Last night my 6 year old niece Grey called me for help with a school project. The assignment was to collect 100 of something, anything, and then assemble it somehow, anyhow. I’m tickled/touched/honored that I’m the go-to reference for my nieces and nephews when it comes to crafts.

After talking her out of gluing 100 M&Ms to a piece of poster board, we settled on a mosaic of sorts, made from fragments of magazine pages. So Grey cut 100 slivers and grouped them by color to form a rainbow. This is Grey at work…

Ok, so maybe it’s a little cliche to be a crafter and to love Martha Stewart, but I’m admitting it. Right here. I heart Martha Stewart. Maybe her extensively detailed articles on the proper laundering techniques of bed sheets or pruning apple trees can get a little tedious, but sometimes her crafts are so right on.

This craft is not actually hers (but really, which ones are?); it’s by Jodi Levine, one of her craft gurus. (I swear I saw Jodi at the new Michael’s here in NYC, but I was too craft-struck to say anything.)

Instead of sending disposable paper greetings, she made these very easy tissue packet holders from felt (my fave source for wool felt is Magic Cabin) and stamped the top tissue with a sweet greeting. Easy, flat, and perfect for winter.

Love.

 Celio Braga, Placebos, 2008-09

Or, cut paper rather. Over the holiday I saw a really impressive exhibition called Slash: Paper Under the Knife at the Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan, a totally great, very digestible museum. You just can’t image all of the techniques that are explored in the show, from stop motion video to sculpture to photographic images that didn’t use a camera.  It’s seriously the kind of show that falls flat online or even in the catalog…it’s a must see in person. And lucky for you it’s up until April, so you have time to make it to New York.

ps…the Braga piece above is made from medical paper inserts found in prescription medications of friends and family.

Seriously.

Go

See

This.

Image via.