Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays

by Martha Stewart

A collection of traditional holiday crafts and recipes offers seasonal drinks and desserts, Christmas decorations, design tips, gift suggestions, cash projects, and other festive items featuring a variety of materials.

Genres: Cookbooks, Christmas, Crafts, Holiday, Nonfiction, Cooking, Gardening

144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1997

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Lara Maynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of bad fruitcake in the world, but if I had to pick one food to live on for the rest of my life it would be boozy dark fruitcake. And since this Martha Stewart book has a nice selection of fruitcake and dessert recipes, it's up my Christmas alley. I have made a note to try out the recipes for Dowager Duchess Fruitcake (which has sherry in it, which I love in a dessert), Figgy Christmas Fruit Roll, Mr and Mrs Maus's Fruitcake, Backhouse Family Fruitcake, Fruit and Stout Cake and Chocolate Panforte.

There aren't photos for most recipes, so if you're someone who will be disappointed by that, then this is not the cookbook for you. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking about cake.

[Talea · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a long, long time since I was delighted by a Martha Stewart book. I had collected her magazines and books for a long time at one point in my life and learned a lot from her. Over the years though I got less and less ‘fussy’ and so most of my Martha magazines and books were given away. This one caught my eye because this one had more crafts and recipes that were more attainable and realistic for a single mom. Some crafts are things my kids would actually do, even the (now adult) boys in at least things like collecting pine cones and cracking open nuts if nothing else. I can see myself easily doing these crafts. The recipes are still some that if best skip if I don’t want wasted food, but they are closer to what my family would enjoy than other recipes by her that I’ve tried. These at least speak their language so to speak. This is my family’s hygge. I’m glad I took a chance on it. Definitely a keeper.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martha is insane, and has a huge team of artists and others to accomplish her wild ideas. There are some great ideas here - I love all the ice decorations.

[Cat_on_skates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful glossary pages! I really liked the citrus ornaments, nut gift boxes, and the entire ice section.

[Catherine Gillespie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever made a fruitcake/Christmas pudding? Not those things with the nasty little cherries, but a real fruitcake that involves leaving baked goods soaked in liquor around in your cabinet for a couple of months? I’m really fascinated by the concept, and if you are too, Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays might interest you because it has a detailed section on fruitcakes, how they work, and various types to try. Since it’s such an involved project I wish I could taste them first before giving it a go. I also liked the section on how to propagate a Christmas cactus since I have one and inexplicably have not yet killed it. Furthermore, the book contains good ornament ideas including some inventive ways to use pinecones.

I know, how often do you select a book based on a review highlighting "inventive ways to use pinecones." But this is Martha Stewart, so you know what you're getting into.

{Read the rest of my review on A Spirited Mind}

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha missed the boat on this one. Lots of boring things, and then a complete turn around to expensive, hoity toity projects with hard to find materials. I was intrigued by the picture of the chocolate cake that was in with the fruitcake section, but it turned out to be just a chocolate cake, and not chocolate fruitcake. Disappointed.

11/20/14
Changing my rating from 2 to 4 stars. Not realizing I had already read this, I got it from the library, found some good ideas. I would swear this is not the same book I read last time. I really like the citrus tree.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only look, because the craft results, while attractive, just can't be worth the amount of time and money put into them.

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of Martha's holiday crafts and treats.

[Dianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hoped to find ideas to use to teach in a class or make to sell and there’s nothing of interest in the entire book. I don’t know why this book was even made, to be honest, it’s totally uninteresting.

[Kandice · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modge podge of Martha's Christmas memories, crafts, recipes, photos, and glossaries galore.