Martha Stewart has traded in the good life for her stint at Camp Cupcake.
The homemaking maven reported to the minimum-security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, early Friday morning, to begin serving her five-month sentence for lying about a stock sale.
Upon her arrival, Stewart, or federal inmate 55170-054 as she'll be known for the months ahead, was subjected to a strip search and a standard "squat and cough" to make sure that she was not sneaking any contraband items into the facility, a prison spokeswoman said.
She reported to prison about eight hours before she was required to, in an apparent effort to avoid the media swarm awaiting her appearance.
"At approximately 6:15 a.m., Martha Stewart arrived at the Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, West Virginia, for service of her sentence," a U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons statement said.
Stewart penned a final goodbye to her fans on her Website to let them know they might not be hearing from her for a while.
"By the time you read this, I will have reported to a minimum-security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, to begin serving my five-month sentence," she wrote.
"While I am away, my updates here will be less frequent, if not altogether impossible. But please know this change is only an unfortunate reflection of my current circumstances, and in no way diminishes my commitment to my life's work or to the friends, colleagues, customers and supporters who make it possible."
At Camp Cupcake, Stewart will share her jail cubicle with another woman, and will be housed in a dorm-like setting with 25 to 89 roommates. The majority of the facility's 1,000 inmates are serving time for drug-related charges.
There are no fences, walls or barbed wire surrounding the property, but despite the prison's lighthearted nickname, Stewart will lead a fairly regimented life at Camp Cupcake.
She'll be expected to rise at 6 a.m. and perform menial labor such as janitorial work or gardening for seven and a half hours. After 5 p.m., Stewart can join the other inmates in rousing games of volleyball, tennis or softball, or take in some TV if she wishes until 8:45 p.m., at which point she must return to her cubicle before lights out at 11:30 p.m.
She will not be allowed to conduct any business while in jail, though she will earn a wage of 12 to 49 cents an hour for the prison labor she performs. Her $900,000 yearly wage from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has been suspended while she is incarcerated.
Earlier in the week, prison guards expressed concern that Stewart's safety could not be guaranteed at Camp Cupcake, due to understaffing at the facilty. However, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons denied that Stewart would be in any danger.
Camp Cupcake was Stewart's third choice of prison; the domestic diva had hoped to serve her sentence closer to home.
Once she completes her sentence, she'll serve five months under house arrest at her farm in Bedford, New York.
Stewart's appeals team got in a final jab Thursday, accusing the government of withholding evidence that "could have led to an acquittal" in Stewart's trial.
The lawyers stated that prosecutors should have provided them documents that emerged during the trial of self-proclaimed ink expert Larry Stewart, who testified against the Living guru at her trial. (Larry Stewart was charged with lying on the stand; he was acquitted Tuesday.)
Stewart maintained on her Website that her lawyers are confident in the strength of her appeal, but that she chose to begin serving her sentence anyway for the good of her company.
"With your good wishes in my heart, I am looking forward to being back at work in March, and to many brighter days ahead," Stewart wrote.