It takes only a few oddball buttons and embroidery floss to transform plain napkins into a harvest of whimsical linens. Today, Martha embellishes each of her 10-by-10-inch tea napkins with an orange, an apple, a peapod, lemons, or sprays of grapes or cherries.

Tools and Materials
Buttons, embroidery floss, thread (in the color of the fruit you want to create)
Standard sewing needle
Embroidery needle
Fabric napkins
Embroidery hoop (optional)
Fabric pen

Fruity-Button Napkins How-To
1. Lay out your design on the napkin, arranging the buttons in place, then sew on the first button, using matching thread. (For easier stitching, you may want to use an embroidery hoop.) Sew on the remaining buttons.

2. Using a fabric pen, lightly mark out the leaf or stem of the fruit. Embroider the leaf of stem, using embroidery floss and a classic stem stitch. To make a stem stitch (which works well for stems), working from left to right, make standard, slightly slanted stitches along the line, keeping the thread below the needle. For leaves, use a satin stitch, making straight stitches, each touching the next, along the width of the leaf. Remove the embroidery hoop, and press.