A Handmade Tale

By Hetty Lipscomb
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, November 11, 2005

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.

You can use the Suminagashi paper as stationery itself and dash off a haiku to a sweetheart. I like to decorate a box of plain cards with bands of Suminagashi. Measure and cut the decorative paper into inchwide strips. Dot the edge of the card with glue and carefully place the strip on the card's left vertical edge. Flatten the card by weighting it with a telephone book overnight. A set of Suminagashi stationery is sure to impress a friend or relative.

PAPER SOURCE -- 3019 M St. NW. 202-298-5545.http://www.paper-source.com. Open Monday-Saturday 10 to 8, Sundays 11 to 7. Boku Undo Suminagashi Innovation Marbling Set, $15.20. Aitoh rice paper, 48 sheets, $8.

PLAZA ARTIST MATERIALS -- 8209 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. 301-587-5581.http://www.plazaart.com. Open Monday-Friday 9 to 6:30, Saturdays 9 to 6, Sundays noon to 5. Other locations in Bethesda, Rockville, Fairfax and the District. Higgins Drawing Ink, blue, one-ounce bottle, $2.95. Yasutomo Sumi Ink, black or red, two-ounce bottle, $4.15.

PHOTOGRAPHY CENTER OF BETHESDA -- 8216 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. 301-986-1829.http://www.photographycenter.com. Kodak Photo-Flo, four-ounce bottle, $3.90. Open Monday-Friday 10 to 7; Saturdays 10 to 3.

And the Bead Goes On  . . .

One of the delights of crafting is to make something with someone specific in mind. I wanted to design a necklace for my godmother Phyllis and so ventured to Beadazzled, a bead and jewelry shop off Dupont Circle.

Entering Beadazzled is like walking through my imagination's vision of a bazaar in Marrakech with beads displayed from all over the world: brown-and-white batik bone beads from Kenya, indigo "evil eye" glass beads from Turkey and elaborately carved red lacquer beads from China. Collections of smaller beads -- stone, plastic, glass and metal -- gleam like candy dishes on a long counter.

The array is overwhelming, but Kathleen Manning, Beadazzled's assistant manager, advises novice designers to "start by picking a centerpiece, or three major beads that you really like, and match them up" with later selections. The choices need not be expensive. "Some of our silver beads from India [with] really nice detailing on them are six or seven dollars," Manning says. "That would make a pretty centerpiece with some glass beads and easily come under $15 total."

Phyllis loves Asian art and dresses in pastel colors. With these preferences in mind, I selected three soft green jade beads etched with circles, evocative of early Chinese stone carvings. Then I spied cylindrical agate beads. Although it looks brown at first glance, agate has undercurrents of rose, purple and gray, which blend well with the jade and cued other bead choices. "If you're working with natural stones," Manning says, "you have more options because there are more harmonious colors in nature -- like an orange leaf against the blue sky outside," an appealing contrast. But "an orange glass bead next to a blue glass would look too jarring," she says. Manning suggests that if you work with many colors, "you don't want to have too much variety in shapes."

To avoid design mishaps, Bedazzled lends costumers a bead board -- a felt board with a large U-shaped indentation -- so they can plan their masterpieces and determine how many beads they will need to make a necklace a particular length. To string the necklace, thread a sewing needle with non-stretch nylon, a light yet strong string made for beading. Next tie a lobster-claw clasp at the end of the string, knotting it twice for a secure hold. After stringing the beads, tie the other end of the necklace to the clasp. To hide the knots, dot each with clear nail polish and slide the neighboring bead over the knot. When dry, snip away the excess thread for a neat finish.

"It's very gratifying to see someone wear what you create," Manning says, an affirmation not only of your untapped artistic skills but of your knowledge of the recipient's style and interests.

BEADAZZLED -- Three locations: 1507 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202-265-2323;http://www.beadazzled.net; open Monday-Saturday 10 to 8, Sundays 11 to 6. 501 N. Charles St., Baltimore; 410-837-2323; open daily 10:30 to 6. Tysons Corner Center I, McLean; 703-848-2323; open Monday-Saturday 10 to 9:30, Sundays 11 to 6.

It's All in the Mix

Another "tailored" gift idea is a homemade mix of music recorded onto a CD. You can make a CD mix of Sidney Bechet's Parisian recordings for an uncle with a newfound interest in jazz or arrange "cocktail lounge" music for a friend's upcoming holiday or New Year's Eve party.

All you need is either a stereo component with CD recording capability or a not-too-ancient (by technology standards) computer.

"The software you need to sequence and burn CDs comes with just about any computer you buy and . . . can be operated by anybody," says Kennedy Wright, owner of Kennedy Sound, a Van Ness studio that designs and edits sound for film and TV. Two popular software programs are Nero and Roxio Easy CD Creator. Blank CDs and cases are available at most office supply stores, department stores and even some of the bigger supermarkets.

If you already have the songs for your mix on different CDs, you can simply slip one into your computer and start the CD-burning software. Highlight the song you want to record by track number and click "Extract." This will copy the song file onto your computer's hard drive, which in turn you will copy onto the blank CD. To do so, highlight the song files and "drag" them to the CD software program icon.

Typically you can copy 12 to 15 songs, or about 72 minutes of music, onto a CD.

If you are looking for an obscure holiday favorite that you don't have on CD, such as the Chipmunks' rendition of "Sleigh Ride," you can probably search and download it from a reputable online music service. "One that's comprehensive is the iTunes store run by Apple," Kennedy says. "They have a pretty large selection of songs. Most are 99 cents a cut. And unlike some music services, you can burn CDs from the site."

Creating an aesthetic music mix is, of course, a "completely subjective process," Kennedy says. "I've made a few holiday mixes in my time. . . . You can organize things chronologically. . . . I did one that was all cheesy holiday numbers from the '50s and '60s like 'Jingle Bell Rock.' " Alternatively you can organize tunes stylistically, selecting all instrumental interpretations of holiday carols, or the adagio movements from Mozart concertos. "But it's fun to mix it up sometimes, too," Kennedy says, "like John Lennon's 'And So This Is Christmas' followed by Madonna's 'Santa Baby .' "

Once you have burned your CD mix, you will need a suitable cover. For an "instant" cover, I've made enlarged color photocopies of museum postcards, which I then cut and folded to fit into a CD case. If you are more computer savvy, however, you can make covers with the free software that comes with packages of Avery labels, available at most office supply stores. Making covers with the Avery software is simple: Select "Jewel Case Insert," then choose the picture icon to paste a photo from your computer onto the cover. Then select the text icon and type the title of your CD. Print, trim and slip into the plastic CD case. You can also be more hands-on, using found art, photocopying and cutting and pasting to create a one-of-a-kind cover.

Although making CD mixes is an appropriation of other people's talents, it's also, according to Wright, "an opportunity to express something personal about yourself from the choice and sequence of songs -- the way you put [them] together is tremendously personal [and] is what makes it such a thoughtful gesture."

APPLE ITUNES --To download the iTunes program, visithttp://www.apple.com/itunes/music.

One Very Sweet Gesture

One gift that's sure to make anyone squeal is homemade chocolate truffles. This recipe makes about 24 inch-round candies. Buy the best chocolate possible. According to Rob Kingsbury, owner of Kingsbury Chocolates in Alexandria, you should look for "a high percentage of cocoa for a rich flavor. If a bar is like 70 percent cocoa, it will be very dark . . . but if you love milk chocolate, use that."

The candies will look a little free- form, but that's fine. "Chocolate truffles got their name from the mushroom," Kingsbury says. "They aren't always perfect little spheres, and tossed in cocoa. They sort of model what a truffle mushroom looks like."

Kingsbury suggests expanding the coating beyond pecans or cocoa by combing the grocery store candy shelves. "They have all sorts of things nowadays like little Heath Bar bits or Butterfinger bits -- candies that are already crushed up -- roll 'em in that," he says.

"That will add all sorts of textures and variations" to the truffles, he says.

For a festive gift, present the truffles in small take-out cartons found at the Container Store. Six truffles will fit in an eight-ounce carton. "[Our shop] offers a six- and eight-piece assortment," Kingsbury says. "That's our most popular favor, say, if you're going over to a couple's house for dinner and want to bring them a little something."

Be sure to save a few for yourself.

Chocolate Truffles

Makes about 24 truffles

In keeping with the notion that small luxuries are well worth the money, buy the best chocolate you can find; Ghirardelli and Scharffen Berger are both worthy brands and readily found in most grocers.

I like to create a truffle assortment, so I roll some in nuts, some in cocoa powder, and coat the rest in bittersweet chocolate. You can present the truffles in small, ruffled cupcake papers found at cooking supply shops such as Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table. Recipe adapted from Rob Kingsbury of Kingsbury Chocolates in Alexandria.

8 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, for dusting (optional)

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled (optional)

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-size ceramic or ovenproof glass bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the heavy cream. (The cream will bead along the edges and leave a thick milk stain when sloshed on the sides of the pan.) Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and mix thoroughly to form a ganache, the truffle "filling." Cover and let it come to room temperature, then refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

To assemble: Have ready a chilled ovenproof glass baking dish. Using a melon baller, scoop and twist the ganache into small rounds and place on the dish. (The chocolate will be sticky, so after two or three scoops, rinse the melon baller in warm water.) To make the truffles more uniform in shape, dust your palms with cocoa powder before rolling each shape into a ball so the ganache won't melt.

To finish the truffles, roll them in the finely chopped pecans or cocoa powder. Place the finished truffles in the chilled glass baking dish while you're working. To coat some with the melted bittersweet chocolate, make sure the truffles are well chilled. Dip them one by one into the melted chocolate and place on a chilled surface lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until the coating is set.

Transfer the truffles to airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Per serving (based on 24): 54 calories, 0 g protein, 6 g carbohydrates, 4 g fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 2 g saturated fat, 2 mg sodium,

1 g dietary fiber

Recipe tested by Jane Touzalin; e-mail questions tofood@washpost.com

Hetty Lipscomb is a local freelance writer and a regular contributor to Weekend. Her favorite truffle coating is crushed Heath Bar bits.