Weekly devotional: 8.25.14

I was so excited to get a weekly devotional out on Friday, like the good old days...but I woke up on Friday SO SICK.  No really--no one in the history of the world has ever been as inconvenienced by a head cold as I currently am.  So insert insensitive Ebola comparison here, and then check out some internet goodness.  It keeps.

Vogue, Vogue, Vogue.  It loves Instagram, and I usually don't care about its pics for top fashion instagrams of the week since I know I'm not gonna be on it.  BUT....it had a handy list of the Best Florists to Follow on Instagram. Don't mind if I do.

But you know who I just started following on Instagram?  Geronimo Balloons.  They came up with the tassels attached to 3 foot balloon fad, but apparently they also do crazy balloon installations all over LA.  Like covert street art surprise installations--frankly, that is the best use of a trust fund I can imagine.  

Everyone loves a round-up, no?  And flush mounts are always tricky...necessary, but rarely interesting.

Making it Lovely

I was hunting for the link to the roundup above on Making it Lovely, and I saw some nice mood boards...you can find even more (this is the second set).  They are pitching 2 pottery barn chairs...which are frankly my least favorite things on the board.  (And she just went to Morocco).

Making it Lovely

Get ready to feel old--Troop Beverly Hills is 25 years old.  And to celebrate, Jezebel ranked every outfit Shelley Long wears in the film.  (You might save this one if you've got a painful conference call this week--definitely something you can concentrate over and yet so, so good).

I'm thinking I need to watch this movie again.

I might be at the point where I could use some houseplants.  Here is a great place to start.

I know that on paper houseplants can be a good styling item but I think they are easy to screw up, and usually my house is so messy they'd be lost in the clutter.  But since Henry's temporary nanny cleans my house everyday and apologizes for it, it is a good time to try them out.  I will miss her when she goes in November.

Do you feel like reading something?  This article in GQ about the Hermit of the North Pond was good.  Do you feel like watching something stupid?  Weird Al's video on Word Crimes (parodying Blurred Lines) will make you feel bad about your internet age sloppiness (blog reference--ouch, point taken).  I know--he is still alive and doing that stuff.  Who knew?  Do you want to know what the kids are watching?  Click below.  

Yeah, my 4 year old knows almost all the words to this thanks to constant radio play.  And yes, I feel a little bad about that.  But what is up with this aesthetic?  It's so peculiar--right?

What can cosplay do for you?

via (I just liked this Murakami peice in Pharrell Williams house...admittedly a tangent)

Last week/end was GenCon in Indianapolis.  Downtown workers' favoritest convention, because this is what is walking around at lunch:

#gencon14 on google image search

I was at a client site on Friday, and someone in IT was dressed as Black Widow...all day, because she was leaving to go to GenCon after work.  GenCon is a table games convention...so like Dungeons & Dragons, but it is my favoritest because apparently table game players are also into Cosplay.

Anybody know what she is supposed to be? via

"Cosplay" is short for costume play, and wikipedia says that it "is a performance art in which participants, called cosplayers, wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually identified with a unique name."  "Performance Art" seems a bit lofty for freaks and geeks, but if it's on wikipedia it must be so.  As these costumed citizens walk around I think "Good for you" and I applaud their bravado. But don't worry, I'm still Judgey McJudgerston over here--I would not think that if my sibling was dating one.

My Dad once told me that excessive realism is the indulgence of my generation.  I think I was explaining how I had to make tiny cupboards for Char's play kitchen because it is inaccurate to make your kid store sauce pans in the stove and dry goods and silverware in the fridge.  As an aside, I am totally obsessed with that statement and want to write a Roland Barthe "Rhetoric of Image" type essay on it in my next life.  I mean, EA Sports...the decline of live theatre patrons and the move of writing talent to TV and movies....the change in toys with robotics and microcmoputers.  So you may hear the statement again, but anyhoo. Apparently, cosplay folks, or cosplayers (thanks Wiki), and I have more in common that I readily admit.  

Cosplayers are excellent internet-age citizens.  First off, they have really changed internet sourcing for the better.  Case in point:  Halloween.  Now, I'm trying to require my kids to use what they've got this year because this is an example of a random costume that hasn't seen trick or treating (note the full rack and wigs behind her) and I've got some big expenses coming up.  And I'm putting it in writing so when you see me start obsessing or pinning to the contrary, hold me accountable.

Not too shabby, right?  For a "free" halloween?

BUT....originally, Molly wanted to be Elsa and Charlotte wanted to be Catwoman, and I had a 12 hour car ride to play on my phone in July.  All the Elsa costumes are ballgowns as opposed to that awesome slinky "Let it Go" ice queen look.  It is the same problem we had with Tinkerbell, but Elsa is beyond my sewing capabilities.  Enter Cosplay.  

Yep, you can custom order this from China in any size..from Molly to me...for a little more than the Disney Store (and about the same price as the new Chasing Fireflies' licensed Elsa costume). Not to give 100% of the win to cosplay--thank you, China, for your cheap manufacturing and fearless misappropriation of Disney trademarks.

For Charlotte, the new Anne Hathaway packaged costumes are lacking so I figured I could hit a dance site for a unitard (or leggings + turtleneck leotard)...and hit Etsy to see what CRAZY Catwoman stuff the cosplayers are selling.  I was not disappointed.

1,2,3

These are made of leather and they are kinda amazing.  They sure beat the pants off the uncomfortable plastic masks from Target, Amazon, etc.  Here are some of the other leather masks offered by cosplay etsy sellers:

1,2,3,4

I mean, how awesome is that fox?  I even like it as wall art.  The one part you will have to overlook in cosplay sourcing is that it often bleeds into some crazy fetish stuff.  Even Wiki acknowledged it.  For example, here is Poison Ivy, a Catwoman-ish thing, and a scary pig from the sites linked above.

Oh my.  But non-cosplay fetish vibes surfaced on a sourcing quest a few years ago when I wanted a child sized metallic pink unitard for a Pink Diamond costume, a super hero Charlotte made up.  Really, humanity? (Serves me right for trying to source stuff at work--I never found one smaller than a child 7, btw).  It seems to be impossible to avoid a sex-based subculture these days.  Or so I tell myself when I blindly inquire into child-sized catwoman masks.

The other place cosplayers are your friend is DIY and materials.  I have to quickly make cactus centerpieces for Cinco de Molly in November, and so far the Pinterest trials are flopping.

via

The above was time consuming for low impact (read Pinterest fail), and paper mache seemed even more time consuming, so I thought about expanding spray foam (which I learned can be carved into shapes by a kid in my dorm who was working on an avant guarde theater production involving life size puppets).  You know who is all over expanding foam?  Cosplayers.  Here are two informative reviews (1, 2) on using foam.  I mean, if they can do this how hard are cartoony cacti?

The downside, it turns out, is that you must cover the foam before you paint it.  What might you cover it in?  According to the sites, paper clay or paper mache...or Sintra, Worbla or Wonderflex.  I had to google these...they are all plastic materials you can shape, mold etc. with very little heat (warm water, steam, etc.)  They stick to themselves in varying degrees, are paintable, and relatively cheap.  (And paper clay, which has come up on Design Sponge, etc., is also cool stuff).

this is made out of worbla....via

I have not figured out what Ikea hack or DIY decorative item these materials will facilitate but I feel confident it will come up some day soon.  My thesis here is that today this stuff is for cosplay, but tomorrow it will be middle-aged-white-woman-pinterest fodder.  Here are some inspiration pics to get the creative juices flowing.

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I don't know what the learning curve is with this stuff, but the possibilities seem endless based on the costumes that are out there.

So what is your take on Cosplay--am I a jerk and you secretly want to dress up like Princess Zelda and walk around town?  Do you dress up like Princess Zelda? Are you the internet citizen to trump the vaguely unsatisfying hardware shim sunburst mirror and dowel sunburst mirror DIY options?

Back to School

Is there anything better than crisp, clean paper and the smell of crayons?  I don't think there is. Back-to-school is the time to load up on office supplies and art supplies.  It will piss you off when you look for uniballs or crayola markers next month and they are twice the price.  I stock up for the year and grab extra crayola stuff for birthdays.  A lot of "student grade" art supplies will be available--think oil pastels and acrylic starter kits.  Also, graph paper is very hard to find any other time of year and graph paper is great for (a) looking science-y or (b) sketching floor plans and furniture ideas without a computer.  

Don't have a class list?  Awesome.  It's that time of year--treat yo' self.

1. Sharpies--just don't get high.
2. Graphic Tees 4EVR.  Make sure you wear a good bra if you're a grown-up.
3. A shiny to-do list notebook from my fav office supply site
4. A nice leather tote from Madewell, like you are too good for flashy brands instead of too poor.
5. Taking your lunch is always a good idea--hit up the Mom Blogs this season for healthy ideas. The kids can eat cheetos, but I've got to lose weight.  
6. This is the best pencil in the entire world.  No, seriously--like that's its thing.  Quality over quantity, ladies.
7. Awesome kicks will make you look hip and help you avoid the "euro-comfort" section.

Get out of my head

Going back to work has been tricky.  Not the most inspiring time, shall we say?  But I felt like a blog post was due--I assume that is how people who workout feel when their workout routine is interrupted.  So without further ado, here are some (perhaps half baked) things I've been thinking about posting.

Ikea Hack.....Docksta

Note:  this ain't  gonna blow you away.  But as a good citizen of the internet, I felt a responsibility to put this out there.  Because my google image search of Docksta hacks didn't include a Docksta repair......

This weekend, I attached a new table top to my Docksta.  I like the classic Ikea Docksta table, but the top did not hold up to my kids.  Within a year, there was a tear in the "foil" and the particleboard underneath swelled.  After a while, it looked dirty all the time.  Since I still can't afford a real Tulip Table, I bought a new tabletop here (check out their headboards, too). We used stain +Poly from Minwax, which I don't recommend, although a friend told me it might be that the wood is really paint grade (birch plywood).

You might note that at $134, a new top is almost as much as a new table ($199).  And you would be right, obviously.  But I wasn't ready to spend more than that and I wanted very specific dimensions--39", which is smaller than the Docksta.  So here is how it went down.

The Nursery...

This Miles Redd design was in my nursery folder...because I originally read the doors as dark green (are they teal?).  Anyhoo, I love citron + racingstripe green.  So I want to paint Henry's roller blinds that apple-y green....but with giant silver stars on them.

via

I'm thinking about ordering decals because--as you know--I have some hang-ups about stenciling.  So I'm researching acrylic medium, which turns any acrylic paint into fabric paint.  I've used the Martha Stewart version to paint tinkerbell's ballet shoes neon green.

This weekend I hope to gather supplies and implement over the next two weekends.

Catalogues........

As head of this Church, it pains me to tell you that in my time of sleeplessness and despair I have all but abandoned catalogues.  The mountains of unopened mail...well, all but the bills and a few specials (Serena & Lilly, Dwell) were tossed. But that pre-internet love was rekindled by realizing I had been missing out on some major cheap lighting developments.  But now I have to research why a brass floor lamp in yesterday's West Elm catalogue is not online...in the meantime, here are some vintage inspired chandy's for those of us who lack the patience to ebay one under $500.

here

here

And this nursery post from Land of Nod was a wake-up call that I need to study their publications better:

I mean, that is a great floor lamp.  And campaign furniture?

here

here

Also, I think my living room may need some levity:

But since it definitely needs a rug and a coffee table, Abracadabra will have to wait. In the meantime, I'll be interviewing after-school nannies from care.com, researching for an post on cosplay (get excited...there is a purpose), and googling bubblepainting techniques.  

Reader request: bed side pendants

The Church received a request to assist in sourcing pendants to hang over bedside tables in lieu of lamps.

At first the request stumped me, as I typically find myself trying to find more places for table lamps.  But I went online, as I always do, to find some nice examples that aren't all Trading Spaces-ish.  Desire to Inspire had a lovely round-up of inspiration based on a similar reader request:

And the new-to-me website Designlike had a roundup of bedside pendants as well.  

There are a gazillion pendants out there at places like lampsplus.com and Shades of Light, and you can spend hours going through them all.  The most important thing is going to be scale (I'd tape some paper to the wall to visualize, if not hang something).  Next is going to be balance with the other elements (i.e., materials) in the room.  As those are not possible from my couch, I will turn a blind eye to such concerns and focus on what I do know:  we have this wallpaper as a focal wall and a low, platform bed (upholstered in a charcoal woven) with an overall vibe that is not super formal/traditional.  With table lamps, I would have wanted a shiny pop of color a la a glazed gourd lamp..maybe yellow, purple, emerald green....But if they are hanging from the ceiling I am leaning towards keeping it simple (or at least tonal).  So my top three are (drumroll):

Tom Dixon, at $535 a peice

Black drum shade (this one is here for $99)

Land of Nod's Atom, $169

I originally came up with a DUMP of pendants, and I thought that wasn't too helpful (especially b/c I'm still Mac illiterate and can't arrange them round-up style).  But since I don't know the end-goal, here are a few more pendants that might work.....

I think these glass globes have potential, and I think mercury glass could be delightful...

Here

Here

Variations on the drum shade theme are always nice.....although I'm getting a little tired of the chandelier inside the drum shade--am I being overly harsh?  Perhaps better phrasing is that it has its place, but it is not exciting.

Here

Here

Ikea comes through with a variety of punchy, modern pendants that are cheap...

The dark horse site was Land of Nod.  Lotsa cute pendants, including 2 in the top three.  I also never tire of the Plumen bulbs; I think you'd use 2 or three, no? [PS--google image search Plumen bulbs...so much goodness]

Also, if you want something crazy this etsy shop does custom pieces...I found these sort of intriguing, no?

OK churchmembers, what say you?  Did I miss something?  Anybody have any experience with the pendant bedside lamp (i.e., good for reading)?  Let's crowds ource this lighting answer.

Additional Reading for pendant seekers:

• Design Sponge Pendants Under $100
• DIY Pendant Roundup
• Design Milk's 12 Rooms with Copper Pendants