Jordy's square-bottomed bag tutorial at Craftster is gold! Even I ended up with a serviceable receptacle for my belongings, above. The fabric is a cotton twill, with colors inspired, I'm embarassed to admit, by the honeycrisp apple so effusively praised yesterday on this site. I'll install a snap, and maybe some applique (though I should have done that before putting the lining in), and it will be ready to go - thanks, Jordy!
Now, I promise, this is my last project (and last post) today. For some reason I haven't been able to keep still, but now I'm gonna try.
On a whim I decided to try making my own massage bars, since I have lots of extra shea butter lying around from a past project.
Seems easy enough - just measure out your chosen amount of shea butter into a pyrex, add a few drops of whatever essential oil you like (I used lemongrass), and heat in a pot of boiling water. Stir the shea butter to get the bubbles out, then pour into a mold and let cool in the fridge. Remove carefully from mold by tapping on the mold with a spoon. The one above was probably taken out a little early, hence the missing chunk, but still, it didn't turn out too badly.
Now off to read from big, heavy books on this beautiful afternoon.
If you haven't tried honeycrisp apples, you are missing out on one of life's great pleasures. It's a cross-breed of macoun and honeygold apples, yes, a product of science but not (I think) genetic engineering. They are the crispest, juiciest, most perfectest apples ever, and there's nothing like walking through the Village after yoga class munching on one in the sun.
I've always wanted to know how to embroider, and now I know why! These zippered pouches for different uses popped up on craftser. She made one for her laptop cables, one for her travel documents, one for her iPod and headphones, and one for her knitting projects, each distinguished with a natty little embroidered icon like the one at left!
If you're inspired, check out sharon b's comprehensive library of embroidery stitches to get started.
About a year ago, some guys stopped Chris and me on the corner across from Prospect Park, told us about their film, One Happy Movie, and filmed us talking about what makes us happy. Apparently we made the cut, because here we are on their website! We received an e-mail this morning letting us know that they'd been contacted by the producers of Good Morning America, those peddlers of happiness. Ah well, I just hope I didn't tell any lies that were too big. Screenings are scheduled across the country, so to our legions of fans - go see it!
Since my friend Sarah tried to wriggle out of posting this herself, I will make a shoddy attempt to do so. Sarah made a mix for her friend Jess (not me, notably ;-) ), and decorated the case with lovely tissue paper flowers she said she read about in Martha Stewart Kids. It was such a great idea that I hunted around on the website for the instructions. Here are the closest ones I could find: Crepe Paper Flower Candy Holders.
I'm pleased as punch that the B train is in service for the first time since we moved to NYC. This morning, my commute was cut in half, and my face was not wedged into some guy's armpit for any part of the train ride. "B" stands for "beautiful" in my opinion. I'll give you one guess what "F" stands for, and HINT: it's NOT "fantastic." Long live the B!
The only stinky thing is that the B is weekdays only. If you want to find out where else the B train roams, visit the MTA.
So I went to the Lush store in Herald Square this morning. What a tiny little space! I was really disappointed to see how much prices had gone up since I was living in the UK six years ago. Back then I could afford the stuff on a destitute student's budget. And while I am again a destitute student, even while I was working the prices would have given me pause. One of the great thing about Lush was that it gave those of us who weren't the landed gentry the ability to wash ourselves with stuff that wasn't full of chemicals. Alas, that is all a distant memory.
However, after all the anticipation, I had to buy some stuff. I came home with...
- Big shampoo
- Silky Underwear Dusting Powder
- Turbo Bubble, a sparkly bubble bar
A note - the prices in the store are higher than on the web, so ordering online is a good idea if you're buying a bunch of stuff. But still it seems the best way to get Lush affordably is to stop by if you're in England, or beg your ramblin' friends to do it for you, judging from the prices on the UK website. For example, a pot of Big costs £6.25 ($11.68) in the UK, $16 on the US website, and $18 in NYC! Rrrr.
Lush is finally opening a location in New York tomorrow! If you're a fan of Mask of Magnanimity, Bath Bombs, Angels on Bare Skin, or Ickle Baby Baff (<-- he's over there), or if you're just allergic to a danged lot of stuff in drugstore personal care stuff, you ought to be dancing a jig. One poopy thing about the new Lush - it's in Herald Square. If you're brave, and can leap clueless tourists in a single bound, you'll be alright.
Watch out, though - the New York Times featured the new store in the Sunday Styles section today, so it could be quite crowded.
| I am soooooo excited about going to Vieques! If this LA Times article is even half-true (despite its reference to that "Finding Nemo" moment), we may never return. |
Mmmm... scrumptious-looking ribbon belts. i wonder if there's anything between the two ribbons.
Yaay! Craftster has posted our yoga mat bag as a featured project at its bulletin boards! Check out their main index: the featured projects are on the left. The photo crop isn't the best, but it's there.
While the many soujourns visiting family in Jersey this year have physically gotten us out of town, calling them "vacations" pushes the boundaries of the word. After dilly-dallying about what to do with our first mutual spring break in four years, I finally convinced Chris that there's more to do than lay on the sand in Puerto Rico. Yesterday we booked our flight, reserved places to stay in San Juan and Vieques, and bought a Lonely Planet guide, knowing that Chris loves to read those, and no matter how ambivalent he is about a trip, looking through the LP always gets him excited. Plus going to Vieques will give us the chance to shake our fists at the naval base there, albeit about a year too late.
At the moment we're most looking forward to hiking in the rain forest and snorkeling in the bioluminescent bay off Vieques.
Anyone out there who's been to PR - please post advice on where to go and what to do!
Although C. and I always agree before Valentine's Day that, since we love each other every day, we'll try to keep stretching out any material displays of affection the whole year long. Every year we still end up going out and doing something romantic. In the morning, C. brought home the tulips above (tulips are so much nicer looking than roses!). We went out purely because it was Saturday night, and ended up at my new favorite place in the Village, 'ino, before seeing the romantic film of the year, City of God. (A note to the gullible, the City of God thing is a joke. While I highly recommend the film, don't take your sweetie and plan to neck unless you get off on ten-year-olds shooting each other.) 'ino was WONDERFUL - a tiny, cozy place with a perfect antipasto plate, creative paninis, and an affordable wine list. Best of all, no reservation was necessary on V-day, and we only waited a pleasant half hour at the bar, chatting with the shaggy but knowledgeable bartender. It was such a lovely evening, even the ride home on the F train couldn't ruin it.
Got a balloon, paper scraps and a little dash of creativity? Then you, too, can make your very own paper bowl if you follow Byrony's magnificently photo-illustrated instructions.
The party bonus factor -- she even includes a pdf version to download for viewing offline while you're knee deep in the whole bowl making process.
While it may not be seen as a crafty endeavor to some, making mixes is something that I usually spend more time working on -- and pouring over details like fades and whatnot -- than I do my usual DIY projects.
5inch.com is making the whole designing-the-liner-notes and CD stickers part a whole lot easier. Even if you plan to do this part yourself, impress those kids at ArtoftheMix.org by reinterpreting some of 5inch's clever ideas as your own.
Remember those sketches of parasites in high school, the ones that looked like they had huge crossed eyes? Now he's Tickles the Tapeworm, and you can buy merchandise starring him over at Parasite Pals. There's even, hee hee, a "tape" measure. Thanks to Vanessa at Indie Shopper for the link!
My coworker and friend Stephanie gave me two old cigar boxes yesterday to use to make purses, and I finally found what looks to be the best guide on the Web -- the picture perfect instructions by the folks behind Liquid Sky Arts. I also found a great site selling corner protectors.
Once I have one finished to show-and-tell, I'll be sure to post the results here. Anyone else find any great instructions online for this sort of project?
You never think it will happen to you. You open the Sunday Times, and make your way to the Weddings / Celebrations section (aka "The Women's Sports Pages" according to Sarah), and there in the big old "Vows" article is someone you know. (Thankfully, you think, you don't know them so well that you'd expect to be invited to the wedding. That would be a real shocker.). The Times ran the beautiful story of two Teach For America alumni, Christie Hodgkins and Mark Bisard, who I am acquainted with through my old job at TFA. Bizarro!
Is there a better way to spend an evening with one's paramour than renting Capturing the Friedmans and baking brownie hearts? That's love, folks.
I am thinking of learning to crochet. Does anyone know of good online resources for doing that?
This is so rad! Fontifier will let you create your very own font from your handwriting, for free! I'm off to try it - of course it means resurrecting my scanner from two years under the bed and installing it on my new (i.e. 2-year old) computer. I'll report back soon - if you try yours, though, please share! Thanks to Vanessa at Gerbera Designs for the link!
If you subscribe to Martha Stewart Living Magazine, you have probably seen her feature called "Clip Art Crafts." For all the past issues, Martha and her minions have generously posted these to her Web site indefinitely, but now all of the old pdf files are much harder to find. In fact, I can only find February and January. (Any idea on where the oldies but goodies went to?)
As such, consider this a heads-up. You may want to head over there and download February's cute paper bags pdf before this cool online version of February's "Clip Art Craft" is lost for good.
I guess I'm all about picking up half-finished projects lately. I was cleaning out one of the bins in my bathroom cabinet and found this necklace I started about a year ago. It was my first foray into knotted necklaces, and it was begun with no guidance on how to tie properly other than 26 years of fastening my shoelaces. It's made with silk thread that matches the small garnet stones and a t-bar fastener in the back. The large stone is faceted jade, I think.
