behind the scenes of martha stewart's haunted house

We sort of skipped Halloween this year at my house.  Quite a few people did actually in my area.  This past Saturday, October 29, we were hit with an early, rare snowstorm on the East Coast.  Since our trees have not finished shedding their leaves, many of them were pushed to their limit when the heavy, wet snow fell fast and furious.  They bent, broke and snapped in all too many places, taking many power lines (among other things) with them.  Our town is just now coming out of a "state of emergency" and the schools are finally opening tomorrow.  Power is still not restored to everyone, my house is running on "borrowed" electricity after being out for five days and we are still waiting for a permanent fix.  As a result, my town, and many towns and neighboring cities, did advise against trick-or-treating on Halloween as it was deemed very unsafe to be roaming around in the pitch black with wires and trees just about everywhere one could look.  Although I was homebound on the actual day of Halloween this year, I did do a little pre-Halloween celebrating a few months earlier when I worked on Martha Stewart's Haunted House, the newest Martha Stewart Halloween Special.  It is always so exciting to work with the Art Department team to help create these very creative television specials.  This one started out as an empty garage which was transformed into a terrifying haunted house. Guest artisans were invited to show their crafts and a final party area was set up with food, drinks, games and of course....candy!  The special aired a week before Halloween and again on Halloween day.  If you missed it, check out the online clips here.  I wanted to share some of my behind the scenes photos with you all this weekend, but the storm got in my way.  I think it is always fun to see all that really goes into making television "happen"...so I am still going to post some of my favorites from the shoot.  I hope you enjoy, better late than never!

We started with an empty garage once we arrived at Martha's guest house.  Most of the walls we constructed were freestanding and movable to provide room for us to tape the different segments.  This is one of the "Shanty" walls.

Anduin Havens, Supervising Production Designer, and Aaron Caramanis, we were Co-Art Directors on this special....were always busy!!!!

Here Anduin and Javier Avila, Set Decorator, are shooting a segment showing how to make a wall out of spandex!

This was one of my most relaxing moments on this shoot!  Paul Moreno, Set Decorator, and I were helping hollow out pumpkins carved by guest Michael Natiello, Creative Director of The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze.  Of course we saved the pumpkin insides for Martha's chickens to eat later!

The entrance to Martha's Haunted House.  Aaron designed (and showed on camera) how you too can make a creepy monster mouth entrance.  Keep that in mind for next year!

We created two main rooms in the haunted house.  The first one was a Voodoo Shanty.  Martha Stewart TV Crafter Kristin St. Clair was an incredible Voodoo Woman! She invited the guests in and helped guide them around the room.  The boxes on the table in front of her are "touch bins" filled with all sorts of fun and creepy finds.

Details of the Shanty include walls made of cardboard, dirty jars filled with dried goods, and a handcrafted Voodoo doll in which we projected a spooky face...BOO!

More details!

The second room was a Mad Scientist's Lab. Martha Stewart TV Crafter Jim "Figgy" Noonan played the wacky Professor Figgy!  When the children entered the lab they were able to join the Professor for some explosive experiments!

It definitely looks like something exploded in here!  Poor Mr. Bones.

To escape the house, we built a series of tunnels.  A plastic tunnel filled with body parts and blood spatter...don't worry, they weren't real :), a wooden pallet tunnel (you may have seen a few bones in there), and the final escape was through a black cave - lit only with black lights - thank goodness for the glow in the dark bugs, spiders and snakes that dropped by!

Outside, Martha, dressed as "Motha" and her guest Justin Long, dressed as "Teen Wolf", decide to give the children a tour of the outdoor decorations.  Of course a quick stop by the cemetery.  Every Halloween party needs a cemetery!

Oh, and we had a zombie buried in ours.  One of the guests on the special, Leonard Pickel is a "Haunt Expert" and is a great sport.  He not only gave our viewers some tips for the "perfect haunt" in his plain clothes, but he then made an amazing transformation into a Zombie (with some help from the talented make-up artist Kristofer Buckle) and agreed to be buried to spook the children.  He breathed through a specially designed breathing tube while he was underground.

Artist Tim Murton came all the way from Canada to show Martha and our viewers how to make these brilliant creatures.

No Halloween party would be complete without a "treat".  A food table and candy station awaited the guests out back...when or should I say if? they made it out of the Haunted House.

Even Francesca likes a sweet treat.

Michael Natiello carved these Jack O'Lanterns and we used hollowed out logs from Martha's farm to display them.  These Martha Stewart Crafts window silhouettes are an easy and simple way to create festive window coverings!

Michael also created these spook-tacular pumpkin creatures for the lawn.  I loved how they changed from daylight to dusk to dark.

Aaron, James, John, Kelli and Paul....Final load out almost always includes a very big truck...and lots and lots of energy!  Our team rocked! 

That's a Wrap!

martha stewart's halloween special

My dog Mel getting ready for Halloween!

Way back in August I started working on a very exciting project...Martha Stewart's Haunted House...the newest Martha Stewart Halloween Special which premiers this Monday, October 24th, at 8pm on the Hallmark Channel.  I worked along side many creative and talented individuals to help create a very inventive, fun, and of course, spooky show.  This week, Martha posted a few "behind the scenes" photos on her blog.  Be sure to check them out and get the insiders view to all that goes on when we work on these amazing productions.  I too documented some of our work along the way and will post my photos later in the week after you watch tomorrow night!  So remember, set your tivos and dvrs, or just settle in on the couch with a warm cup of cider to take your own personal tour of Martha's Haunted House.  You will be sure to get some new ideas.  Remember, Halloween is only 1 week away!

behind the scenes: grilling special

I love sharing "behind the scenes".  People always ask me about working on television shoots; so I feel sharing my photos and stories is a great way to pass along some of my insight into what it is we do.  A lot of time, preparation and people go into making a tv shoot "happen".  Some may say it takes a small army!  The teams I work with at Martha Stewart however are definitely well oiled machines.  Everyone works so well together to make magic happen.  This last shoot I was a set decorator on, Martha Stewart Presents: Grilling Secrets of the Master Chefs, was no different.  We may have had a few weather obstacles to push through...we set up and shot outside on some of the hottest days of the year so far...hot, humid, 100 temps!  We also encountered severe wind and thunderstorms bringing hail!  Of course we didn't let that stop us...the show must go on!  With only 2 days to shoot segments with Martha and six guest chefs,  time was indeed of the essence!  

Every shoot starts with a design/concept board!

Paul, Morgan & Elaina (some of the members of the art dept. on this shoot) all prepping in our staging area in the equipment barn

Thomas (prep kitchen chef/manager), Greta (food producer) and I set up each chef's segment(s) the day before to make sure we had everything needed and to work out the space.  I photographed and printed the photos of the set up to use as reference and make for easy set up again on the shoot day.  

Set up for the Cuban style, whole roasted pig Martha shot with chef Roberto Guerra.  He used that wooden box called La Caja China, where the hot coals are on top and the pig roasts below!

Party set up on the lawn at Martha's farm...can't you just feel the heat?

Prep chef Kelli working in the "Prep Kitchen" created under a grand tent!

Thomas checking on the "swaps" of chef Elizabeth Karmel's beer can chickens.  

One of the camera men shooting the "beauty shot" of chef Elizabeth Karmel's burger bar

Paul making "sleeping bags" out of napkins for the tasting silverware.  These napkins we were using are biodegradable, recyclable and compostable...they are from this fun company called Mydrap.

Always helpful cue cards

My lunch!  A sampling from the morning's shoot...we never let anything go to waste!  Chef Brad Farmerie's grilled lobster was amazing!

Martha and chef Bill Taibe from Le Farm pose for a photo for the still photographer after finishing one of his three delicious grilled vegetable recipes. 

Prep chef Kevin prepared ginger with precision!

Beautiful cherries styled in wooden berry baskets ready to be placed on the picnic tables

A peak inside the control room...set up under another tent

All the chefs at their stations...grilling away as the guests stop by to sample their delicious eats!

Martha's horse trainer and Kevin Sharkey (Senior VP and Executive Editorial Director at MSLO) stopped by the party on horseback!

Everyone enjoying the food, drinks and festivities on the party lawn

And of course...no party would be complete without dessert!

Chef Emeril Lagasse served up grilled peaches with mascarpone and honey.  Notice our camera crew was standing by to catch all the action!

One last fun photo I found on my iPhone from when we were preparing for the storm.  Anduin (Scenic Designer), Hosanna (Art Director), Paul and myself were out in the fields taking everything in for the night before the storm.  We covered the straw bales which were placed for seating around the huge iron pot used for smores making, so they would be nice and dry the next morning.  Luckily, the showers passed overnight and we were able to continue with our shoot the next day.

Want more behind the scenes?  Check out Martha's blog posts Behind the Scenes of my Grilling Special and Behind the Scenes of my Grilling Special - Part 2.

I wonder what will be next?  As you can see...we are ready for anything!

just in time for summer

refreshing watermelon salad

I love summer...and today being the official start, the summer solstice...I want to make sure everyone is as excited as I am about the next couple of months!  What better way to get excited than to think about all the great summer foods!  Last night I made a delicious summer salad.  I have been hearing and reading about "watermelon salad", and watermelon being one of my favorite summer fruits, I figured it was time I whipped one up.  My sister always talks about adding cheese to her melon and my grandfather used to put salt on his watermelon, so really when I started looking for recipes, it didn't seem all that strange that salty cheeses were one of the main ingredients.  I also asked my bff Dan (of Sweet Dani B) - a self proclaimed foodie - if she ever made a watermelon salad.  She suggested substituting basil for mint since she wasn't a big fan of mint...I followed suit since I too prefer basil to mint.  So I ended up with 3 simple ingredients, seedless watermelon, feta cheese and basil.  I also read about dressing it with items such as oil, balsamic vinegar, lime juice and even salt and pepper.  Since I was travelling with my salad, I left it plain, but I could see one or all of these additions only making the salad extra tasty.


Of course summer foods are not only about fruits and fun salads...for me and so many, they include amazing grilled eats!  My husband and I love to use our grill... from the minute it even feels like it's getting sort of warm out, we start using the bbq.  We do the basics... burgers, sausage, kabobs, corn, pizza...but this year I want to start expanding my skills on the grill.    Pizza is fairly new for us, that we started last summer.  We actually had our first grilled pizzas of the season just this past weekend!  I think we have really started to perfect the technique :)

My husband Tom manning the grill with 2 pizzas!

My friend Wendye giving me a steak "searing" lesson

My latest conquest is red meat.  Although I do not eat it all that often...I would really like to learn/get better at cooking a nice, rare steak (my husband's favorite).  I even enlisted the help of a good friend who is a food stylist (among other things) to give me a mini lesson last time she was over.  I was making steak tacos...so I had a recipe from one of my favorite magazines Everyday Food for Chile-Spiced Steak and I used their marinade on the flank steak.  Wendye brought over a great book by the editors at Cook's Illustrated, The Best Recipe: Grilling and Barbecue,  that we used as a reference for grilling temperature and cook time.  It went well....however I still feel I have a lot to learn.  Fortunately, there are always friends, books and of course, one of the great masters herself, Martha Stewart, to pass along some lessons!  I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to work with the incredibly talented team that put together Martha Stewart Presents: Grilling Secrets of the Master Chefs.  It was a great shoot where Martha and several well known chefs (including Emeril) grilled up some amazing meals and shared their secrets while doing it.  I can not wait to see it air.  The premier is June 24th, 8pm on the Hallmark Channel.  For a preview, click on the link above.  Of course I also have some great behind the scenes from the shoot to share with you all, just like I did from the Martha's Eggcellent Easter Special!  Make sure you check back after you tune in on the 24th!

behind the scenes...martha's eggcellent easter!

So as I mentioned, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the super talented team this year that put together Martha's Easter special, Martha's Eggcellent Easter.  As a prop stylist and set decorator working in television for over 10 years, people often have the same question for me "What exactly do you do"?  The simplest way to answer this question I have found is to say..."I make everything look pretty"!  But really...it is much, much, more involved, detailed, exciting, and complicated than that!  Yes, essentially, I do make everything "look pretty", but how I, and actually "we" get there, is a very organized, involved, and creative process.  One of the main things I love about working at Martha Stewart is the team work that goes into everything you work on.  Each project, no matter how big or small,  has so many great, creative minds working together towards the same, final goal.  As a full time employee, and now as a freelancer for the company, I always feel everyone is working and pulling together to create "magic"....there really is no other company like it.


When I first started this freelance project back in March, the Art Director, Aaron Caramanis and Supervising Production Designer of Broadcasting, Anduin Havens, had specific assignments for me to get started on.  The special was broken down into 3 different location shoots, so everything had to be super organized...not a problem for Martha Stewart employees!  Our first location was at The New York Botanical Gardens, Enid A. Haupt Conservatory where the Orchid Show had just opened!

First order of business was to unpack the truck (we never travel "light") and organize the staging area.  It was actually flurrying when we first got there...but quickly warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day!

One of my assignments as Lead Set Decorator was to help design and prop the dessert and sweets tables at the NYBG.  These photos show how a table comes to "life".  It takes many days of propping, trial and error, working and reworking, and collaboration of hands and minds to create a beautiful table like the sweet one above.

Here you can see the dessert "tables" were made from real tree stumps!  Our Art Director, Aaron, came up with a wonderful painting technique and created a faux bois, meaning "fake wood", grain top and edged them with real birch bark!  This sweets table also featured one of my favorite cookies made by Sweet Dani B!  She makes those beautifully flooded Easter bunnies and eggs!

One of my favorite tables...filled with all sorts of yummy candies...and yes...those are real chocolate bunnies!

Our second "location" was actually taped at Martha's television studio in NYC.  Anduin is a whiz on the computer when it comes to designing sets like this! Once the "shell" is designed, built and painted (Peony - a Martha Stewart color of course!), it was then ready to be filled with furniture, wall art, and props!

I loved propping out this hutch!  We decided to paint the interior of the hutch a few shades darker than the wall color which really helped the white china pop.  Aaron wanted to emphasise the "egg" shape by suggesting to turn the oval platters on their ends...after all, it is an Eggcellent Easter Special!  It was also important to keep stepping away from the hutch and inspect it from all angles when propping since the camera would see it from many different directions.

Another sweet moment on the set.  One cloche had an assortment of blown eggs.  The other, a few porcelain birds nesting on fresh moss.

Our last location was at the Ukrainian Museum and Library in Stamford, Ct.  This is where the ladies who run and work at the museum showed Martha (and us) some of their Ukrainian traditions.

We actually taped in two separate locations at the museum and library.  Of course we brought our trusty box truck with plenty of things to add to the rooms!  Out front of the museum the staff had just brought out these enormous Pysanky eggs, a traditionally decorated Easter egg.

In the kitchen "set", amazing Martha TV Chef Thomas Joseph was busy working with Elizabeth Gardasz making the swap outs and finals of the paska and babka breads for our segments.

Always smiling Martha TV Chef Nora Singley was prepping in another part of the kitchen for the Easter frittata...yum!

This is how we prep our carts for a segment...just like in the studio!  Each bowl has a post-it of what food item is going in it and after it is filled; we sometimes use a p-touch label for a quick reference on camera. 

 Beautiful paska dough getting ready to rise!

Anduin holding a basket lined with a traditional Ukrainian cloth and filled with all symbolic foods of Easter is then ready to be blessed.

Baked paskas...ready to go on the buffet table.  Don't they look beautiful?

All of the food (and people eventually) made its way to the buffet table in the museum.  

We created our own epergne to use for the centerpiece by stacking a glass cakestand, compote, and celery glass together.  The compote in the middle was filled with blown natural eggs and traditionally decorated Pysanky eggs.  We added smaller juice glasses around the base cakestand and filled them with small spring flower arrangements.  Aaron wears many "hats", but one of my favorites is the florist one!  He even did the flower arrangements for my wedding, including my bridal bouquets!

I know this post was kind of long...but I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my behind-the-scenes photos, as much as I enjoyed taking them while working on the project!  If you are looking for more behind-the-scenes...be sure to check out SweetDaniB's blog!  She has a great post about her cookies coming to life and her work as a hand model...2 other parts of the special not scene here.  I hope after you get a glimpse of all the pieces of the puzzle, you can see what a wonderful payoff it is to view the entire show put together!

truck packed & on our way...

Brad, Paul, myself & Aaron!

That's a Wrap!