I have to admit that when I got the Martha Stewart Holiday press kit, I thought that the collections seemed nice but a little boring. All in all, there's a lot to look through — she has five full holiday collections at five separate retailers! When I started to sift through all the stuff, however, it became clear to me that Martha's strength — when it comes to seasonal decor — is crafting. The DIY and project-based products are the standouts.
When I say "project-based products," I mean pretty much anything involving cooking, crafting, or DIY decorating. The Martha Stewart Crafts line at Michaels is great for anyone planning on giving homemade gifts or cards this year. There's an edge-puncher that makes gorgeous stationery without much skill required, and there are several cute boxes and bags for gifts of homemade cookies or candy.
Macy's also has some nice cookware and tabletop. The Woodland Park collection is a simplified take on Tord Boontje's layered patterns, and for bakers, there are some nice cute cookie cutters and molded tins.
The low point is her line for Home Depot. Although the collection includes some tasteful basics like white lights and simple wreaths, there are a few pieces that are outright tacky, like a fake frosted pinecone Christmas tree.
What do you think? Any first-hand takes on Martha's holidayware?
MARTHA STEWART 2010 HOLIDAY DECOR
• Martha Stewart Crafts at Michaels
• Martha Stewart Collection at Macy’s
• Martha Stewart Pets at PetSmart
• Martha Stewart Living at The Home Depot
• Martha Stewart Stationery for Crane & Co.
SHOWN ABOVE
• Mini Ornaments, on sale for $4.50 for a box of 12 (reg. $9) at Macy's
• Holiday Cookie Cutters, $12.99 per set at Macy's
• Set of 4 Drink Glasses, $17 at Macy's
• Woodland Park Collection, on sale for $25 - $30 / regular $36 - $43
• Candy Cane Treat Boxes, $8 at Michaels
• Snowflake Punch Set, $25 at Michaels
• Pre-Lit Sparkling Pine Tree with Clear Lights, $199 at Home Depot
• Finial and Ball Candy Cane Ornaments, $22 per pack at Home Depot
• Woodland Ornament Wreath, $30 at Home Depot
• Tinsel Wreath Cards, $206 per personalized/engraved set at Crane & Company
• For all Holiday 2010 Sneak Peeks, click here.
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I'm not sure what makes this tree any more tacky than any other artificial tree. I think it may look quite nice when all tricked out with dangles and glittery things. Of course the price tag of $300 makes for one expensive tree. IMHO
Already with the Christmas, eh? I love the holidays, but what happened to taking it slowly?
I am usually eh towards marthas stuff...but I love love love her cupcake ornaments. They look homemade.. But I think they're really adorable.. I love primary colors and when I decorate for the holidays that doesn't change. So her lil cupcakes yeah...I'm sold on em.
Not a fan. Nothing new and exciting, or particularly interesting. Maybe she's stretching herself a little thin doing all of these lines. Yay for commercialism overload?
Martha looks poised to have a GREEN$$ Christmas at least. Did I miss the economy suddenly getting on the road back to over consumption?
The tree looks fine. Do you just not like fake trees in general, or is it the pine cones and snow that make it "outright tacky" to you?
I have some beautiful ornaments I got from Martha at Macy's a few years ago -- they were all in shades of copper and brown. They are well constructed and great colors at the price. I don't like when ornaments have thick visible seams and these don't. And the hanging-neck part of the ornaments have a lot of pretty details on them.
I agree that the Home Depot decorations look kind of basic. Mostly traditional colors.
I'm not all that impressed with the Marthat Stewart ready-to-go-up decorations, but I was impressed that you can buy a set of 101 mixed-size shatterproof ornaments for $22.00. I'm in love with Pottery Barn's ornament garland and I'm going to try to recreate the look with cheap garland and the Martha Stewart ornaments in combo with some other sizes/textures. They're not exactly what I wanted, but I think from the street they'll still look good and you really can't beat the price. I plan to blog about the process when I get a chance to tackle the project: younghipandhandy.blogspot.com
And it's totally not too early to be thinking about Christmas -- Thanksgiving is in a week, and if you want to have your decorations up early enough to enjoy them and not be decorating when you have parties to go to and shopping to do, you should at least plan what you need to buy/when you'll put things together now.
I'm obsessed with her site, so many craft ideas!!
I'm a bit confused that it's surprising that her making things are the best. Surely that is the POINT of Martha Stewart?
Also, totally not too early to think about the holidays if you are crafting for them. In fact, if that is the case, it's time to PANIC!
I live alone and tend to buy mini artificial trees to decorate my work desk since the bulk of my daylight time is spent there. I'm actually happiest with a Trader Jones cinnamon brooms at home and work. The long lasting scent is more evocative of Xmas seasons past than visual decorations or even piney scents from live trees or wreaths.
Since Borders doesn't have mini versions of their bright pink trees, I'm thinking of picking up CB2s stylized metal tree frame to hang nifty small ornaments on.
I live in the Caribbean, and since here we don’t have Halloween, thanksgiving or anything in between the end of summer and x-mas day, you’d think we were crazy for hanging Christmas decor as early as October. We also have artificial trees as the real ones are just too hard to come upon and when you do find them they are way too expensive, so the “fake” tree is the way to go. I’ve had the same tree for five years, my moms has had hers for 10, so in the long run it is the better option. Guess it just takes some getting used to…
I love the white tree!
I love DIY Christmas decorations!
take a look at the ones I've made this year:
http://thereisalwaysroom.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/christmas-ornaments/
thanks for sharing!
here's some crafts from Martha's site
http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/handmade-gifts-for-kids?xsc=eml_crd_2010_11_19slide_11
I finally made my garland with some of her ornments. Pics available on my blog: http://younghipandhandy.blogspot.com/2010/12/gorgeous-garland-on-cheap.html