Friday, February 20, 2009

Tie-rific


I love anything having to do with ties... men wearing them, belts, bags... anything. So, as you can imagine I was thrilled to see this chair on Apartment Therapy. The chair is by Peter Raphael Russo and what makes it even better is that he transforms things he finds for free via Craigslist! Awesome.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Etsy Shop of the Day: adventurevintage







Glorious vintage finds come to us today via adventurevintage a great little etsy shop that has some fun housewares as well as these great refurbished chairs. We also can't help but love these terrific clip-on earrings!

Fuzzy Fingerless Gloves


Over the weekend I made these fun (slightly useless) fingerless gloves! They are pretty tough (in a beat you up kind of way) ... and they were really easy to make.
If you really want some instant gratification then I would go for these.

The pattern was basic and simple and you can follow this video on howcast.com
Again you can see this all on the video above but just for a quick reference:

for each glove:
leaving 8 inches of yarn(for stitching later) cast on 24
knit 15 rows in a basic rib stitch(knit 2, purl 2, repeat till end)
knit 12 rows in stockinette stitch (knit one row purl one row, repeat)
knit 4 rows in rib stitch (knit 2, purl 2, repeat till end)
cast off following the rib pattern leave 8 inches of string for sewing
fold the glove in half and sew down 2 inches finish and knot
from the bottom sew up leaving a whole for your thumb finish and knot.

Eastery Wreath Perfect for Spring



Megan first crafted one of these fantastic wreaths at Christmastime and she has reprised her role as the Great Wreath Crafter with this great pastel yarny wreath perfect for Spring or Easter.

All you need is a wire wreath frame (available at any craftstore), yarn, any variety of your favorite festive egg, and a hot glue gun.

Wrap your yarn balls and get gluing!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Warped Chair


via (http://definatalie.tumblr.com/)



This chair is working for me... I love red, white and gray and it fits my mood.
Chair design by Sebastian Brajkovic, he has a lot of other interesting work on his site.

Instant Gratification?


via (http://www.swiss-miss.com/)

H&M is starting a home line. I'm thinking it could be good for some home basics but I'm sure just like the clothes... the stuff will be expendable.

Crochet Accomplishment


After reading a great post about different beret/hats on the craftzine.com blog that you could knit or crochet via Threadbanger, I settled on this easy pattern from Crafty Pants. It took a little refresher course in crocheting because I had forgotten some things, but it came back to me quickly.



I had never crocheted a hat before so I had to watch a video explaining how to crochet a circle. It was a little different then the pattern but helped me grasp the path I needed to take. Also helpful was the video posted by Crafty Pants on how to crochet the puff stitch.



I have to say that I've worn this all weekend and am loving it. Of course it is a little different than the one shown on the Crafty Pants blog, but I think that is because of the yarn I choose (and my skill level). Mine is a bit more bulky. Overall though I'm happy with the outcome and it is the first time I have actually worn something that I've crocheted!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Lil' Yarny Cupcakes


via (http://szymon.tumblr.com/)

These cupcakes are probably just the cutest things I've seen in awhile (besides Meg's cupcake cones:)... Can you believe someone actually can make that little knitted scarf and those cute yarn balls? I'm dying here of cute overload.

Visit teenytinyturkey on flickr for more amazing photos and her website: http://www.veganyumyum.com for more vegan food. Just cheers to this creativeness!

Hyper-Color Umbrella?

Holy Cowzers! Remember Hyper Color T-shirts!

Well take a looksy at this:


via (http://www.ohgizmo.com)

That's right, umbrellas that change color at UK-based Squid London... I just can't get enough.

Holy Post-it!


via(http://szymon.tumblr.com/)

People have a lot of spare time, but man do I love post-its so I don't know about you, but this makes sense to me! Click here for more unbelievable post-it craziness!

via (http://weburbanist.com/)

Cute Little Heart


via (http://blog.craftzine.com/)

If you are feeling festive and have some spare time Roxycraft has this cute heart design to crochet... We love little beings.

We're Off to See the Wizard!


via(http://www.fishseddy.com/)

Megs found these great glasses with the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I love them all but look at that Tin Man... so cute!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

More Little Cork Chairs




via (http://www.dwr.com/)

They are so cute!

You can see them in person:

DWR Champagne Chair tour: The following Studios are having Champagne Chair tour events to celebrate the winning chairs:
Location Event Date Event Time
Berkeley Thursday, Feb. 12 6:30–8:30pm
San Jose Friday, Feb. 13 6–8pm
Beverly Hills Wednesday, Feb.18 6–8pm
Manhattan Beach Thursday, Feb. 19 6:30–8:30pm
Las Vegas Wednesday, Feb. 25 6–8pm
Tigard Tuesday, March 3 4–7pm
Kirkland Friday, March 6 TBD
Cambridge Thursday, March 12 7–9pm
DWR: Tools for Living, SoHo Wednesday, March 18 7–9pm
Philadelphia Tuesday, March 24 6:30–9pm
Adams Morgan Friday, March 27 6–9pm
Columbus Thursday, April 2 5–8pm
Birmingham Tuesday, April 7 10am–6pm
Chicago Tree Studios Friday, April 10 6–8:30pm
Milwaukee Wednesday, April 15 10am–7pm
Minneapolis Tuesday, April 21 TBD
St. Louis Friday, April 24 6–8pm
Dallas Wednesday, April 29 6–9pm
West Palm Beach Monday, May 4 5–8pm
New Orleans Thursday, May 7 6–8pm
Honolulu Friday, May 15 6–8pm

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A Lil' Place to Rest Your Head


via (http://coveiter.blogspot.com)

How nice would it be to have this little pillow ring when you've had one to many cocktails or you just got reamed out by your boss? Just don't fall asleep at your desk!

I also just love pillows in any form!

Homey Herbs


via (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/)

Keeping up with a small green theme today, I would also like this indoor herb holder complete with it's own scissors (you know I love those but would totally steal them from myself all the time). I had herbs growing during the summer but would love to have them growing year-round.

Non-Pricey Planters



I really enjoy gardening, and I have begun to bring my horticultural habit indoors. As I began my journey to find cute planters I realized they all are kind of pricey. I am not sure if it is just me or if other people have noticed this, but I found myself wanting much more than I could afford for a hobby.

It finally dawned on me to look for plastic mixing bowls with neat colors and shapes, especially during the great sales in the Dept. stores. I ended up being able to get three "planters" for the price of one real one (and my mom got this one for me so double bonus). Totally proud of myself,



and had the husband drill a hole in the bottom with a regular drill bit for drainage. Totally fun and modern planter for 1/3 the price!

Pod Perfect


via(http://www.1stdibs.com/)
Currently, I am sitting with wool blankets on and I am slightly uncomfortable on my broke down couch. I would absolutely rather be in this pod right now. Listening to music basking in the ambient light!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Meg's Cupcake Cones



Meg was busy baking again this weekend, and what a treat it is for us to be able to post her wonderfully adorable cupcakes complete with their own cone.

1. Preheat your oven according to your recipe

2. Make your favorite cake batter as per cake instructions

3. Add icing dye to color the batter



















4. Fill ice cream cones 2/3 of the way up the cone. (Meg did a test run this time as to avoid another overflowing colored cake incident).














4. Cook cupcakes as per your favorite cupcake recipe (or the box).

5.Take out and let cool



















6. Ice them with your favorite icing.

7. Add Sprinkles and Cherry (make sure to drain the cherries or else you get cherry juice all over your icing)
AND VOILA!

Congrats Meg you've outdone your levels of cuteness!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Dessert on Your Finger





via(http://sunnycyl.tumblr.com/)

I can just picture myself drooling as I look down at my chocolate glazed donut ring from the cute little shop called Pancake Meow! These are so lovely and perfect if you are creating a little charm bracelet for a little girl (or a big girl, you know you like them).

Thursday, February 5, 2009

My Hat Made of Peas



via (http://noquedanblogs.com/)

Obie will not eat anything but sweet potatoes, but someday I think he should eat some peas off of a plate like this! Of course the "don't play with your food" rule would I guess have to be thrown out the window. Who likes rules anyway!

The Most Delicious Chocolate Chunk Cookies...Seriously...Ever


The Marvelous Outcome

I have searched high and low for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe of all time. For a good portion of my life I just kept making the recipe on the back of the Tollhouse chips and don't get me wrong those are good... but they weren't the best. So, a little while back I set forth to find something special... fantastic. I started getting pointers and tips like increase the sugar, decrease the flower, yadda, yadda, and I was just starting to get confused. I went back to basics (which for me equals the back of chocolate chip bags), experimented a little with the portions of ingredients. Finally after a few weeks of attempts and a lot of extra poundage (we now have to work off), I discovered the best recipe so far, and the one I will most likely stick with. I brought them for Christmas Eve dinner and I couldn't believe how many compliments and love I got for them. It made me feel really good, so if you want some instant love gratification from your family, I promise these will work.

The recipe I actually settled on was from the back of The Baker's Chocolate Chunk bag:
I played with it a little but it is awesome the way it is. The problem is that I can't find the chocolate chunks that often so sometimes have to substitute for other chunks but as long as you use this recipe and semi-sweet chunks; I don't foresee a problem.

The other item I think is a must is a flat cookie sheet. For years I had been using the kind with sides on them, which I heard flattens the cookies which was one of my major problems. So, I changed it to one of these (well something similar to this I bought at Target for a deal):


It really made a big difference. I definitely suggest it.

So, wow you stuck with me, here's the recipe:

What you'll need:

1-3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chunks
(you can add 1 cup of chopped walnuts if you want, but we have a lot of diverticulitis in the fam so no nuts)

Let the baking begin:
PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
MIX flour, baking soda and salt until well blended; set aside.
BEAT butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended after each addition. Stir in chocolate (and walnuts). Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE 11 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies or 36 servings, 1 cookie each.

AND NOW YOU EAT THEM!! (unless of course you have a stomachache from all the dough you just ingested even though your mind is screaming salmonella at you).

This Table Must Be Mine Somehow


via(http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/)

I am in love with this table. I think it is just fantastic. It is rustic and cool and it screams out to me, buy me, buy me. Unfortunately I cannot buy a table, nor do I have a place to put it. Yet, upon the redesign of my kitchen and the inclusion of a breakfast nook I will have a small version of a table like this. If it takes years of study (on my husband's part) to learn how to make one, then so be it. It will be done.

May I Have a Tissue


This lovely tissue holder was posted over at the Etsy Vintage Blog, and I really love it. I never buy tissues unless we're sick, mostly because I hate the boxes, but this could solve all that. Can I work a little pink into my life?

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Watermelon Wonder


via(http://slog.thestranger.com/)

I know! It's a watermelon... it's fantastic. Who even thinks of carving into a watermelon? Apparently a lot of artists do because there is a competition. I haven't seen this yet on the food network, but I'd like to for sure so they should look into that. Look at that tongue and those teeth, unreal or wait... maybe too real!

I'm a Little Alarmed


via(http://www.mathlete.com/)
Device
by Matty Sallin, Daniel Bartolini, Hsiao-huh Hsu

That, my friends, is an alarm clock and yes that is bacon. This invention cooks up frozen bacon in 10 minutes with the use of halogen lamps... I can't stop myself from loving this. I know it is so totally wrong and gross, but I just love bacon and that outweighs the bad.

Tiley Fauna



Water Tiles, Christopher Raymond
These are pictured on The Royal College of Art website. I am not sure what exactly is going on, but I believe they are tiles with plants growing on them which is wonderful. It leads me to my next activity of the day which is to re-pot my houseplants which are completely out of control and struggling to remain alive. Stay tuned for the outcome which will look nothing like these awesome tiles, but I'm not that cool.

Birdy, Birdy, Tweet, Tweet



Found these lovely birds by Hannah Turner via the Bettyjoy Blog. They are fantastic and make this little voice inside me scream, "Collect Figurines"... It's a scary voice, probably more scary for my husband but I think someday, when I'm wealthy because tons of people just all of a sudden start buying my paintings, I will buy a bird (this kind because the real ones would wake me up in the morning and homey don't play that).

Etsy Shop of the Day


of paper and thread
Displays the designs and limited edition fabric by West-Australian based designer Danielle Smeets.
I'm beginning to think of projects now that could utilize this awesome fabric... Soon my dears...soon.

Banan-o-rama


via(http://www.1stdibs.com/)

Yes, this is a lamp! It is hilarious! I can see it now, "Welcome to my home this is my banana lamp"... like it's no big deal.

I am Louis XVI


via (http://parisunderground.com/)

I would like this please so I can sit and curl up with my favorite wool blanket and read my book and sip tea (which would then give me a stomachache) and have my cat sit on my lap (I don't have a cat) and warm my toes by a fire (you guessed it I don't have a fireplace)! I still want it.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Tough as Nails


Anything allowing me to eat tons of mini hot dogs is a good thing. These party picks are fun because it feels like you've done a hard day of construction work before eating. I could even have an excuse to eat cubed cheese (but who needs an excuse)?