I thought that my feather-based crafting ended with cheesy Thanksgiving Day assignments from 1st grade Brownies. Screw construction paper turkeys. Times have changed! I'm ready to breakout some feathers and beading needles and try my hat at making avian-inspired accessories!
After a little searching on the Web I found what appears to be an easy-to-make, relatively inexpensive project: the Peacock Necklace, based on jewelry designer Chou Chou O'Hare's straight forward instructions over at StyleSalon.com. Anyone already made one of these (or something similar) before?
I must admit I'm a shade worried, though. I'm not a professional feather crafter. No siree. But now that I'm sold on this clever crafting idea I just have to find the time to buy some seed beads and feathers... stay tuned!
Is it sick and wrong to want a pair of Hunter wellies, even though I have no garden, and live in neither England nor Scotland?
It must be the effect of the endless rain predicted through the weekend.
Sigh.
Fred Flare is having their annual real-life-buy-it-right-there-and-take-it-on-the-subway sale at their place in Williamsburg on Saturday, April 3. You'll get $5 off if you print the announcement from their website.
Don't be afraid to go to Williamsburg, gentle non-hipsters. Before you go, do what the hasidim do: recite the Prayer For the Protection of Our City of Williamsburg From the Plague of the Artists (or you could just do what I do and shuffle around muttering "god damn hipsters!" under your breath). [via Harpers, Feb. '04]
Don't know how I missed this yummy cranberry body scrub over at ljcblog. I might try making it with another type of oil.
Will George sign on? Those of you who know me understand how deeply my affection for George Michael and WHAM! run, but I would hate to see any tribute to WHAM! go the way of Taboo, or even of Mamma Mia! WHAM! is too special for that... but don't the people deserve to hear George and Andrew's story? While I'm deciding on this, I think I'll take a listen to the three-program BBC series "Older & Wiser: The George Michael Story." Of course, I do have a brief to write and tons of reading to do.
In other, bigger news of everyone's favorite careless whisperer, he's decided he's now rich enough to stop making CDs and start releasing all his music for free over the internet. Add to the list of George's loveable attributes that he is becoming radical!
Thanks to frequent forwards from Sarah the Saucy Seder Server (sorry, couldn't come up with anything better - but Sarah is taking the bold and welcome step of hosting her own seder for Passover!), I keep loose tabs on goings-on over at the Make Workshop on the Lower East Side. Their classes are always intriguing - a two-hour session on applique, introductory crochet, and a new eight-hour class on handbag design by the authors of "making handbags." Deep down, Sarah really wants to do a shoemaking class. I can't say I trust myself to make anything I could walk in without crippling myself, but the other classes seem useful.
I've never known anyone who's actually taken one of their classes. Have you?
I was thinking about it today, and I bet you could start a sweet little business standing outside the subway station at West 4th St. or 8th St. selling hand-crocheted iPod cozies.
Okay, my need to learn to crochet reached a fever pitch today after coming across these iPod cozies on Craftster. The one that allows you to use your iPod with the cozy on is ridiculously brilliant - here's the pattern!
Of course, not only do I not crochet, but I also do not own an iPod, cute and pink or otherwise. Ah, for a new life.
For your enjoyment, limericks with Texas city names in them, courtesy of The Morning News. As a former Houstonian, I really appreciate the one about Austin.
Your turn! I challenge you to try your own Texas limericks. The start of mine is the subject of this post...
Sea glass is so purdy. We collected the slew of it above on Vieques. I've seen it used for jewelry and mosaics. Does anyone have any new or unorthodox ideas for what to do with it?
O Sandra Day O'Connor, we always knew you didn't sweat under that robe. [via De Novo].
A little eye candy for Friday...
For those of you who like to dabble in computer crafts, direct your attention to Kaliber 10000's: The Designers' Lunchbox, a tasty Web treat for the pixel-pushing curious types. Don't let the name fool you. Even if you don't professionally call yourself a designer, the site is full of fun (and sometimes free) goodies.
Any other digital realms worth mentioning for inspiring computer designing ideas?
Everybody loves a good deal, and I've found that the most consistent place to find a jaw-dropping bargain is not your local Wal-Mart, but instead thrift stores. Being a Chicago-area chiquita, my dive of choice is any of the lovely Village Discount Outlets -- so diverse in selection and so cheaply priced I may be spoiled because I often find Goodwill's goods overpriced.
One of my favorite things to do when I visit a new place -- whether it's Indy to see my little sister or small-town Ohio to visit my grandma -- is to hunt down these shops of recycled goodies.
I'm slowly saving up to visit my good pal Jessica who runs Fig & Plum. Last time I came it was for "business" so we didn't do much shopping aside from the absolute funfest we had at Pearl River and other haunts down in Chinatown. My pre-visit preparation work helped me to find a real gem of a Web site. As such, I must recommend this site for learning more about thrifting in the big apple.
But I don't expect the only place I'll ever visit will be New York so bring on your tips. Got any great recommendations for super thrifting spots in your neck of the woods?
Paper Source regularly posts great paper projects, and the latest worth noting (or possibly even printing or bookmarking) include:
I'm going to be out of town until Sunday, March 21, and won't be writing until we return. Joy or Sarah might post in the meantime, though, so check back anyway. Sarah, you are on vacation too - finish those mittens! No excuses! (trust me, Sarah loves tough love).
Looking forward to catching up when we return!
Moses kitty doesn't want us to go on vacation, apparently, because we found her hiding in our closet today as we were starting to pack. Maybe she's been watching ET while we're not around.
Girliness Alert: Do not read if you deplore vanity, are a guy who washes your face with shampoo or your hair with soap, or all three.
My new favorite schmutz to put on my face - the aspirin mask. Aspirin is actually a beta-hydroxy acid, from what I understand, a very effective type of salycilic acid. The mask is quite gentle, and after using it once a week for only two weeks my skin feels softer and my pores are visibly a lot cleaner. Other folks who typically use fancy-schmancy products extol the aspirin mask.
You shouldn't use it if you're allergic to aspirin, sensitive to milk products, if your skin reacts badly to salicylic acid, etc.. Otherwise, it's worth a try!
Here's my recipe:
5-6 lightly coated (or uncoated*) aspirin
plain organic yogurt
organic honey
Mix a dollop of honey into a few tablespoons of yogurt. Grind aspirin in a coffee grinder (preferable, but you have to have a grinder that you don't use for coffee), or smash it into a powder with a mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon. In a small bowl, mix enough of the yogurt/honey mixture into the aspirin powder to make a paste that will adhere to your skin, about the consistency of cold cream. Apply to face, leave on about 10-20 minutes.
* edited * (thanks to a comment at notmartha) - if you're using uncoated aspirin, there's no need to grind. just drop the aspirin into the yogurt and wait for them to dissolve!
I know, I know, shut up an make the handwarmers already! Here is yet another handwarmer pattern that looks interesting to me, courtesy of Marnie MacLean. The lace in the pattern for Trinity's baby booties whetted my appetite for doing a pattern with a bit more openness, and maybe Marnie's is the one.
I found these very helpful Puerto Rico packing lists at Virtual Tourist. I'm planning to pack light, something I have not historically been good at, but I vow to keep it under 10-15 lbs. this time. If you have any tips on transforming oneself into a light packer, please share!
You've probably heard that the Republicans have purchased our fair city for their national convention this year, just a week before the anniversary of 9/11. Bush has already run campaign ads that attempt to co-opt for his own political gain the memories associated with that day, even after telling the AP in January 2003 that he had "no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue." Most New Yorkers are not happy. [For a NY Times article on the ad that will absolutely disgust you too, click here]
The GOP gang senses this antipathy - a few months ago it attempted to relocate its conventioneer housing to a cruise ship in the middle of the Hudson River, far from the scaaaaary black and brown people the place is crawling with, and even worse, all the dissenting voices those gentle prairie Republicans will meet when they arrive. And they're right to be afraid. Community and political groups throughout New York have been organizing for six months for the arrival of the party who would use our city as a marketing tool, and there are six months yet before the RNC.
Chris is starting a blog, RNC Pundit Patrol, to provide media analysis of the mainstream coverage leading up to and during the convention. C. is getting his Ph.D. in Media Studies at Columbia. I'm biased, but I'm not the only one who thinks he is an insightful, entertaining media commentator. You should check it often, particularly if you live here. If you're interested in learning more about the preparations for the Republican descent on New York City, visit RNC Watch, which is run by a friend of ours.
I was thrilled to see one of my heroes, Alice Waters, featured in the Times Magazine this week for her work on The Edible Schoolyard (give them $$!). The ES is a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, which is mostly attended by low-income students of color. The students take their produce from seed to table in the kitchen, learning to prepare and enjoy real, slow food. Now Waters is taking her idea to the next level - she's proposed a district-wide program that would replicate the project in other schools. "The first step will be a huge dining commons at King. Furnished using renewable materials and serving breakfast, lunch and a snack made from local organic ingredients, it will serve as a model for how she believes the nation, and not just its elite, should eat." [Read more at the New York Times Magazine].
Last night I began weeding my wardrobe for Meredith's upcoming clothing swap at her apartment / dance studio. A mound of clothes for the swap atop boxes of my old teaching stuff is swelling to such proportions in the corner of our living room that it looks like we're preparing for a bonfire. But it's amazing how you go through your old crap, and suddenly remember the memories associated with a particular thing so that, even though you never wear it, you just can't let it go (and who would want that "Revie Sorie Football Camp" t-shirt anyway?). Today I came across The T-Shirt Chronicles, a project the author dedicated to memorializing all her old tees so she could discard them without remorse. Lilly photographed each shirt and included an anecdote recounting the memory each shirt evokes.
Yes, we do have 8 PM reservations tomorrow night at The Grocery, one of Zagat's top seven NYC restaurants this year, and in our very own Brooklyn to boot. Yes, most entrees are under $20. And yes, we're doing it to show our Brooklyn pride, but that doesn't mean we aren't looking forward to a damned fine meal most of all. I'm thinking - slow rendered duck breast.
One question - do you think they might super-size that duck for me? 'Cuz McDonald's won't do it anymore! But naaaah, this has nothing to do with "that movie."
MagKnits, a new knitting mag on the block, has a few extremely cute patterns! I'm thinking about starting a Paris Loop or these extra-cute felted poppy pins, which could provide an affordable substitute for those lovely, pricey leather flowers by red head amy. [Link via Not Martha]
Newest obsession: Crystallized Ginger in Dark Chocolate - 65% cocoa content, plus some zing. Chocolove also makes Raspberry, Cherries and Almonds, and Orange Peel varieties as well as a few organic bars - check them out here. You owe me a chocolate bar for the tip ;-).