Egg carton bowl

Sometimes I'll see a project online that I want to try, so I go to the store and buy the materials, and then never actually make the project. I was looking through my bins of supplies and came across this bottle of fabric stiffener, along with an empty egg carton, and decided that today was the day to put them to use.

Fabric stiffener is exactly what it sounds like--a glue that you can use to stiffen fabric in whatever shape you'd like. I'd saved the egg carton with the idea that I could use the fabric stiffener to make a bowl with different compartments to organize small craft supplies.

I started brushing the glue onto both sides of the fabric with a foam brush.

When it was pretty saturated I started shaping it over the form of the egg carton (after lining it with some plastic wrap so it didn't adhere to the paper). It wasn't really taking the shape of the carton very well so I stuffed some pieces of plastic bag into each crevice (and one foil ball, after I ran out of plastic).

Then I waited awhile for it to dry...and look at that.

Not sure what I'll actually use it for, but you get the idea. Buttons, jump rings, magnets...anything small that needs organizing.

In hindsight I think I would have made the piece of fabric larger so that there was more of a lip to the bowl, as it looks a little weird like this. Oh well, live and learn.

Wrapped twigs

When I saw this post about yarn-wrapped twigs I found the idea intriguing--so simple, barely above little kids' arts and crafts project level, yet beautiful and sculptural.

I don't have a yard so twigs are in somewhat short supply, but I recently came across a bundle (don't ask) and instantly thought of this project. So I took a few home, dug into my yarn stash, and got to stick wrapping. Then I strung them into a kind of mobile using white thread, and hung them on the bedroom wall. The thread looks invisible against the wall, like the twigs are floating.

I had been struggling to figure out what to hang on the wall above the bed--I wanted something different, subtle, kind of minimalist. And this is exactly it! (Although I think I might want to add a few more sticks to the mix.)

P.S. I need to do something about those electrical cords!

Get Creative with Penguin, part deux

Today the second episode of Get Creative with Penguin, a show on Penguin's Video and Radio Network that focuses on creativity and crafting, goes live. As I mentioned when I posted the first episode, this is a fairly new project for me and it's an enormous amount of work, but at the very least it's about something I really enjoy.

In the above video Summer Pierre, author of The Artist in the Office, describes a few ways to make your work day more tolerable—I now do this by drawing giant back drops for video sets and making illustrations of the Eiffel Tower (as seen in the above clip). And if you go to penguin.com/getcreative, you can also learn to make a stuffed dog out of a pair of gloves (from the book Sock and Glove), and then Doug Lansky, author of The Titanic Awards, will show you some photos of what not to do while on vacation (he also has a few tips on what you can do to pass the time during a long airport delay). So check it out—you'll be making me happy, as it means we haven't been working on all this for nothing. And if you missed it last time, you can watch the first episode too (in which you can learn to make some very cute stuffed owls, a cute sandwich—we're all about cute here—and a worm bin—okay, not so cute but very useful if you have a garden).

Get creative with Penguin!

The last few months at work I've been working on—among many other things—a new show for Penguin's online video and radio network. It's called Get Creative with Penguin and focuses on creativity and crafting, which of course is right up my alley. Above you'll see the awesome stop motion style show intro that one of our designers created using hundreds of still photographs. For the rest of the show visit penguin.com/getcreative and learn how to sew some really cute stuffed owls, make a sandwich, and build a worm bin for your garden (much less gross than it sounds).

You won't see me in the videos (thankfully) but I made one of the owls (about 10 times over in various steps) and drew the giant backdrop in the first video. And if you look closely you'll spot my Catherine Holm lotus pot in the background of the cooking segment. Set decorating might be my new calling.

San Marzano tomato can planter

I've been admiring the label on this can of crushed tomatoes ever since I made some soup with it (with its contents, that is) last week. I'm thinking about saving it and using it as a planter. Or maybe just a canister. The only problem is that the image is made of paper (and not part of the metal can) so it might get destroyed over time. We'll just have to see what happens.

Penguin Halloween party 2009

Some companies throw a big holiday party at the end of the year. Not Penguin. We like to mix it up with a company-wide Halloween party, and my department is on the host floor so we're kind of in the thick of it. It's kind of funny to wander down to other floors where people are quietly working, while upstairs the lights are out and people are getting wasted while wearing silly costumes.

Many of the departments decorate around a theme, and it's always fun to wander around to see what people have come up with using the color printer, foam core, and other DIY materials. This year we did "under the sea," and after talking up the idea of a shipwreck so much, I was tasked with seeing it through to reality. In the end I don't think I did such a bad job, though I can't take credit for the best parts, as they weren't my ideas: the fish in the porthole, and naming it after a competitor (sorry Bantam, the name just screams old oceanliner, if you think about it).

My boss made this giant sea turtle, and I really hated to take it down. One of our publicists rescued it and hung it in her office before we could throw it in a dumpster.

Promo art's theme was The Book of Bunny Suicides, and I have to say, this giant bunny blender was a bit of genius. All the photos were taken this morning, as I forgot my camera on Friday, but last week there were bits of fake fur and red and white pieces of foam core strewn all over the floor behind it. Gross, sure, but in such an awesome way.

New haircut

My hair was getting really long (well, long for me) and the ends were starting to flip up no matter how much I tried to prevent it, so I decided it was time for a haircut. My best friend is highly skilled in the art of cutting hair, so I asked her if she'd give me a trim (kind of an understatement) in exchange for a cupcake.


My inspiration was Jean Seberg's hair in Breathless.


Now, I know I'm no Jean Seberg, especially in this goofy looking photo, but I really like how it came out (not that I haven't had this cut before).

Reupholstered chair

Yesterday I finally got around to reupholstering the chair that I bought at a flea market a few weeks ago. I bought the new foam last weekend but had been trying to figure out what kind of fabric to use.

I really wanted to use this Eames fabric but at $104 a yard it was way too pricy for me. I debated over buying solid gray fabric and stenciling the dots on, but I couldn't find one that I liked (wanting to avoid the kind of gray fabric that you associate with the waiting room at the dentist's office).

In the end I went with this fabric that I found in the basement at P&S Fabric on Broadway. I like the hand-drawn quality of the lines.

Then I broke out the staple gun and voila--a new cushion (haven't actually screwed it into the chair yet but you wouldn't have even known if I hadn't mentioned it).

It's a little cramped in the living room right now but I am thinking of getting rid of the old Ikea couch and just having this chair and the movie theater seats for now.

Fun with chalkboard paint

A few months ago I posted a picture of this cute little blackboard that MoMA was selling on their site, but by the time I finally decided to buy it, I found that it was no longer available. Which made me pretty sad--until I remembered about chalkboard paint.

I took a trip to Michael's, where I found this cute little wooden fish for $1 (no cats, unfortunately, but I do like goldfish so that's okay). I sprayed it with several coats of the chalkboard paint, cured it (which just means to rub chalk all over it and then erase it), and affixed some magnets to the back, and now I have my very own fish chalkboard on the fridge. Perfect for reminders, to-do lists, or just a random message. Now I think I should buy some snazzy chalk to go along with it.