I’m sorry for the lack of updates. I’M ALIVE-I MOVED-I DON’T HAVE INTERNET! Here’s a little something to appease your worried little souls.
My coworker, Patrick, gave the above creation to his girlfriend for Christmas. His official title for it is “Zen Rock Garden/Tatooine Playset.” I had heard about his plans to make the playset, but last week was the first time I saw it with my own over-sized eyes. The basin for his playset is a tray (like the type of tray that someone would bring you breakfast in bed with). Ingeniously, he cut a roll of tape in half, and glued them at the handles. Therefore, the playset is both PORTABLE and the SAND CANNOT ESCAPE! On the subject of Star Wars, HAVE YOU SEEN THESE STAR WARS LEGO SCENES? They’re great. (via frites & fries).
Thank goodness February is short! Rabbit, Rabbit!
Although he may be ranked sixth after Tuesday’s Olympics men’s short, Johnny Weir is easily the most entertaining competitor in men’s skating. For those of you unfamiliar with him, Johnny is like the product of what would happen if Lady Gaga and Patrick Wolf had a baby that flew out of the womb with ice skates. If my visual is unsatisfactory, please watch the video of his short here. Yes, those are pink tassels.
In honor of this innovative luminary with unbridled creativity and glitter (literally), I decided to cover quintessential components to the perfect Johnny Weir Party. My actions are extremely timely, as the MEN’S FREE SKATE IS TONIGHT. I highly encourage you to watch and throw your own little Johnny Weir party. Although the possibility that he will medal is slim, at least you will have a fine time celebrating Johnny Weir.
SURROUNDINGS
1. Has your rug been on the road to death? Have you always dreamed about getting a hot pink rug? Well, my friend, this is a splendid time to get a pink rug. FACT: Johnny brought pink bath mats with him to Vancouver. Mohawk Home Shag Run in Racy Pink from Target, $100
2. As I hinted moments ago, Johnny Weir is like a skating version of Lady Gaga. It is, therefore, not surprising that Johnny is a HUGE Lady Gaga fan. His love for Lady Gaga extends to the ice rink, as demonstrated in a recent performance to “Poker Face.”
FACT: Johnny brought also brought a poster of Lady Gaga to Vancouver so she could “watch over us.” Lady Gaga poster from Movie Poster USA, $7
ATTIRE
1. FACT: Johnny likes to wear shiny things. THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE WHERE IT IS APPROPRIATE TO WEAR AN AMERICAN APPAREL METALLIC BODYSUIT (with an even more inappropriate zipper!) NECESSARY ADDENDUM: Johnny also designs his own sparkly onesies, so you should take the creative liberty to further sparkle up your metallic bodysuit. Shiny Zipper-Front Bodysuit in Champagne from American Apparel, $45
World Championships 2006 from Johnny Weir Online
2. Shiny star leggings to avoid an inappropriate crotch reveal if your quadruple lutz living room impersonations go sour. Printed Shiny Leggings from American Apparel, $46
3. FACT: Johnny has been criticized for wearing fur. Silver Indigo Fox All Fur Pill Box Hat from Fur Hat World, $250
picture from delawareonline.com
4. Face and body glitter! Make Up Forever Glitters from Sephora, $13
5. Even more glitter! Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner from Sephora, $18
CONSUMABLES
1. For Johnny’s short, he wore pink tassels. Obtain some pink tassels and tie them to martini glasses, only to be filled with…
2. …lemon drop cocktails! This drink is a lemony ode to Johnny’s calming techniques. I cannot take credit for this brilliant idea is from my friend Tiffany, who is obsessed with skating and the Olympics (mutual passions?, read her blog!). We actually ran to Barcelona Bar so she could catch the end of the Pairs skating Monday. Anyways, she sent me this Johnny Weir quote yesterday:
I was nervous last night. So I Pledged everything in my room. Some people eat, some people drink — but I Pledge everything.
3. Sober Sally? Johnny loves Vitamin Water. Shots of Vitamin Water it is!
4. Apparently Johnny barely eats (which is troublesome for a Johnny Weir party), but once a year he will eat angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.
Does anyone else harbor a desire to throw a Johnny Weir party? Am I the only one?
I love receiving REAL mail, and this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to send my snail mail friend something exceptionally neat. Admittedly, mailing a surprise-filled tiny box isn’t an original idea. Two Valentine’s Days ago, my sister (who is very crafty) sent me monkey heart socks in a jewelery box. I thought I’d spread the tiny box valentine cheer. To any males who found this/us in pursuit of girlfriend gift inspiration: YOU’RE WELCOME.
SUPPLIES:
Tiny box. You can easily get a 3 x 3 box at craft stores.
A charm + chain for charm + jump ring (if the charm hole won’t fit on the chain). I featured the above carousel in the last pocket-sized treasure post, and it is available at TheseNThose’s Etsy shop.
Card-friendly paper to make a tiny card for the inside of the box lid.
Kraft paper.
Tissue paper.
Three stamps. This is the lazy-Tricia route. I hate lining up at the post office to mail a package, so I’d rather send something by stamps whenever possible. Three stamps is probably excessive, however, I also HATE getting returned mail. I have successfully mailed the same sized box with three stamps, so that’s enough of a guarantee for me. If you have a heavy necklace, you might need more postage (and HAVE to visit the post office, because the box cover can only fit three stamps).
STEPS:
1. Assemble necklace. The carousel horses have manes!
2. Trace the box (length times two!) to make a card for the inside of the box lid.
4. Adhere your card to the inside of the box lid.
5. Tape the necklace to a side of the box so that the charm hangs.
6. Fold over the tissues paper, put lid on box.
7. Wrap box in kraft paper. Make sure you use packing tape, because the post office will reject your box if you use normal tape.
8. Mail!
1. Goldtone Banjolele Deluxe from Musician’s Friend, $450 (too shiny and would prefer the banjolele sold at the Old Town School of Folk Music’s store on Lincoln Ave. …thank you to the guy at the store who let me hold it…)
2. Yama Syphon Brewer from Clive Coffee, $50
3. Save the Manatee club membership, $25
4. Hohner Melodica from Musician’s Friend, $35
5. Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet from Amazon, $167
6. Blue Microphones Snowball from Amazon, $72.30 (so I can record songs about pies and bucolic fields…just kidding.)
7. Itazura Coin Bank (White Kitty) from Strapya World, $21.70 (watch this and you will be convinced)
8. Proximity Magazine subscription, $30 (even if you’re illiterate, you can still admire the STUNNING typography and layout)
9. Speedball Ultimate Screen Printing Kit from BLICK, $85
10. Keyboard stickers by Christopher Morno DeLorenzo, $15 (B for Bowie!)
And that’s the end of our wishlists.
Of course the Stickers and Donuts team’s greatest wish is to hear from you (we know you’re reading! Google Analytics does not lie!) SO! Now it’s your turn. What’s on your wishlist? Fulfilling the S&D wish not a good enough reason for you to comment? Well, here’s a bribe. The first 10 people who comment (excluding any S&D writers, however, they are encouraged to comment regardless) will receive a S&D surprise.
1. Chicken Skittles from MUJI, £5.95 (football is to soccer as skittles is to bowling)
2. The Africa swimsuit by We Are Handsome, $163
3. Miso Soup Ring by SouZou Creations on etsy, $8.50
4. Candy Bar Bracelet from Dylan’s Candy Bar, $50 (Wish 1.5: That Dylan offered international shipping.)
5. MacBook Pro 17-inch from Apple, $2500 (although a plain old MacBook is much more realistic!)
6. Colour In Dress by Michiel Schuurman, €250
7. Bubble Wrap Calendar from Perpetual Kid, $20
8. ASAP/OMFG Totable from Knock Knock,$10.50
9. PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God from Barnes & Noble, $14.94
10. Kron by Kron Shoes (Amirah also requests the ability to walk properly in heels!)
Remember when I got all excited about American Apparel’s Circle Scarf because you can wear it a million different ways? Well, I’ve always wanted our dear circle scarf, but I never wanted to spend the dough, and since our economy is down the tubes, maybe you don’t either!
As you have probably already deduced, you could make a circle scarf out of any long strip of fabric if you just sew one end to another. Still, I’ve come up with something even more impressive.
A pillowcase!
Cut off one end (or take out the seams), and voila, you are done.
You can spend the rest of your unemployed day creating new costumes. I actually really like the simple scarf configurations. The bestest part of this is the potential for insanely designed scarves (if you have, let’s say, a Mickey Mouse pillow case!).
Yes, that’s seriously the end of the how-to. And, no, I wasn’t feeling very modely (if you want to know the truth — MANGO SKINS CONTAIN POISON THAT HAS REDUCED MY FACE TO AN ITCHING MASS, go to wikipedia if you don’t believe me about that crazy fruit!) so these aren’t my most stunning pictures. Errrr.
Thrilling Tips: (1) If you do have a sewing machine, you can hem the end you cut (I don’t, and my scarf prevailed nonetheless). (2) Use a belt to keep a halter shirt or a skirt from falling down. It’ll work best if you put on the belt and then flap some fabric over the belt after it’s tightened. (3) Add decorative pins. (4) Speaking of pins, the side-halter and the one that goes tight around the neck were created using a strategically placed pin. (5) I used a chopstick to keep together that knot on the bathing suit style top. (6) My pillow was made of stretchy jersey fabric. This made it more flexible for cool configurations.
Finished? Here are my other Unemployment Projects.
I’ve written before about my inspiration binders and inspiration boards, and the resulting outfits such projects inspired. But now that you’re unemployed (see all unemployment projects here!) you have time to go crazy with your inspiration binders and achieve something else equally important — getting rid of all of those magazines I know you’ve been saving.
I had stacks of Print, Oprah, Real Simple, Nylon, Teen Vogue, Good, and ReadyMade (between Oprah & Teen Vogue, try to guess my age!) piling up in my shelves and taking over my life. I am a packrat, so I couldn’t just throw them away.
I made multiple binders with the following categories: Fashion (with tabs for: hair, makeup, professional clothes, socks, and awesome outfits); Recipes (real food, desserts); Crafty Inspiration (Cool Page Layouts, DIY, and Home).
Here are some excerpts from my fashion binder:
Here are some Tips & Tricks for your binder making:
Finally, a crafty reader named Ann sent me the funniest email and an awesome project. While you’re going through your magazines, cut out little squares of solid colors and use them to make or decorate something you need, like a CD rack. I’ll give you her instructions:
“After many rounds of somewhat lame cross-stitch projects, I needed something different to do, so I decided to attack my mysterious Vogue subscription (mysterious because I have no idea why they’re being sent to me because, obviously, I can’t afford anything advertised there) collection. I needed a storage solution for my cds and whatnots, but since I couldn’t find a cool box that i liked from target, I decided to grab my scissors, magazines, and glue and get to gettin.”
“First, I cut down my Quaker Oats jumbo box to about 5″ high. Then I started ripping out pages from my magazine, focusing on those pages that were mainly of one color, or of fun pattern (stripes, plaids, and flowers). Then I started cutting out 2.5″ squares from those sheets of paper. THEN I folded in the four corners, glued, flipped over, folded in the four corners again and glued, to make mini squares. THEN I sorted them into ROYGBIV order, then glued them onto the box. I cheated a bit on the long sides, but I like the finished product well enough.”
With both of these projects in hand, you should be busy for at least two days!
First off, Happy Mother’s Day!
Okay, I just had to do this quick post. I was surfing over at the the TOMS shoes website web-site (remember the vegan wrap boots? and that when you buy a TOMS shoe they give one to a kid who needs shoes?), and they had this crazy special where the creator of TOMS shoes has his mom INDIVIDUALLY doodling over plain shoes for Mother’s Day (yes, at first I thought they were designed by children — but either way I think they’re awesome)! They were $68, and you couldn’t specify the design, but they are all SOLD OUT now (maybe she is tired of doodling!).
ANYWAYYYY, that got me inspired. All you need to do is get some White Canvas TOMS, and you can doodle-em yourself! DIY TOMS! It’s over $20 cheaper and you can coordinate them with your own style. Then when you are out-and-about you can be like, yeah, I designed these myself.
First of all, YES I made a Catcher in the Rye wallpaper / desktop background! YES I am still painting books. What are you going to do?! I read, write, and paint books. I can’t help it!!! (If you don’t like books, you can check out some various other Unemployment Projects here.)
Second of all, you can click on the above picture and you’ll get a much larger version, that YES would be *especially* perfect as a desktop background if you happen to have a 15″ Mac Book Pro, though I am sure it can be usable in other formats, especially if you just use the all-over design below.
Or, if you are unemployed, you can just go off and make your very own wallpaper, like me. The best part is you can tailor your paper to your exact needs and likes! For example, I started with the overall print (below) and then realized I HATE OVERALL PRINTS because all of my icons, which I keep on the right half of the screen, get visually lost. So, I made a new version (above) which has a clear side for my personal convenience.
Here is a larger version of the above wallpaper in case you need larger (just clicky):
Anyway, here’s a How To if you want to make your own book wallpaper like mine. As usual, I will stress that you can have very little drawing / painting ability to get something cool. For example, I have this brush which mightaswell be a collection of twenty bristly dog hairs. It’s horrible. And stumpy. No one should ever paint with it. Yet I do. Because I do not have another little brush. I actually cut it all up with scissors to make it smaller. It’s awful. Moral: Professionals need not apply.
You will need:
(As you can see, I am playing with headings.) If you just happened on this page, my Unemployment Projects have only two requirements: they must take plenty of time and almost no money. This particular project involves those free tote bags that you probably have piled in your closet with pictures of baby kittens and bank logos. As you will see, this is a very, very loose DIY. Why? Because I recommend you work with whatever products you happen to have on hand!
My grandmother gave me my bag, which was a plastic tote with a big fuzzy blue sky that said something about saving something or other. She obviously got it from donating money to an organization. Since everyone gets totes for donating money, and most people can’t do with all of their totes, then you will find any thrift store (ie Salvation Army) will have piles of $1 bags such as this. I recommend a plastic tote bag, but I am sure if you are cool enough you can figure out how to paint a canvas one successfully.
I put a big piece of paper inside my bag just in case the paint would go through (it didn’t) and then I coated the front in white acrylic paint.
I used scrap paper to cut out different designs. I did these really simple explosions, and because I am COMPLETELY impatient, I didn’t spend too much time getting anything perfect. I also used a hair dryer in between colors so that I could do the next layer right away. If you are patient or have lots of time, let it air dry! And, you can make more exact templates out of heavy cardboard or thin black electrical tape might work.
I outlined my designs with black paint just so that you couldn’t see my messy edges. You could even use, again, black electrical tape if you want really straight outlines. But since this is an “unemployment project” I completely recommend you work with whatever products you already have!
