boards, fitness center for adults, and resort tram transportation. Beautifully appointed accommodations range from studios hotel rooms with a mini fridge and microwave to condos, villas and houses will full kitchens and dining rooms.

Sandestin is a 2,400-acre destination resort for all seasons and for all ages on Northwest Florida's Gulf Coast. Sandestin invites guests to a world of 30 charming neighborhoods featuring 1,600 condominiums, villas, town homes and a wide variety of hotel accommodations like no other Destin vacation rentals. A member of the Beaches of South Walton, the resort has more than seven miles of sugar white sand beaches and pristine bay front, four championship golf courses, 15 world-class tennis courts, 19 swimming pools, a 98-slip marina, a fitness center and spa, and 65,000 square feet of meeting space. Also at Sandestin is the Village of Baytowne Wharf, the pedestrian village featuring boutique shops, casual and fine dining restaurants and nightlife venues. Sandestin is part of Intrawest, a world leader destination resorts.

SOURCE Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

Michaels, North America's largest arts and crafts specialty retailer, announces it will host a week of free Mother's Day events beginning Saturday, May 2, through Sunday, May 10, so that families and kids of all ages can make personalized gifts from the heart to give Mom on her special day.

The events, in all 1000+ U.S. and Canada stores, will feature Michaels' Top 5 Mother's Day personalized projects: picture frames, decorated T-shirts, jewelry, cards and paper flower bouquets. Other workshops include keepsake corsages, keepsake plates and coupon books moms can redeem with her kids for chores and favors.

Handmade gifts are proving to be popular this year as people strive to save money and focus on their families. In a recent Michaels consumer survey, 83 percent said they see homemade gifts and family time as two of the 'bright spots' during our rough economy.

"We know families are very busy and these free workshops will give them an easy, convenient and inexpensive way to make Mother's Day special on any budget," said Michaels' Chief Marketing Officer Stuart Aitken. "Our customer survey showed that more than 90 percent of people said a thoughtful, handmade gift would be valued, and moms especially treasure gifts made for them by their children."

The events will be held on weekends beginning May 2nd and May 9th, and in the evenings Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8 to give people plenty of opportunities to bring in the kids to make gifts. The events culminate on May 10, Mother's Day, with an in-store cookie-decorating event where the whole family can decorate cookies to eat or take with them.

The events are free to attend and a complete schedule can be found at www.michaels.com/mothersday. The site also has dozens more Mother's Day project ideas with complete instructions and materials lists, plus Michaels gift cards available for purchase.

Source: Michaels

For many, photography is a very popular hobby and plays a big part in many crafts projects.

Now available for download, Aurora simplifies the complexities of getting to great photos...

Light Crafts today announced the introduction of Aurora, powerfully simple photo editing, organizing and sharing software that answers the need of consumers who are looking to bring out the best in their digital photos. Aurora is intuitive to use, enabling anyone to go from download to expert in a matter of minutes.

"We believe everyone's photos should look great, and we are proud to introduce Aurora as a powerfully simple solution to help photographers of all stripes achieve amazing results for their digital images," said Fabio Riccardi, founder and CEO of Light Crafts. "Aurora makes it possible, for the first time, to easily edit photos so that they reflect what you saw in real life when you captured the image. We spent years studying how the human eye processes images, and we built Aurora to mimic that ability so that edited photos reflect the actual memory you captured."

Aurora's visual photo editor is powered by sophisticated algorithms that simplify the complexities of advanced photo-editing by presenting suggested improvements to photos in an intuitive what-you-see-is-what-you-get fashion. A pop-up image selector lets users see a range of improvements and pick exactly how their edited photos might look simply by clicking on the desired improved image.

Aurora's powerfully simple solution not only edits photos, it also has sophisticated tools to help organize photos, has online back-up services to help keep photos safe, and makes sharing photos easy with photo publishing tools and photo sharing capabilities with sites like Flickr and Facebook.

Aurora's key features include:

• Visual photo editing: The strength of Aurora lies in its intuitive, powerful, visual editor which presents suggested improvements in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get fashion. The unique relight tool essentially "turns on" the light inside the image, creating better, more realistic photos. Users can also straighten, adjust color strength and warmth, crop, zoom and adjust red-eye in a simple, intuitive and visual way.

• Organizing and viewing of photos: Aurora allows consumers to easily import photos from their camera or computer, re-arrange and re-name them, then tag and rate favorites for easy viewing and retrieval.

• Sharing and publishing: Aurora enables consumers to email, print, and connect directly to their photo sharing, social networking and accounts from within Aurora making it easy to share select photos online on sites like Flickr and Facebook.

• Online back-up: Photos are one of those truly irreplaceable items. Aurora's optional online back-up service is powered by Amazon.com and stores photos to keep them out of harm's way. Online back-up plans are available for $4.95 per month. Users can simply hit "online back up" from within Aurora to sync directly with their Amazon storage account.

"Aurora is the answer for intuitive photo editing," said Tracey Clark, photographer (www.traceyclark.com), mom and founder of ShutterSisters.com. "I love its unique way of presenting editing options. In my experience using the software, Aurora makes it easy for anyone to improve and beautifully enhance their images."

Aurora is available for $19.95 and can be purchased for download to a PC at www.lightcrafts.com.

SOURCE Light Crafts, Inc.

 Here's a neat idea from Casasugar: Cork Place Card Holders

Fun, fast and easy; and useful!  How clever for a wine tasting dinner party for example!

 

 

All you need to do is slice off one side of the cork so it won't roll over... make sure the pretty side is facing where you want it to.  Use a very sharp knife like an X-acto. Then slice about 1/3 down into the cork from the top for where you will put the name card.  Then the easy part is making the little cards.  Use cardstock or parchment paper. Kate's Paperie is a wonderful place to get papers what would be great for this.  Then write out your names in nice writing, perhaps with a calligraphy style marker or metallic pen.

I always hate throwing away the really pretty corks, so now I can start saving them for this!

Cheers!

Michaels' how-to webisodes featuring Creative Expert Jo Pearson received nearly a million views on the company's creative inspiration website and on YouTube.com as the current do-it-yourself trend took off over the holidays. That's why Michaels, the world's largest arts and crafts specialty retailer, will introduce a whole new series of the popular how-to webisodes this month with the re-launch of WhereCreativityHappens.com.

Beginning March 30, Jo Pearson, who has created thousands of projects for Michaels, will share more of her tips, techniques, ideas and inspiration to help people save money and have fun creating decor and gifts in seven new webisodes. Each webisode will feature easy, step-by-step instructions for do-it-yourself projects like designing one-of-a-kind jewelry, updating their outdoor entertaining spaces, and much more.

"Our customers are telling us that they want to spend more time on do-it-yourself projects not only to save money but as an inexpensive activity the whole family can enjoy," said Michaels Chief Marketing Officer Stuart Aitken. "We will introduce a series of new webisodes in 2009, along with in-store events and hundreds of project ideas, to provide inspiration and value to our customers."

The webisodes and the relaunch of WhereCreativityHappens.com continue Michaels' "Endless Creativity, Endless Savings" campaign which began the 2008 Holiday season. The creative, value-driven message connected with consumers looking for ways to spend less in a down economy while still enjoying the holidays. An impressive 3.9 million unique visitors logged on to Michaels.com in December, a double-digit increase over the previous year.

"With the economy, people are really getting into do-it-yourself projects again and learning that they can be creative, make cool stuff and have fun doing it," said Jo Pearson, Michaels' Creative expert for more than 20 years. "I hope people will join me throughout the year as we introduce projects for spring, Easter, summer, back to school, Halloween and into the holiday season again. We're going to have a ball!"

SOURCE Michaels Stores, Inc.

This Easter, PEEPS(R) Brand Marshmallow Candies is excited to offer its fans fun ways to celebrate spring with exciting crafts and recipes. Now PEEPS(R) fans can enjoy a sweet treat with PEEPS Sugar-Free Marshmallow Chicks! This delicious dessert is a bright delight that's sure to make you smile.

Sugar-Free PEEPS(R) Treats

Ingredients

2 packages of PEEPS(R) Sugar-Free Marshmallow Chicks

1 package of sugar-free lemon flavored instant pudding mix (see package for additional ingredients)

1 - 8 oz. container of sugar-free Cool Whip(R)

1 sprig mint (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare pudding according to package directions. Chill until set.

2. Fill dessert bowls 3/4 full with pudding.

3. Before serving, top each bowl with sugar-free Cool Whip(R), a PEEPS(R) Sugar-Free Marshmallow Chick and a sprig of mint.

Visit www.marshmallowpeeps.com for more sweet crafts and recipe ideas.

Fans will also enjoy the entire Peeps(R) 2009 Easter line-up which includes:

• NEW PEEPS(R) Brand Chocolate Mousse Flavored Marshmallow Bunnies available in a Take-Home package.
• NEW PEEPS(R) Orange Chicks and Green Bunnies available in Take-Home packages.
• PEEPS(R) Chicks and Bunnies in assorted colors and package sizes.
• PEEPS(R) Sugar-Free Yellow Chicks available in a Count-Goods package.
• PEEPS(R) Orange flavored Creme Eggs and Yellow Tulips available in Take-Home packages.

Courtesy of Peeps, Just Born, Inc.

Although today's children have grown widely accustomed to movies and video games as forms of entertainment, crafts are a great way kids can have fun without high-tech electronics. Here are some simple suggestions that will lure kids away from the television and help them get in touch with their creative side.

1. Make It Relevant-Ask your children about their favorite characters from books, television shows and movies, and have them design crafts around their answers. They'll be excited to take part in the fun when they are familiar with their subject matter.

2. Don't Forget The Older Kids-Arts and crafts can appeal to kids of every age. While the toddlers are finger-painting, break out the paper mache or beading kits for the preteens and teens in your home. Older children might also enjoy helping their little brothers and sisters with their crafting projects.

3. Be Resourceful-Encourage children to create their own masterpieces out of cardboard boxes, plastic soda bottles, and other items found around the home. Plus, now that the weather is getting warmer, you can head outside to find some great crafting materials, like pinecones, flowers and leaves.

4. Create A Family Bond-Tackle a large crafting project, like a t-shirt quilt or a scrapbook, as a family. This is a great way to reminisce on past experiences while creating new memories together. The finished product will be a unique work of art that the whole family can appreciate.

5. Set Up Shop-A good workspace is essential for crafting. Have a big clear area available and be sure to cover it to protect it from stains, glue, etc.

SOURCE Lifetime Products, Inc.