Trend--Happy Mod Owls

I know that sometimes owls can be creepy, but I have noticed lately that cute little owls are popping up all over the place! So I decided to compile the cutest examples of this trend that I could find for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!

Toikka via Bed Bath & Beyond


via Pier One
Doorstop via Anthropologie



Clock via Etsy


Plushie Pillow via Etsy

Throw pillow via Etsy


Wall Decal via Etsy


Coasters via Etsy


Coin Bank via Target

Trivet via Target

Bookends via UnicaHome


Switch Cover via Anthropologie


THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE! Sake Pot via Anthropologie




Creamer Pitcher via Urban Outfitters




Door Knocker via Urban Outfitters

Candle via Urban Outfitters


Throw Pillow via CB2

Has anyone embraced this trend? I think I might just have to pick up a cute little owl of my own...

Handmade Etsy Lampshade

This is a lamp that has been in my family for years. Possibly even a hundred of them. I have no idea! Anyway, I really like the lamp, but the shade was just mismatched.
So I found this artisan on Etsy, MyFinch. I worked with her to create this super fun lampshade that modernizes the lamp and gives it a little bit of pop.




So fun, right?!? Yay for handmade!

Beauty (D)Evolution

This is a one-minute video that has been making the rounds--its a fast-forward version of the process a woman goes through in order to be "beautiful" enough to be published.




It's thought-provoking, even though we know there is lots of retouching, to see it in action.

New Business Cards!

How Does My Garden Grow?

When we moved into our house in February, there were three really big evergreen bushes just next to the side entrance of our house. We wanted to cut them down because someone could easily hide in them at night and surprise us, and also because they were too close to the foundation.

Here is the house "after." The only problem once we cut them down was that we had three ugly stumps, and were too cheap to pay someone to dig them out. So we decided to put in raised beds to let the stumps soften up for a couple of years so we could pull them out.

We made two raised beds that are 8'x 4', spaced a few feet apart for us to walk through. To make two, we bought:

~three 12" x 12' boards, cut into four 8-foot pieces and four 4-foot pieces

~one 4"x4"x 8' board, cut into 8 one-foot sections

~a pack of at least 16 wooden stakes (can be found at Home Depot by the silver bullets)

~32 badass 3" stainless wood screws

~64 slightly less badass 3" stainless wood screws

*Disclaimer: This drawing was made in PAINT, yes paint. Therefore it looks like it was drawn by a three-year-old. Paint automatically does this to even the most experienced drafter, so please bear with me!*

Here is a diagram of how to make one:

You could also use this same plan to make a sandbox. (TIP: some online plans say to use carriage bolts--don't do it! The average person's drill won't go all the way through a 4x4, and let me tell you from experience, this is WAY more trouble than it's worth. Just use stainless screws.)

If you are replicating this project, make sure that your lumber is NOT treated, because you don't want nasty chemicals leaching into your garden to be absorbed by the veggies. You can use cedar or redwood (best for the environment but also the most expensive), or you can use regular pine and paint it or seal it (not great for the environment but better than treated lumber and not as expensive as hardwood).

This is a picture of the garden in May:

You can see above how we laid out our baby plants. We did this in May, and learned a LOT about gardening in the process! In the bed pictured here, we laid it out as follows:

Here is a picture of the garden in July. Perfect, right? The cucumbers are climbing up the picket fence, and everything is going juuuust peachy keen! The second raised bed has a forest of basil planted in it, along with some wildflowers.

First came the cucumbers--we got somewhere between one and two dozen cucumbers before something bad happened to the plants and they rotted. Ok, so cucmbers were gone by late July.

Next, the tomatoes went CRAZY and started growing like nobody's business. They stole all the light from the zuchinni, so we only got one little veggie before they all kicked the bucket!

So then in August we started getting yummy bell peppers and lots and lots of tomatoes. The romas were kind of mealy, but the grape tomatoes were AMAZING!

And now, for the picture of the garden in October.

BAM!

Wtf man? I am kind of afraid its going to take over the world, Pinky... Yeah, that enormous jungle right there is 4 tomatoe plants!

So the next question is...how do you end a garden?

Next year we will definitely space the plants out more, and maybe plant less of each type.

Does anyone else have stories from the garden this year? Any adventures or misadventures you would care to share?

Lonny Magazine is finally up and running!

I am desperately hoping that Lonny will be everything I have desperately hoped for since the death of Domino. It was as stylish and glossy as House Beautiful and as affordable and creative as Better Homes and Gardens with the edginess of Lucky. Happily, some of the editors of the now-defunct Domino have gotten together with some new blood (no, not True Blood, heehee) to create Lonny Magazine!


The only thing that gives me pause is that it is an exclusively online publication. This is cool because it is free and environmentally responsible. This is less cool because it doesn't arrive in my mailbox every month with my name on it in its glossy and tactile glory. I am a proud and self-proclaimed bibliophile who has not embraced Kindle and probably never will...but we shall see, no?

Upon my first peruse, my impression was that its going to be inspirational. Please check it out for yourself at www.lonnymag.com. Might I suggest you choose "magazine view" under the layout tab and then hit "full screen" for the best viewing experience.

I pulled this picture because I think I can DIY my grandmother's lamps into something closely resembling this v. chic table lamp. They are currently bronze and midnight blue. YAY!

Like I said, inspiration!



I also love this chandelier. We have an awful bronze builder-grade light fixture in our dining room, and i have been wanting to COVER it with seed beads. I really love that this one has been covered in beads, but also the extra ring of beading was added to further embellish it.

A couple of weeks of unemployment? HERE I COME!!

Brave

As you may (or may not!) already know, I quit my job. My last day of employment is officially October 9, 2009--that's one week! People keep asking me why I would quit a "perfectly good job" in an economic environment like this one, where people everywhere are clinging hopelessly to ANY job they can get.

via flikr

And my answer is simply that I am not fulfilled in this job. Yes, I make money. Yes, I have health insurance. Yes, I have my very own office. But when it comes right down to it, I can get those things in many places and many different positions--what I am looking for right now is a JOB or a CAREER that leaves me excited to get up in the morning, where I feel like my energy is making a positive contribution to society and the world.

There is a Buddhist philosophy that thinks that every person born into this world is equally capable of good or evil, and which part is expressed depends on the society and circumstances into which the child is born. If a child is born into a group of people who are unhappy and not contributing positively, then he is less likely to manifest the good and happy in his potential, and so forth. By that theory, every unhappy person in this world makes the world a worse place. So I am trying to change my circumstances so that I may be a more fulfilled and productive individual.

I keep waffling between thinking, "I am so happy that I have taken this negative out of my life and made room to fill it with positives. I rock!" and thinking "wow, you are so stupid! what are you thinking?"

But what people keep telling me is that I am BRAVE. So I started thinking about the word "brave." Is that what brave means? Happy, fierce, and stupid? So I looked it up. Here is what dictionary.com had to say:

Brave. Syn.: bold, intrepid, daring, dauntless, heroic.
"Brave," "courageous," "valiant," "fearless," and "gallant" refer to confident bearing in the face of difficulties or dangers.
"Brave" is the most comprehensive: it is especially used of that confident fortitude or daring that actively faces and endures anything threatening."

I think I like that! "Confident fortitude or daring that actively faces and endures anything threatening." I am going to keep that in mind as I face the next few weeks.