I Love This Mix of 50s Decor With Modern - So Cute!

Get the Look Decor: Old Charm

Story by Iheartmoustaches

Published on July 24, 2011 in Shop

Photo by TangerineHome

This weekend’s Get the Look Decor is inspired by the 1940s bungalow of Amy Burkhart, her husband and two cats. They’ve worked hard to preserve and restore their San Diego home’s architectural details while maintaining a modern feel. Visit Amy on Flickr for more photos of her home renovation.

How would you describe your home decorating style?
We live in a old area of central San Diego surrounded by 1920s Craftsman and Spanish houses. Although we both have very modern taste, we love old houses and the wonderful details that accompany them. Our goal has been to preserve and/or restore the original architecture and details of our house, but to also let our modern side come out in the decorating. Our home decor is a mixture of vintage and modern, neutrals with pops of vibrant colors and a lot of natural woods and plants.

[Top row, left to right: MG-4 Credenza Side Board by lunarloungedesign; Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs by hurstdesigns; Danish Modern Teak Coffee Table by groovygirl60; Middle row, left to right: Retro Pillow Cover by vintagerenewal; White Shag Flokati Rug by loft4027; West German Pottery Vase by GoGoBerlinette; Bottom row, left to right: White Partridge Bird Figurines by leenakatehome; Recycled Wood Wall Hanging by duncndonut; Concrete Table Lamp by atstuart]

Did you decide to decorate in this style or was there an evolution to your decorating process?
I love the clean lines and beautiful wood of mid-century modern furniture. We already had a few pieces before we moved into the house,  but there was no real plan. We have decorated around the pieces we already had collected and it continually evolves as we fix up the space. We just go with what feels right and what we are attracted to.

[Top row, left to right:Wood Leather Sofa Reclaimed Oak Couch by KeystoneVintageLumbr; Orange Blossom Pillow Cover by ModernMarvelousHome; American Modern Coffee Table by openairmodern; Bottom row, left to right: Mango Season Art Print by PuffedPeonies; Orange and Brown Funky Ashtray by leeannsvintagedecor; Honeycomb Pillow by notwithoutmerit]

Where are your favorite places to shop for home items?
I have found some awesome deals on Craigslist and eBay, but I also like to shop on Etsy for items like linens, pillows, vintage items and artwork. I love unique handmade items and knowing where they come from! When we have time, we like to look for items at swap meets; we have found some really great treasures, like our old Polaroid land camera, which not only works but looks great on display!

[Top row, left to right: Kolbii Air Plant On Wood Slice by plantology; PDF Tutorial - GreenWall Vertical Garden by GreenWallNL; Tea Cup Light by tytie; Bottom row, left to right: Mid Century Walnut Dining Table by retrogradela; Mint Condition Yashica Mat LM by marginwalker55; Light Blue Pottery Canister by ModishVintage]

What inspires you when it comes to decorating?I have such a huge passion for decorating and design! I have had so much fun transforming this house from something with good bones into a rich, warm space filled with our personality.

[Top row, left to right: Stunning Hand-Built Solid Oak Desk by tobyhardman; Giclee Print, Number 3 Series by paintsquare; Eames Chair by Libbie; Pineapple Tillandsia Air Plant by EcoPrint; Bottom row, left to right: Small Tuck Pot with Drainage by PigeonToeCeramics; Samsonite Train Case by ACESfinds]

What is your favorite part of your home?
My favorite thing is that’s ours and we can do anything we want to it! I also love that we now have room to work — me on my handmade housewares and my husband on his music and electronics. We also have our very own backyard that we plan to makeover in the next few months. Before we purchased this house we lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment with no outside space, so we really appreciate what we have now.
Wanting to make her first home feel like her own, Amy decided to combine her love for art, graphic design, sewing and photography within a collection of pillow covers, tea towels, placemats and napkins. Visit her shop, TangerineHome for handmade decor for the modern home and stop by her blog for home projects, renovation updates and inspirations.

Looking for more styles and interiors? Check out our video series, There’s No Place Like Here, where creative types show us their unique spaces — infused with their aesthetic and filled with the treasures they collect. Get involved and show us your amazing space in this Flickr pool.

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/get-the-look-decor-old-charm/?ref=fp_blog_title#comment

I want RYAN to be the new Bachelor! Sob!

I was so heart-broken last night when Ashley (stupid girl!) let Ryan go on The Bachelorette!  She didn't even give him 1/2 a chance.  He never got a 1 on 1 until last night, and then she didn't even keep him until evening and give him time.  She interrupted him in mid-sentence to say "Ya know, I'm not feeling it". 
He was stunned and sad, to say the least.  He couldn't finish a sentence when they were trying to do the post-interview.  I wanted to reach into the TV screen and hug him.  Mom & I were yelling, "Make him the new Bachelor!" and I hope others were feeling the same way.

I don't understand why all the guys in the house disliked Ryan so much.  Is it annoying to be happy and optimistic?  Well, then I guess I must get on a few people's nerves, because that's how I try to be.  Who wants to be a lifeless dud who never shows emotions and never tries to look on the bright side?  Not me.

I hope the producers like Ryan as much as we do and invite him back.  He's intelligent, passionate about his job and environment, fun and loving....the perfect Bachelor!  You Go, Ryan!  So what if Ashley didn't appreciate you.  There are plenty of smarter fish in the sea - fish that don't cry and say "I don't know" all the time.  Talk about annoying...

Great Idea...Don't Buy It - Borrow or Trade it!

Noted: Collaborative Consumption

Story by chaps676

Published on July 11, 2011 in Read

Photo by Gabriele Quaglia on Flickr

I was recently hit with the insatiable desire to revisit my childhood through the eyes of Nancy Drew. Knowing that the series sits dormant on bookshelves across the country, I refused to plunk down my hard-earned money for a new copy at a book store. I walked to the local library to quell my nostalgia, only to be met by locked doors. (Ah, Sunday!) I found myself wishing there was a tool or app that would show people in my area who have Nancy Drew books available for borrowing. After doing a little research, I discovered I wasn’t the only person yearning for a simple method for efficiently and sustainably locating the goods I want.

Collaborative consumption, a movement recently highlighted by Morgan Clendaniel for Co.Design, encourages communities to monetize their unused goods through a system of borrowing. Zip Car and bike sharing programs are excellent examples of rethinking consumption, enabling people to borrow a method of transportation for the few hours it’s needed. “You might own some tools that you never use, or perhaps you have a backyard that you just don’t have the time to do anything interesting with,” explains Clendaniel. “Today, they can look like revenue streams, not wastes of money.”

Yet more important than making some extra money, collaborative consumption might just free us from the burdens that come along with ownership. “What’s truly important about collaborative consumption is much more world-altering than just supplementing incomes,” says Clendaniel. “If you don’t need to buy a circular saw or a leaf blower just to use them once a year, but can use one when you need it, it could fundamentally impact how we consume.”

Sharing is one of the first lessons taught to children. Can it continue to remain a fundamental tenet in our adult lives?

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/noted-collaborative-consumption/?ref=fp_blog_title

How to Make Cool Zig-Zag Rocker Shorts

Zigzag Shorts

Story by julieincharge, yomissnicole

Published on June 14, 2011 in Make

Photo by yomissnicole

When a heat wave rolls in, I find myself reaching for sandals, sun tea, and scissors for snipping old outfits into something more summery. For this week's How-Tuesday, Etsy Admin Nicole Licht (a.k.a. yomissnicole) and her daughter Lucia (a.k.a. Luciaa) penned a post on transforming a pair of bland second-hand jeans into some rock star quality duds with a few household materials and some geometric ingenuity.

I love combing through my closet and drawers at the beginning of each new season. More often than not, potential springs forth in something once overlooked. For summer, my sweet teen, Lucia, and I worked together using thrifted jeans, masking tape, bleach and an old studded belt, to create some killer summer shorts. Super fun and super easy — rock on!

Supplies you’ll need:

• Natural bristle paintbrush
• Old jeans
• Metal studs reclaimed from a studded leather belt
• 2 cardboard rectangles cut the length and width of the legs of the shorts you’ll be cutting
• 1” masking tape
• 7 : 8  bleach to water solution

Directions:

1. Dig through your closest and find that pair of jeans that you’ve been thinking of cutting into shorts.

2. Cut them down to a bit longer than you might want them to be.

3. Using masking tape, create a zigzag pattern. Try and leave about 1” between each tape zigzag.

4. Insert cardboard into the shorts. This will keep the bleach from seeping though to the other side.

5. After laying the shorts flat in your bathtub, paint the bleach solution on the exposed jean zigzags. Let sit for about 15 minutes.

6. Remove cardboard inserts and rinse. After a few minutes, remove masking tape and finish rinsing out all bleach residues. Hang to dry.

7. Remove studs from an old belt, if you have one, making sure to bend prongs outward. (You can also use new metal studs.)

8. Lie out studs on jeans and poke the prongs through the fabric. Use pliers to bend back prongs and secure.

9. Try on your shorts and perfect the length. Trim away any additional inches.

Voila!

How Not to Kill Your Kids' Dreams ??

Teaching Kids to Think Big

Story by calebgardner

Published on June 13, 2011 in Read

Photo by Andrew d'Entremont on Flickr

Caleb Gardner is an amateur father and husband who writes at The Exceptional Man and dabbles in photography, design, and music. When listening to the cacophony of modern-day America, Caleb prefers a side of Scotch. He calls Chicago home, and in winter, less-nice things.

I recently saw an adorable video by Red Balloon, an English-language school in Brazil. The students say what they want to be when they grow up, and the school makes them official business cards for their chosen profession – even if it happens to be “Dinosaur Hunter.”



Imagine if we were all given this degree of creative freedom from such a young age. We start with this kind of imaginative power and the uninhibited ability to create any sort of future for ourselves — then “growing up” becomes growing to fit into any number of predetermined societal boxes. What I like about Red Balloon's project is that it gives these kids something tangible, something they can literally hold in their hands in order to remember how big their dreams were. (Plus the cards are just cool. I really want the “Ninja Ghost Super Hero” one for myself.)

My son isn’t yet at the point where he’s dreaming of being a dinosaur hunter, but this video got me thinking about how to eventually do something like this for him. He’s just at the age where his imagination is starting to bloom, and my wife and I see it as something fragile that needs to be cultivated. We want to be intentional about it. His imagination – or lack thereof – will affect his entire life.

In my experience, parents are often the ones who end up inhibiting big dreams in their children – not for sinister reasons, of course, but because “real life” demands a certain level of grounding; one can’t always play, so he'll have to buckle down and get to work. My wife and I will also have to eventually pass along these modern-day mores, and therein lies the rub: how do we let him think as big as “dinosaur hunter” while impressing upon him common sense and work ethic? How do we encourage him to keep his head in the clouds, while keeping his feet moving on the ground?

Photo by Red Balloon

My parents always focused on the outputs of what they saw as a successful life: get a steady job, get married, have kids, open a 401(k), die as materially well-off as possible. Their motivations were pure, of course, and I think there is something to be said about each generation working hard to help the next get a foot in the door. But I think this is where we can change the definition of success for our son. I’d much rather encourage him to do something he loves, to make a difference, to think for himself – to live life to the fullest. The outputs can be a natural extension of that, but I’d rather focus on the outcomes of a life well-lived.
Thankfully we have a few years until we seriously have to think this through, but until then I’d love to hear from some more experienced parents about how you tackle this challenge. How do you help your kids “think big”? Any tips for the rest of us?

I love getting postcards from around the world with Postcrossing!

My friend Wendy told me about a website called Postcrossing at http://www.postcrossing.com/, where you send and receive postcards to and from people all around the world. It's so cool!
The way it works is, you can send up to 5 postcards at a time to randomly selected people in the world, and as they arrive, you are randomly assigned to other folks for them to send to you.
The ones that are the best include a photo and written message about a special place in that area and a personal message from the sender.
I have sent cards to Germany, Brazil, UK, Lithuania, Russia, China, Taiwan, Belarus, Croatia, and The Netherlands.
So far I've received cards from Brazil and China, and the senders told me a little something about the place shown on the card, like the clay people that are believed to keep ghosts away.
I love that the website tracks your miles too, so you can get kind of competitive with friends about it too.
And you can exchange cards directly with people too instead of just being random about it. I always include my address on the postcards so the one who receives it is welcome to send me a card as well.
Like there's a girl in Lithuania who's doing postcrossing for a school project, and she offered to send cards back, so I've asked her to send a card to my sons, because they love to get mail, and I think they'll enjoy receiving a postcard from Lithuania. I will be able to show them on the site where Lithuania is and how many miles the card had to travel.