Browsing Tag

60s

Crafts DIY

Recycle your Vintage Scarf into a Necklace

10/29/2009

This is a style that I wear all the time and it’s easy easy to make. I’ve loved vintage scarves but for ages I was stumped as to how to wear them without looking like the queen! Finally a brainwave brought me to the knotted scarf necklace …

You will need a patterned scarf of square of fabric, about 30″ (76cm) x 30″ to start!

scarf

1. Lay your scarf flat, pattern side down.
2. Fold it in half, so the patterned side is on the outside.
3. Start rolling from the corner …
4. … Until you have a long sausage.
5. Tie three knots – one in the centre, and two either side.
6. Finally, tie at the top, and there you have your necklace.

I’ve used a green paisley scarf for this one, but it works with any pattern, or even a plain silk scarf. I especially love it in a nautical or equestrian print.

I think I’m Miseducated because I don’t wait for beautiful things to come to me, if I have something pictured in my mind, I’ll try and make it. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail but it’s all worth it when you get complimented on your outfit and you can say ‘I made it myself!’

Design Your Life

Minimalism vs Hoarding and Decadent Interior

09/24/2009

If I could just… if this was.. it still doesn’t *feel* right!

I’m often finding myself stuck when designing new layouts for Miseducated — it started so collage heavy as I was using tons and tons of popular icons.. then I started seeing the collage thing EVERYWHERE and it was feeling cluttered so I obviously cut it down… :p I always feel that deconstructing and ridding of any excess is a positive thing.

Now why is this?

My room was very cluttered as a child and I hoped for a day when I would have my own modern, minimalist house.

As you can see my minimalism kind of lost the battle with whimsical nonsense and fantasy candylands. Obviously I find my *greatest* satisfaction in cuteness, well-designed, minimal yet colorful homes (Jeu de Paumes went RIGHT UP my alley, didn’t they yours? ^_~).

.. but is deleting and deconstructing making it better really? Is it just my fucked up sense of things?

I *know* hoarding isn’t healthy, it’s very hard to overcome like any addiction… so does that mean that minimalism is the goal? We simply *must* know! I’m very familiar with hoarding regarding my own life and have studied it extensively in my obsession with psychology and helping myself and those around me.

(… and while we’re at it, why do you *insist* on using asterisks *everywhere*?!

Because I often despise italics, use bold for other things and have a strange need to use the only flower on my keyboard over and over and over! As well as inserting random thoughts that have no relevance to the subject at hand –if anything this NEGATES minimalism–because of course, I am a crazy rambler. With all positives come negatives. ^_~)

Hoarding

Hoarding is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them.
Hoarding, also called compulsive hoarding and compulsive hoarding syndrome, can be a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
People who hoard often don’t see it as a problem, making treatment challenging.
Mayo Clinic

Minimalism

A twentieth century art movement and style stressing the idea of reducing a work of art to the minimum number of colors, values, shapes, lines and textures. – ArtLex

Funny thing is.. minimalism is many times regarded as ‘rejective art’ and I think of it as ‘perfective’ art — it’s a very tough thing to master correctly — it can be done both very right and very wrong.

A minimal lifestyle… now that’s exactly what I admire. When applying the rules of minimalism to your life and home it helps a lot if you’re moving (I was) or organizing absolutely everything — it’s good to do yearly (*spring*cleaning)!

1. Evaluate your possessions that sit on shelves.
2. Find a place for everything.
3. Enjoy what you have.
Christian PF

Zakka

Another design movement, but in Japan. Generally means improving your environment and seeing beauty in the mundane.

When I see zakka it reminds me almost of a minimalist cuteness and innocence, it is completed with the sweet kitschy illustrations and/or designs that are *just enough* to add color and sweetness into the room. It’s very natural and inspired by country lifestyle.

Which lifestyle do you lean towards? 😉

Gallery

Merci: Landscape Online, Momoy, Christopher Coleman, Elidur, Homepic, SoSuperSam, BKK Home, Zakka Candy

Business Features DIY

Toiluxe: Make Your Toilet Lux

09/17/2009

It started with a simple dilemma:

What kind of gift do I give the girl who has everything?

I myself was one of those girls, so I knew what it would feel like to be on the receiving end of another kitschy collectible, retro design coffee table book, funky framed Jesus picture
 I loved each and every item, but I was at the point where there was nowhere to PUT anything, and I was not organized or patient enough to deal with seasonally switching things up. I couldn’t bring myself to pack away older items to make space for newer ones, because I had a sentimental attachment to each and every one. They all defined me, defined my lifestyle, defined how I felt when I woke up in the morning. In fact, the only room that reflected who I was the LEAST, was my bathroom, which was fine, because how much time do I spend in there anyway?

Wait a second


The bathroom


I went to Home Depot. After much wandering around, lost among contractors and home-improvement-ers, I found it – the wall of toilet seats. The aisle seemed to glow as if I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. As if I had discovered the meaning of life, or who was buried in Al Capone’s tomb


It was perfect.

And everything just took off from there.


Making art out of toilet seats is not a quick-fix type of project. It involves sanding, priming, painting, cutting, pasting, gluing, detailing, and SO MUCH WAITING. Every step involves the need for something to dry – whether it be paint, modge-podge, or acrylic resin. I had to learn how to pace myself (my mother always used to say, “You want everything to happen yesterday!”) and it’s true. But I finally discovered my ideal working environment – my living room (at this point I’d like to thank my husband for his unrelenting patience.) I’d work on two seats at a time – switching back and forth while one was in a drying stage – and the television would be tuned to a campy, cheesy horror movie. The only explanation I can come up with for that is that these particular movies are terrible enough where if I was in a working stage (painting, decoupaging, detailing) and my attention was elsewhere, I could easily tear my attention away from the television and not worry that I was missing some crucial element to the story, yet the movies were also amusing enough that they kept me occupied during any drying stages (which could take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes.)

I have since changed our home office into a small studio (again, thank you, dear husband, for being supportive enough to my craft for agreeing to move your half of the office elsewhere, and for bringing home the 300 pound cabinet you had at work for me to store my seats in a small warehouse environment.) I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to show my work at Boston’s Bazaare Bizarre and Somerville’s ArtBeat in Davis Square. 75% of my business is from custom orders which has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and create designs I never would have thought of. The Toiluxe Nude Collection started via a request from my landlord, for which I will forever be grateful.
My creation process is constant – I live, breathe and dream toilet seats. If I could eat toilet seats, I would probably consider it. Toiluxe has been the most satisfying creative outlet I have had in a long time. To be able to create and touch a piece of art – a piece of art that also provides total functionality – has an entirely different sense of satisfaction from the computer-based graphic design I have always done in the past.

I love what I create. My goal is to bring joy to bathrooms across America, and even beyond.

Mew for Today Visual Splendor

Mew for Today: Home Interior

09/15/2009

So we went shopping for some cute, whimsical radiating deliciousness for your home recently and you seemed to have quite a lovely time. I’ve decided to take another shopping trip but wanted to go more hi*design.. incorporating in some afforableness, of course..

Hi*design? That’s high! When you go up, where do you go next?

That’s right! To the moon!

Now let’s shoot to the moon and window shop through the windows to the world wide web with eyes open and mouths drooling, hands grabbing stars along the way.

While landscaping in the blazing sun today with the shrubs and flowers we picked up (by landscaping I mean sticking my hands into the mudded dirt (I just can’t use shovels! I have to use my hands!) and becoming lightly splattered in watery mud) I realized how much I want to really focus on my design intent next time I move into a home, as it will probably be my home for quite some time! I’ve started to grow a little tired of moving for awhile, but since I am the most indecisive person *I’ve* ever met you could ask me again in a year…

The great thing about A HOME is I can renovate and change it anyway I see fit to create my ultimate paradise. Don’t you agree? Home is your palace, whether it’s in an apartment in a lighted city or a cottage by the sea.

Dream your ultimate paradise, what do you adore about places you visit that inspire you? What aura do you want to create in your own home? What feelings and memories would you like your home to evoke? Consider that when selecting colors.. don’t just focus on neutrals, incorporate some extremes into the mix. Give it your own signature.

Some of my favorite stores online have got me twisting in my chair and drooling into my hair! If you like clean lines and bright candy-coated shells then you’ll have a blast around today’s mews. Did I also mention bunnies? Was that a given?

LAMA, Dutch by Design, Brocade Home, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, 2modern

Mise en Snap Visual Splendor

Mise en Snap: A Woman is a Woman

08/04/2009

A Woman is a Woman (Une Femme est une Femme’) is a 1961 French new wave film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It’s colorful, quirky and adorable in it’s imagery and story. I found the interior shots to be clean, bright and simple, yet quaint and kitshy-cool. Reminds me of the delicious interior eye-candy to be gorged on in each of the Jeu de Paumes books.

The film centers around the relationship of an adorable exotic dancer AngĂ©la (Anna Karina) and her live-in boyfriend, Émile (Jean-Claude Brialy). This films requires little-to-no serious thought, all of the discussions are completely trivialized and cute to watch. For instance they use book titles to argue and debate issues, pointing to titles that communicate the response that they would like to give.

AngĂ©la wants to have a child while Émile does not, all the while Émile’s best friend Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo), constantly insists that he is in love with AngĂ©la. It must be that every woman’s biological urge to have (bear, adopt, get a cat or chihuahua instead of) children kicks in at some point in their lives (even if just by passing thought!) no matter how much fun they may be having. *wink*

Have a taste!

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

a woman is a woman

DIY Recipes

Rainbow Gelatin Cake Recipe

12/15/2008

Creamy, delicious color topped with color upon color, reach the moon if you must! This cake is absolute fantasy land in a kitchen. If you take the rainbow challenge, please show us how it goes! The only thing better than eating rainbows is gazing upon them~

Rainbow Jello Cake

Feel free to print this for your recipe book/box and keep it close by for celebrations of the colorful sort.

Escapeland

Ye-Ye Girls, the French Pop Phenomenon

11/10/2008

Do you love yé-yé girls? Do you live for the fab lifestyle that shines through music, cinema and print? What a whirl! Soaking up and inspiring yourself with the technicolor yé-yé rays is enough to send any retro fangirl over the edge, so enjoy and stay cute~

go-go dancing began in the early 60s when women at the {Peppermint Lounge} in new york city began to get up on tables and dance the twist. There were many of the 60s-era clubbers who preferred their skirts mini and their boots go-go, so club owners began to pay them to dance and entertain the guests.

yé-yé started on a popular tv show and became a popular kind of singer in the beautiful and fabulous France. The only musical movement to be lead by females was mostly european (french) but it was also pretty popular in Japan. yé-yé girls had a similar mod, stylish fashion to go-go girls, being inspired by the go-go girls from the US and the UK. What wonderful thing do you think would happen if we mixed the adorable, stylish girls of the 60s in the us and the uk with the absolute sweet and beautifully creativeness France and Japan? Exactly! yé-yé is quite a delight and the music is as divine as the record covers!