(Video link here.) Dig this video made by composer Diego Stocco in conjunction with Burt’s Bees. Stocco creates a great beat, simply by shaking tree branches, flicking orange peels, banging on coconuts, mashing his hands through cooked rice, and sifting his hands through almonds – all amplified. Even the buzz of bees make an appearance. Just…
Read Morefound: frosta/alvar aalto stool knock-off!!!
Our posts about Ikea’s inexplicable decision to stop carrying their endlessly useful Frosta stool in North American stores got many responses from our readers: “Yes, we want the Frosta stool” they shouted. Alas, Ikea has such a Byzantine corporate structure, it seems like a lost cause. That is, until Celine, of The Happily Every After…
Read Moreis luck made or found? (peter dinkelage)
A few weeks ago, The New York Times Magazine ran Peter Dinklage Was Smart to Say No, a story about Peter Dinklage, the 4-foot-5 actor who, after years spent saying NO to playing stereotype elves and leprechauns – and consequently often living in poverty – won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his character…
Read Morebook giveaway: ‘hip girl’s guide to homemaking’ even teaches useful knots
One of the things we love so much about The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking is that Kate Payne always thinks to share the simple–but totally essential–skills that many of us manage somehow not to have picked up. A perfect example is the series of useful knots on her blog. Her tutorial for tying a bowline…
Read Morepainted miracle: pink-washed plywood
We are completely smitten with the pink-washed walls in this photo from the Milan Furniture Fair. It looks like plywood to us (or we imagine it as that) color-washed with an incredible shade of pink…(though it may also be a surface unevenly painted in close shades of flat pink paint) It made us start thinking…
Read Moreinspiring needlepoint sign: f*ck cancer
Xeni Jardin, a writer for Boing Boing, has been generously open about her experiences with having breast cancer. (Check out “What do To When ‘Stuff Happens’ for her powerful words.) On Wednesday she shared this amazing needlepoint that she keeps on her desk for inspiration, made by Heather Beschizza. We echo the sentiment, and hope…
Read Moreaging as growing (0 to 12 years old in 3 mins)
Hans Hofmeester filmed his daughter Lotte once a week for the past twelve years. Then he edited snippets of film together to produce this time-lapse video of her growing from a baby into lovely 12-year-old, in under 3 minutes. For us, GROWING is the operative word. Once you get past 40 or 50, aging often…
Read More‘tiny homes: simple shelter’
The other day BoingBoing posted a ‘photo gallery’ from the newly-released Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter by Lloyd Kahn, a book of the possibilities for small space living of all kinds, from Colin Doane’s sauna, above, in Queen Charlotte Islands with green whale jawbones lashed to the front rafters to this spectacular little cabin in Montana’s mountains…
Read Morepallet love: 150+ shipping pallet d-i-y’s (in 3:20 secs)
(Video link here.) D-i-y shipping pallet creations are among our most popular posts, largely we imagine because of all recyclable materials, pallets offer a cheap (or free) source of an entirely natural material: wood. We’ve done A LOT of posts about pallets – including how to tell a safe pallet from a possibly toxic one…
Read More‘don’t give up what you want most for what you want now’
We found this quote (punctuation ours) on French by Design this morning and have been mulling it all day. It was unattributed. When we did a search to see where it might have come from, we found Weight Watchers and Islam and a bunch of other sources. What do we want MOST? Can we subject…
Read Morea perfect spring outfit: flowers and leaves
At Anonymous Works we found this photo of a man happily covered in flowers and leaves. We wonder what the story is behind that image made in 1918. What a way to dress for spring: head-to-toe in flowers and leaves….!! And as with the Tutu Project, there’s something even more amazing about it being a…
Read More4 (+ more) simple solutions to everyday dilemmas
At The Chive, we came across a list of 16 simple solutions to some everyday dilemmas: a virtual, visual Hints from Heloise. We’ve found some incredibly useful, like using bread bag tags as cord labels (of course, with our obsessive minds, we’d go looking for stylish tag in a color we like: white! – and…
Read Moreruth asawa: adversity allowed time for art
When Mondoblogo published a post of Ruth Asawa’s extraordinary crocheted wire sculptures – with hardly any commentary – our first thought was: we want a house filled with that work, those forms hanging above. Then we looked her up. At RuthAsawa.com we learned: When Ruth was 16, she and her family were interned along with…
Read Morea perfect set of wheels for making furniture mobile + a great sapien bookcase hack
When Design Within Reach launched the Sapien bookcase, it seemed like a brilliant idea: a bookshelf that allows books to be stacked vertically over five feet high, to form a neat stack from which you could easily remove any book. CB2 promptly knocked off the rectangular-pillar-with-removable-shelves-design. We bought one, then rued the day. The problem…
Read Moreunbelievably chic, homemade glasses
Spotted at Accidental Mysteries, a boy (or is she a girl?) wearing stunningly chic, rigged glasses that seem to be more for look than practicality: there appears to be no glass. Who cares? For sure they give him a new virtual lens to look through and a unique identifying style. (We had a friend that…
Read Mored-i-y pattern-painted sofa (and bed and table) legs
We knew that changing the shape of a sofa’s or bed’s legs can be a simple way of jazzing up lines and look AND that there are lot of options around for unfinished wooden legs of all shapes and sizes. And we’ve written before about mask-painting one or all the legs of a table or…
Read Morehoudini’s mantra: “my brain is the key that sets me free”
‘improvised life’ editor-at-large David Saltman has just finished writing a historical novel starring Harry Houdini. From David we’ve learned about the amazing achievements of this real life superhero that go way beyond his well-known escapes from straightjackets and handcuffs. We’ve come to know a little of ‘the inside’ of the great magician. Houdini trained his…
Read Morecelebrating spring with ramps (wild leeks) + our best ramp recipes
April is the time when ramps – wild leeks – appear throughout the Appalachian and Catskill mountains, one of the first edible harbingers of spring. Then they start hitting farmer’s markets. Since the pungent leek is one of the most delicious and transformative foods we know of, we’re reprising past posts about the famous lily,…
Read Moremarc johns: ‘imagination is a powerful thing’
We like to check into Marc Johns’ website occasionally to see what he’s got for sale… …like the infinite possibilities of a paper towel tube… …or a stick…
Read Morebook giveaway: the hip girl’s guide to homemaking
Now that spring has officially sprung, we find ourselves ready for new projects, around our houses and outside. We keep coming back to our friend Kate Payne’s The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking, an all-purpose guide to doing-it-yourself in your home (and having fun, too) – for ANYONE, whether hip girl or not. (We think…
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