Monday, October 3, 2011

Always on the lookout for Tchotchkes

“Tchotchke” is my new favorite word.

For those who don’t know, it is a yiddish word meaning knickknack or bobble, and it is pronounced “choch-key.”

And there isn’t any place in the world better for finding tchotchkes than Etsy! Here’s some favorites that I found…

I could go on like this for hours!

No, they don’t have any kind of purpose other than looking cute, but I want them all in my home. I want to fill every nook, cranny, and available shelf space with kitschy, decorative items and turn my house into a tchotchke wonderland! I doubt that will ever happen, but a person can dream, can’t she?

Monday, September 26, 2011

Hey guys, it’s Banned Books Week!

Yes, it’s that time of year again.

Time to support your Freedom to Read!!

Find an event in your neck of the woods or participate in the virtual read out between September 24th and October 10th at the Banned Books Week website. If you’re curious as to what a “virtual read out” might be just check out this awesome sock puppet video, then make your own! I’m going to get started…

Sock puppets and books! Wonderful!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Knitting to the Extreme!

To continue a theme we go from the tiniest of knits to a number of life size replicas made from yarn!

Using giant needles like these…

… you can create a pink motorcycle!

Or an entire locker room made of yarn!

It looks tough and manly, but it’s really soft and cuddly. And, technically, it’s crocheted, just like this piano!

I bet it sounds lovely, too.

Knitted bus! I would ride that bus.

Forget the scarves and hats, I want to make something epic! Like an airplane, or a full scale replica of the London Bridge…

Monday, September 12, 2011

Introducing Althea Crome and her Amazing Micro Knits!

By now most of you have probably seen the stop motion movie Coraline. Even if you haven’t I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. What I never realized, though, is those sweaters and gloves that Coraline wears in the movie were all actually knit by hand on teeny tiny needles!

tiny intarsia!

The genius behind these micro stitches is a lady named Althea Crome. Her work is truly awesome!

And, what’s more, if you wish to try your hand at her craft she sells some of her patterns and needles on her website! I plan on sticking to full scale knits, though. Such tiny projects would get lost in my house so easily.

Monday, September 5, 2011

The Dress, She is Done!

Unfortunately, due to some overly inclement weather here in the South, it looks like my birthday celebrations may have to be postponed. But that’s ok.

I have made the perfect birthday dress!

And it’s not a bad likeness of the original, if I do say so myself. Check it out:

When I put this dress together with all of the accessories and decorations that I have waiting it is going to look amazing!

I’ll post pictures of the final product as soon as possible, I promise!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Put your face on: Eleganza continued

While in the process of putting my dress together I have been thinking about how to accessorize. The first hurdle I face is the makeup.

Doing makeup is not one of those skill sets I can lay claim to.

But that’s ok, of course, because I can always rely on the YouTube to teach me how!

such a lovely face, such a long process

This tutorial is great, but that seems like an awful lot of work that I don’t have time for. And that, too, is ok, because the wonderful thing about the D.I.Y. community is if you can’t do it you can surely find someone else who can. I’ve already given the task to my friend, Linda, and I’m sure she’ll make me look fabulous! I’ll show you the proof as soon as it’s done!