Report: Martha Stewart loses decorating contest in prison

New York — Martha Stewart, who built a billion-dollar media empire based on her holiday and home decorating tips, was unable to lead her team to victory in a prison decoration contest, a magazine reported.

Stewart and a team of fellow inmates at a federal prison camp in Alderson, W.Va., crafted paper cranes to be hung from the ceiling, People magazine reported in an article posted on its Web site Wednesday.

They lost to a competing team that built a nativity scene showing “pictures of snow-covered hills and sleds and clouds on the wall,” the magazine quoted an inmate as saying.

Each team was given $25 worth of glitter, ribbons, construction paper and glue to build a display based on the theme “Peace on Earth,” the magazine said.

Stewart was convicted and sentenced in July along with her stockbroker of lying about why she unloaded shares of ImClone Systems Inc. stock in 2001, just before the price plunged.

She is due to be released in early March from Alderson, then must spend five months confined to her home in Bedford, N.Y.

After the house arrest, she is scheduled to begin shooting a daytime cooking and homemaking show with a live studio audience.

Damon says ‘I do’ again

Boston — Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon, still sporting his trademark long locks, married Michelle Mangan in a ceremony this week in Florida.

The bride wore an ivory Vera Wang gown with a chapel-length train and long veil; the groom was dressed in a tux and silver tie.

AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson, celebrity chef Todd English and Damon’s Red Sox teammates Doug Mientkiewicz, Mike Timlin, Kevin Millar, Bronson Arroyo and Kevin Youkilis were among the 175 guests who attended the ceremony Thursday at Orlando’s Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Hotel.

“Michelle’s a great girl, and it’s time I started settling down,” Damon told The Boston Globe. “She’s had a huge influence on me. She lets me be me. She’s amazing.”

It was the second marriage for the 31-year-old Damon, whose 5-year-old twins, Madelyn and Jackson, served as flower girl and ring bearer.

Redford accepts new role as Napa County adviser

Napa, Calif. — Actor Robert Redford has agreed to join the advisory committee of the Land Trust of Napa County.

Redford, who owns property in Calistoga, spoke during the trust’s “Feast of Eden” fund-raiser earlier this year and helped raise more than $200,000, said Kate Merriman, development director for the trust.

Executive Director John Hoffnagle said Redford was a good choice for the board because he is a well-known personality and has “outside contacts.”

Redford, who won a best director Oscar in 1981 for “Ordinary People,” also will be invited to be the guest of honor at this year’s fund-raiser.

The nonprofit group’s Web site said it protects about 33,000 acres through easements, property transfers and donations.

Birthdays

Author J.D. Salinger is 86. Comedian Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) is 62. Rapper Grandmaster Flash is 47. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights”) is 35.