A Handmade Tale

In December, we look at the calendar with a certain incredulity -- the year is practically over! And marking that end with the proverbial bang is a bunch of winter holidays. Washingtonians secretly pride themselves on having too much to do, between family and work obligations, a daily workout and a long commute. The idea of additional holiday activities -- decorating, hosting parties, cooking expansive family dinners -- brings on inward sighs and private eye rolls.

As a remedy to this season of "too much going on," here's a guide to five holiday crafts to make and share. Some don't involve a great deal of time in their execution, such as stringing a beaded necklace or forcing paperwhites, but do require foresight. Others need a more immediate investment of time and effort, such as making marbled stationery, rolling chocolate truffles or compiling a CD of festive music. All are decidedly simple so that you can retreat from the holiday buzz and enjoy being in the moment making a gift -- either by yourself or with a friend or youngster.

Sometimes a holiday craft doesn't quite have the splendor of a store-bought gift. The truffles look a little lumpy, or the paperwhites tilt ever so slightly to the left. But the point of these projects is to have fun and share with others. Isn't that what the season is all about?

Let It Grow, Let It Grow, Let It Grow

For an optimistic look toward spring, try forcing paperwhites. These white flowers make a heartening indoor winter garden and are "pretty foolproof," according to Kyle Wallick, a botanist with the U.S. Botanic Garden. "People don't have any difficulty getting them to grow."

Paperwhite bulbs appear in local nurseries and hardware stores in late October. "The bigger bulbs tend to be sold quicker," Wallick says. "Try to pick out fairly robust bulbs. They usually yield more flower stalks."

The bulbs can be found at garden shops such as Behnke Nurseries Co. for about a dollar apiece. Plant the bulbs in a shallow decorative pot four inches deep and six inches wide. Fill the bowl halfway with pea stones and then nestle three to five bulbs, roots down, into the gravel. Add more stones to cover the bulbs halfway. Set the bowl in a sunny window and water daily, making sure the roots are fully submerged. According to Wallick, paperwhites need "bright light, but they like it on the cool side, out of drafts."

Paperwhites take four to six weeks to grow. I usually start mine the weekend after Thanksgiving so they blossom by New Year's; the elegance of the tall green stalks crowned with star-shaped flowers is undercut, however, by an unfortunate tendency to tilt. To stake the plants, insert a chopstick into the pea stones in the center of the pot; gather the stems around the stick and tie them together using a sheer gold or white ribbon. Paperwhites bloom in full for about a week and make an ideal gift for a city dweller who doesn't have much contact with nature. Be sure to also root some for yourself; we all need a reminder of spring in January.

Leave a Paper Trail

Many use holiday correspondence to stay in touch with faraway friends. Why not send your family news on a piece of hand-marbled stationery, using a technique called Suminagashi. "It means 'floating ink' in Japanese," explains Jake Benson, a bookbinder who conducts Suminagashi workshops at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring. Developed in the 11th century during the Heian period, the aqueous-patterned paper was "originally reserved for the nobility," Benson says. "Later in the Edo period, it was allowed for use by commoners -- typically for personal poetry -- and in bookbinding."

You can practice this ancient craft with modern materials at home. First, spread a generous layer of newspapers around your work station and an area to dry the papers. Next, fill a wide baking pan with water an inch deep. For the floating ink, use Higgins blue drawing ink or traditional Yasutomo calligraphy inks in black or red, available at art supply stores. For a broader color repertoire, Benson recommends Boku Undo inks produced in Nara, Japan, "which is a traditional inkmaking center. . . . They developed a set of colors specifically for Suminagashi." In addition to red, blue and black, the set includes yellow, orange and green. Put a teaspoon of each color into plastic cups. You can improve the ink's ability to spread by adding one drop of Photo-Flo, a film developing chemical produced by Kodak. It can be found at photography shops that carry darkroom supplies.

Next, make a "noncolor" agent by mixing one tablespoon of water with five drops of Photo-Flo. Take two soft paintbrushes and dip one with ink and the other with the agent. Hold a brush in each hand; gently touch the water surface in the pan with the tip of the ink brush. The color will quickly spread. Next, touch the ink pool with the other brush; the agent will radiate into the color. Touch the surface with the ink and the agent alternately to create a bull's-eye. For variety, you can switch to an ink brush with a new color or swirl the ink with a toothpick.

When you see a pattern you like, gingerly place a piece of paper on the water surface for a second or two to absorb the ink. Quickly peel it away and put on newspaper to dry. "If you're doing this with kids, you can use newsprint or construction paper," Benson says. "But if you want something more archival, for wrapping paper or a card you would save, you want to use rice paper." Benson recommends Aitoh rice paper, also made in Japan.

Before making another sheet, clean the water surface of all ink and agent by skimming it with strips of newspaper.