Pitter Patterns

I started this scarf almost a year ago for jonny and felt like I couldn’t start another project until I finished it! So here you go 2011. It’s finished.

card made with Ralph Lauren paint chips and scrap ribbon

(I know, terrible iphone picture, so let’s pretend it’s vintage). Last night, we went to a volunteer dinner by HFNY and all the hand-crafted details really made the volunteers feel special. I love the way they dressed up a drab, fluorescent-lit church hall with these paper puffs. The colors were just perfect against the light turquoise walls. Pom poms can be totally over-played as party decoration, but they work every time.

We got a few paper surprises in the mail this week from our families. This handmade card by Aunt Sue made us smile.

I met Akira while interning and what a pleasure it was to work with such an awesome designer. Above is just the paper portion of his genius. His spring collection of sea creatures, scandalous pop art, vespas, and mini’s are so lovely and fun. All handmade! The land creatures are cards from his older collection which are still my classic favorites. Check out his etsy store and become a fan of Shy Shadow!

Today’s my graduation ceremony at Radio City and although I have to wear the ugly gown, it doesn’t mean I have to wear ugly shoes too. I didn’t have the heart to throw out this pair after our cat chewed through the front. So I saved them by covering up the teeth marks with ribbon. It was challenging repeating the pattern on the second shoe but well worth it. They look new! My feet feel like they’ve been gift wrapped, and now I’m ready to walk across that stage.

Lately, I’ve been having tie dye cravings. Maybe because it’s come back this spring after making it’s debut in the 70′s. So I made this pin with tie dyed ribbon from Mokuba to go with my outfit today. It will have to do for now.

raw edges

With up-cycling on my mind this week,  I wanted to make something useful out of trash. So I turned a CD lid, hanging out under our bed, into a planter. And these plants really needed it. They were dying in the original, smaller pot (as you can probably tell from this picture). Drainage holes were drilled into the bottom to create a happy place for this pair.

The planter can be made with any plastic container, like the big yogurt ones, but the CD case makes a great holder because its deep and wide. It also has a great modern shape and can’t easily be recycled (P6). Additionally, telephone cabling was used to create a pattern around the pot saving this too from the landfill.

New Yorkers are lovely people despite more popular, contrary opinions. Visitors at the Earth Fair warmly offered their techniques and advice for up-cycling, like the married teachers who told me that boxes could be made out of brochures and then came back with a few to demonstrate. Z. made the lid you see in the foreground which I videotaped thanks to the handy video function on the iphone. When I got home, I tried it with some maps we had because let’s face it, we don’t use paper maps to navigate anymore, but they are still so beautiful. Once I got the hang of it, I experimented with different proportions. They are super fun to do and eliminates the need for gift wrap or tape. Check out the video tutorial and make a box today –>
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