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Happy Monday: Art, Perfume, and No Longer Being Likeable

Allison Holdridge‘s exotic, summery prints are my top visual jam right now.

Frida Kahlo’s belongings were locked in a bathroom for 50 years – now see them for yourself.

Interesting: Most Japanese schools do not employ cleaning staff. This is why, plus a lot of other Japanese manners you have never heard of.

If Wes Anderson had directed The Shining.

This 90-year-old lady turtle got her legs eaten by rats (??!?!?!?!) but it’s okay because she now has hotwheels.

Sheryl Sandberg’s heartbreaking message on her first 30 days of widowhood.

The midwifery of creativity.

Perfume in your hair?

What would it be like if we all learned to no longer value being likable?

How to find your place in the world after graduation (I had some words on this topic too).

The Colorado teen who was forbidden from giving his speech as class valedictorian because he was gay got the last word. Go Evan!

Holiday of the week: June 13 Sewing Machine Day celebrates the invention of the sewing machine. Prior to it’s creation in the 1800s, clothes items were sewn together by hand…stitch by stitch.

Word of the week: Palimpsest. A manuscript written over earlier ones.

Moment of Self Promotion: Watch my video for the secret to double-sparkle, no-shed glitter.

Around Here: Tree Sweaters

by aunt peaches 10 Comments

Someone very smart once said, “Stress is recognizing the distance between where you are and where you want to be.”

Two weeks ago I was very, very far from where I wanted to be. I was holed up in front of the computer, running late on multiple deadlines, wearing the same pajama pants I put on the week prior. I ran out of toilet paper and resorted to using torn up Chipotle napkins. I was 80% sure I had not showered since the weekend and 100% sure I did not care. I’d tell you to save your judgements but I’m sure you have been to this place before: Crazytown.

Ten years ago I would have power slogged my way out of that sort of situation with a cigarette and diet coke fueled all-nighter, and even six months ago I would have been okay with constructively destressing with a jumbo scoop of raw cookie dough…but now that I am trying to be all adult like and not resort to unhealthy habits (HOLY CRAP IS IT ANNOYING) and the only unstressfull-ish thing I could think of was to go for a walk. Not a dog walk. Not a health walk. Just a walk that nothing to do with anything in particular. Take a camera. Get my mind off stuff for half-an-hour. I know, I know, how boring does that sound.

But. You know what? To my utter amazement, it worked. It absolutely worked. I need to do this more often. Of course, it does help that my neighborhood has some serious niftiness going on right now…

Okay. Okay. Okay. I have talked about how much I love Evanston before, but seriously. Who lives in a place where shopkeepers dress the trees in homemade sweaters? And not just trees — parking meters too. Pretty much anything that stands still has a fun new outfit.

Now, I had seen yarn bombing, and that’s great, but this is better. So much better. This is a community effort. Each one of those circle sort of shapes comes from a different person – many of them children – and then they are zip-tied together in these gorgeous, undulating, Pippi-Longstocking-colored tree cozies. Some of them are just braided rope. Some are garlands of flower-like creations. Some of them look like the pot holder I made in home-ec in 1992.

For real. I’m pretty sure I saw my potholder.

So, obviously, I was wondering, WHERE IS THIS ALL COMING FROM? And don’t you know, I walked right into her. She was half way up a tree, working her fingers to the bones on those zip-ties.

This is Jaime. Isn’t she precious? If you are ever wandering your neighborhood and find someone tying weird stuff in the trees, this is what you want them to look like. Jaime and her mom, Paulette — who is also very lovely, run the cutest store ever, Stumble and Relish. I’m tempted to call it a gift boutique, but it’s more like a little island of magical misfit toys. And by toys I mean jewelry. And candles. Cards. Soap. Handmade artsy bits that make you happy.

Jamie and Paulette collected hundreds of these knit circles as part of a community art project. I’m ashamed to admit, I did not contribute. I didn’t know about it in time. I had seen the trees going up but assumed it was an individual effort. Had I known it was a community project (and my community no less!) I would have gotten busy with some yarn. Jaime told me this wave will be up for a while – or maybe long term – and hopefully there will be a second wave down the line. In the meantime, I took out my shame and admiration by puttering around in their store.

I mean. How cool is this place?

PS: Did you see that? You know I love a good yarntastic wall hanging.

PPS: Are you in the Chicago area? Come up to my neighborhood in Evanston (the corner of Dempster and Chicago) and see these beauties for yourself! There are scads of great shops in the area here, but I’m especially fond of Stumble & Relish (and not just because they are revitalizing the neighborhood) (or because they were nice to me when I was wearing pajama pants in public) –they have great stuff. Go see for yourself!

PPSS: If you are up here in the next month, you can also see my friend Dale’s photo exhibit now on display at the Evanston Library.

PPPSS: Happy weekend!

Marble Painting with Tacky Glue

by aunt peaches 2 Comments

I’ll warn you now, there will be a repeating theme throughout this summer: Marbling. Marbleizing. Marbleupzing.

If it stands still, Imma put some marble on it. And if it’s still standing still after that, there could be glitter. No promises.

This tray is easy, impressive, and yo, did I mention cheap? CHEAP YO.

Want to see how you make it using stuff you might already have around the house (or after a quick trip to the thrift store?)

Go and see it for yourself!

Fishy Fun with Friendly Plastic

by aunt peaches 9 Comments

Every time I get another copper pudding mold at the thrift store (ahem: I have a lot of them) the clerk behind the counter looks at it and asks me what I’m going to do with it. The answer is I’m going to hang it on the wall to be reunited with all its other brothers and sisters, but I have been wanting to come up with a more compelling answer. What about using the mold to…mold something?

When Michaels asked me if I wanted to try using Friendly Plastic on a craft project, I thought this would be a great project. Friendly Plastic comes in little pellets — when you warm them up they melt enough to take on whatever shape you choose. In my case, a fish! I have seen lots of mold-fillers that are great for small items, but bigger items usually require clay or something heavy/slow/breakable. This stuff is great because it dries 10 minutes and is super lightweight. Nifty!

Materials
Friendly Plastic
Mold (I’m using a fish but you could use all sorts of itms)
Hot water

Instructions

1. Heat water. Not boiling, just very hot. Hot enough that you can barely dip your finger in it.
2. Add Friendly Plastic pellets.
3. When the pellets have turned from white to clear (will likely take a minute or less) remove from water in a big clump (I’m using a pencil but hands will work alright too).
4. Use your fingers to spread the plastic along the inside of the mold. If find it easier to work in small batches, leave some pellets in the warm water while you work.
5. The plastic will go in clear but will turn back to white as it hardens.
6. Completely fill the entire mold.
7. After all of the plastic has hardened, turn it out to dry and decorate as your wish.
8. A coat of regular craft paint goes a long way.
9. And, obviously, glitter makes everything better!

There you go. A glittered fish. Best part? You can make ten of them in an afternoon. Just what you always wanted. You’re welcome!

Happy Monday: Parties, Dancing and Ducktales. (A-woo-hoo!)

by aunt peaches 2 Comments

The Bill Murray Christmas special is happening. It’s happening!

Copenhagen-based home decor brand Flying Tiger has been called the “IKEA of junk” and now it’s in NYC.

It’s a great week for musical mashups: Beyonce doing Ducktails, Earl Sinclair from Dinosaurs as Notorious BIG, True Detective as Natalie Imbruglia.

The five hallmarks of someone who knows how to throw party.

This Before and After is all kinds of awesome.

The Magical Art of Tidying Up as a party trend? Why not.

13 Things to remember when you love some one struggling with clinical depression.

This documentary. Yas!

Painting with Watercolor and Glue

by aunt peaches 9 Comments

I don’t think I’v ever seen a painting of flowers that I didn’t like. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Van Gogh, or a finger painting on a refrigerator, I just can’t help but love the sight of flowers on paper. When Pentel asked me to come up with an interesting way to use their watercolors, I thought of a new take on this old technique with white glue. Not going to lie, it came out splendid! I’m getting some mats cut right now so these can be up on the walls soon.

These sorta work like coloring books. Some lady peeps came over a couple weeks ago for a weekend crafter-noon and we had a blast making these. The hard part is letting them dry. I may have attempted expedite the process by putting them in the oven. A couple may have come out over crisped. I say, it just adds artistic integrity!

If you are not condiment in your ability to doodle flowers in a vase, no problem, just scribble and fill in the holes. Like this!

Want to see how to make them yourself? Pop on over to Pentel for the step-by-step.

Happy Monday: Goosebumps and Goodnight Moon

by aunt peaches 1 Comment

Happy Monday my friend. It’s Memorial day here in the USA, which is actually a very somber occasion dedicated to fallen soldiers, but mostly we celebrate it with grilled meat and gardening. Hashtag: MERICA

After an epic day of weeding and BBQ yesterday, it’s now pouring rain and I’m feeling a little relieved to have a valid excuse to stay indoors and catch up on all the odds-n-bobs I have neglected lately. Or, I could cruise the internet for nifty things to distract us all from any sort of useful productivity. You’re welcome!

Ukrainian artist Alexey Kondakov takes scenes from classical paintings and drops them into modern-day life. The results are stunning.

Eleven fascinating facts on legendary children’s book, Goodnight Moon.

Attention 90s nostalgics and craft beer enthusiasts: Hanson makes beer and you can order it online. The name? Mmmhopps.

In honor of Ireland’s historic vote for marriage equality: Oscar Wilde’s love letters.

Need to up your tea party game? Edible sugar doilies.

Portuguese grannies learning street art in Lisbon. Hell, yes.

If you loved RL Stine’s Goosebump books, you’ll love this look behind the scenes of their triply visual style.

I am slightly, snarkily obsessed with this youtube series on spiritual living from JP Spears. Namaste!

Scrunch Shibori

by aunt peaches 4 Comments

Contrary to popular belief, Scrunch Shibori is not the name of the hipster gas station attendant who sells poems about his goat; it’s what you can do with a nifty die kit and a duvet.

Want to make one? Yeah. You do!

Hands Down, the Best House Paint I Have Ever Used

by aunt peaches 43 Comments

Welp. I did it. I painted my living room black.

Okay, almost black.

In my heart I wanted navy blue but the sample looked horrible in the space (I might even get rid of blue stuff in the room in general — it just doesn’t play well with others in here). I tried out a few swatches, but this was the clear winner and I’m delighted! In the can it looks like a true gray, but up on the wall it reads as an all-over black. Actually, that is what I love about this color – Cracked Pepper – it looks blueish in some light, brown in others, and sometimes at dawn it looks like a deep eggplant…but you look at the room as a whole and it reads black. AND I LOVE IT. It will look better when I hang the art and bling out the flat surfaces, but I like to live in a space a month or two before adding frosting. I need to bring some more white in the space to balance off the dark, and my recent foliage kick gives it that glamorous, Floridian swamp feel that I love so dearly.

Also. Shout out to this paint. Major shout out.

Actually, the shout out belongs to Eric when he read my post a couple months back about wanting to paint a room black. Dark paints are notorious for requiring multiple coats and a tinted primer, but he suggested I try Behr’s Marquee line and “you can skip the primer and get it done in two coats.”

Well Eric. I did not get it done in two coats.

BECAUSE I GOT IT DONE IN ONE COAT.

Bam!

Okay, maybe one and half. But that’s mostly because I was sloppy with the roller and expected to go back for a second. I bought two gallons thinking I would need that and then some, but you know what? I barely used half a can. This stuff is the best. And that’s not a paid endorsement, and I might even get in trouble with paint companies that have sponsored in the past, but I’m keeping it real and spreading the good word. Y’all. This is it.

Behr Marquee, you have me for life.

Living room, I’ll see you with a hammer later tonight.

Happy Monday: Fancy Funerals and the Underground Tiki Party

by aunt peaches 10 Comments

Happy Monday everybody!

Hope things are well by you. I sit here on my laptop next to an open window, relishing, no — wallowing, in the sunshine and cool breeze. The height of spring sprung over the weekend and I don’t recall a time when every tree and bush decided to bloom at the same time. Every trip outdoors is literally a chorus of blossoms. I am in awe. In less exciting news, I am coming off a heavy work week (new record – 256 design document exports in a single day), and while I’m very grateful for the work, right now, I’m a lot more grateful to be chilling out next to this open window and thinking about doing something NOT ON A COMPUTER. Hurrah!

For those of us who are stuck in front of the keyboard and looking for a little distraction, here are some happy distractions to get you started.

Business cards made of crayons? Yes, please.

11 Acts of kindness that will change a stranger’s day.

Is Dolly Parton the way forward for hipsters? (<<That’s a rhetorical question)

Feminist Lisa Frank on Tumblr is incredible (even if the real Lisa Frank isn’t a fan).

Addictive app for finding color combinations.

Fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding? HELLO.

And speaking of funerals: FAO Schwartz is closing and I am irrationally upset.

The peculiar details of Emily Dickinson’s funeral.

If you find a spot at the underground traveling tiki party, save me a seat!

Watch a cat experience an ice-cream induced brain freeze then go back for more.

If you know your 90s music jams, you know the Semisonic song Closing Time and you probably thought it was about a bar at closing time, right? Wrong. WE WERE ALL WRONG.

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