Beers with Hats

If your beer could wear a hat, this is what I think it would wear.

(click on image to enlarge)

What do you think? I'd love to hear what beers you'd like to see wearing a hat. Leave your comments below.

Shark Attack!

I've finally finished making the last baby shower gift for a while, well...at least until July when the baby bashes start up again. This gift may be my favorite though. Shark towel puppets! Perfect for making bath time with little Billy Bob (sorry Gretchen, I know you probably won't name him that!) fun and hopefully easier.




I started out by giving the expecting mama a clue a few weeks ago. Nothing but a cryptic poem and a bar of soap with a teethy bite carved out of it. She didn't get the final piece to her puzzle until last week when she opened her gift to find this, a family of sharks. Watch out Gretchen, they bite!

Go here if you're really digging these little guys and would like to make some for yourself. (Note: all I did was vary the size of the template to get a daddy, mommy, and baby shark.)

Handmade Nation

The revolution in DIY (do-it-yourself) crafting is nothing new. Ever since blogging became accessible to the masses we've stumbled upon everything from political bloggers to culinary bloggers. From artist blogs to celebrity blogs. And you know what? I love it! I feel a thousand times more connected to the world. To be able to follow what one person is doing in another country or culture is facinating. Blogs provide a quick glimpse into many worlds. And my favorite land to explore is that of DIY crafts.

I recently came across Honestly, WTF, a site devoted to fashion (and all things cool). They have an amazing DIY section that tells you how to recreate high fashion on the cheap! I'm really looking forward to making these lace earrings. I'm telling you, anyone, and I mean ANYONE, can make this stuff.

Other worthwhile crafty blogs to check out: Instructables, Design Sponge, Craft, Craft Gossip, and Cut Out and Keep.

However, if you don't know what blogs or sites are best for you, then head over to Stumble Upon. It's like Russian roulette with websites. But prepare yourself, it's addicting!

And if you're just not a crafter, then you can buy anything and everything handmade straight from the maker at Etsy

Lace earrings from Honestly, WTF!

Put a Bird on It

There's this new show on IFC called Portlandia. It's FANTASTIC! Starring Fred Armisen (SNL) and Carrie Brownstein (member of the all-girl indie rock band Sleater-Kinney, which is no longer in existence. Sad!). If you haven't figured it out already, Portlandia is a homage to Portland, OR and it's inhabitants. It's a must see on your already full schedule of weekly shows. Go here to watch skits from the show. My favorites are Put a Bird On It, Is It Local?, and Did You Read?. The Portland Dream of the 90's is a pretty awesome song too. And once you've watched Put a Bird on It you'll appreciate the rest of this post.

Put. A. Bird. On. It! For all my fellow craftsters, you'll totally get this. Birds are on EVERYTHING. I'm guilty of putting a bird on it (see my website name and header. Ha!) and so are these Etsy sellers:

Put a bird...

...on a coin purse. Chirp and Bloom

...on a tote. Naturwrk

...on a wall. Wow Wall

...in a frame. Mengsel Design

...on a necklace. Lulu Bug Jewelry

...knit it! Cheezombie

...on a wedding cake. Country Squirrels R Us

...on a key chain. Rubbish Tees

...in a bird feeder. Trash Bird Makes

...on a shirt. KSS Maternity

...on a pillow. Bark Decor

...wearing a sweater and scarf! Joo Joo

...on a dress. All The Numbers

...on a baby. My Swallows Nest

...on a mantel. Deanna Maree

New York City, Art Edition: The Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC is one of the most amazing and impressively enormous art museums in the world. A must-do on my list of things-to-do while in NY. It was an all-day event and I only made it through about half the galleries. Shocker, I know! I fell completely in love with every piece of art within her vast walls and corridors. Here is a small sampling of some of my favorites:


Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue by Georgia O'Keeffe

Nine Jackies by Andy Warhol (Here's some interesting trivia for you, Warhol took this photo of Jackie moments before JFK was shot.)

 

Illuminated Gospel

Apartment Window: La Danse Des Fiancailles (The Engagement Ball). Cartoon by Luc-Olivier Merson, Executed by Eugene Oudinot

 Venus, marble statue by Antonio Canova

Lucas by Chuck Close

Roses by Vincent van Gogh (The great Mr. van Gogh painted this while still in the asylum.)

Serena Pulitzer Lederer by Gustav Klimt

Marguerite by Henri Matisse

Model in Kimono on Green Bench by Philip Pearlstein (Love, love, love this one!)

Richard Humphreys, the Boxer by John Hoppner

The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel

Roses and Lilies and Roses in a Bowl by Henri Fantin-Latour

Reclining Nude by Auguste Renoir

The Massacre of the Innocents by Francois-Joseph Navez (This painting takes my breath away. So deep, so emotional. I stared at it for what seemed like hours.)

Two Dancers by Edgar Degas

The Storm by Pierre-Auguste Cot

Now, run along to The Met. It's amazing in more ways than I could possibly express. Words don't do it justice. For a lasting impression and the best history lesson of your life, The Met has you covered.

Babies, Babies, Babies

I've got lots of baby showers to attend this winter so I've been busy hand-making all my gifts. Here are just a few I've done so far: pacifier clips (find tutorial here), bib and burp cloths (inspired by a craft I saw at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this summer, wish I could remember which vendor it was!), and my first ever quilt.

DIY Halloween Dress Recon

I love a good t-shirt recon but what about a dress recon? Whether it be a prom dress, brides maid dress or just that ugly, outdated dress you've had in your closet for the last 10 years, it's fun to see how creative people can be with their old dresses (click here and here to see some of my favorite recons). And what better piece of clothing to use but a dress. You've got lots of fabric to work with and the need to open up some valuable closet space. I've had just the old dress taking up way too much of my precious closet, and finally an excuse but, more importantly, a brilliant idea of what to do with it. For Halloween this year I wanted to be the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, mainly because my husband would make a perfect Mad Hatter. So I grabbed "the dress" and got to work. Here are the before and afters along with a few shots of my Mad Hatter partner-in-crime (which I also crafted and pieced together).

Before

After

New York City, Food Edition: The Main Dish

I LOOOOOVE food, about as much as I love NYC. So when I had my first opportunity to visit the Big Apple a few weeks ago, I dove right into the food scene. I had everything from massive meat sandwiches to exotic Asian fruits during my trip. So join me in a tour of all things edible found in the heart of NYC: Manhattan!

I'll just say it right now, pizza was by far my favorite NY food. I could eat it every day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even now, I still crave it. Some day I'll be back to get another slice of pie, but until then here are some of the best foods I had while hiking through the urban jungle.

This little slice of heaven was my first meal of the trip (not counting the cupcake). Ray's Pizza has a huge presence in the city so it was hard to miss it. Plus there was one just a few blocks from my hotel. It was destiny, as was this delicious slice of margherita pizza.

Stage Deli is located near the Broadway district and Times Square and also serves some of the best pastrami sandwiches in the world. I opted for this behemoth of a pastrami reuben topped with a ridiculous amount of cheese and an over-sized plate of fries. Luckily, my brother was with me and ate the other half. Be warned, these sandwiches are enormous, but also expensive (about $20 each). Clearly, they're meant for sharing. BTW, notice the deli mustard on the left. That's right, no yellow mustard here, only the good brown stuff with a bit of a kick.

Curiosity got the best of me so the following day I headed over to Carnegie Deli (Stage's rival, and only a block away) to give their pastrami a taste test. I had to find out for myself who had the best. Well, sorry Stage, but Carnegie wins this round. Sure, the plain pastrami sandwich doesn't look as amazing compared to the cheese and kraut covered 'wich from Stage, but their meat was insanely good and of better quality. Maybe it's in the meat making process, or the hundred's of celebrity photos staring back at me, but I was in pastrami bliss with this big guy.

When in Chinatown, dim sum is a must. These dumplings were teamed up with a few deep fried morsels as well, and a tall glass of sauvignon blanc. There's a lot of places to get your dim sum; Jung Fong, Golden Unicorn, Oriental Pearl, but these little pearls were consumed at the award winning Ping's Seafood.

If dumpling's aren't your thing, or you're looking for something a little more adventurous, I highly recommend ox tail curry. Instead of a side of rice, it comes with little mini fried bread loaves to soak up the juices. Boney and fatty, ox tail becomes a very tender and juicy meat in this unique dish.

Back for more pizza. I tried to get as much as I could before leaving. This time it was a slice of Hawaiian.

One last dinner before heading out so we decided to make a quick stop at Roxy Delicatessen at Times Square. I ordered a simple knish, but my travel companion, Kevin, opted for this hefty stuffed cabbage. It looked amazing and tasted just as good.