Birthday treats!

So I volunteered to make a special birthday treat for a friend and co-worked yesterday. I went home, assuming I would do the traditional cupcakes... maybe a butter-cream icing... something simple, something birthday-y.

As I starred into the tv, gathering the ingredients needed in my head...all of a sudden it hit me! It hit me, right in the head...a box of rice Krispies... ok, so that didn't happen... my inspiration never really comes to me that leteral... but something did hit me...

It was Martha Stewart, on the tv... making Rice Krispie Treats.... when is the last time I had a RKT I asked myself... and off I went, into a confection dream land... and then... my kitchen.

I started out by melting a couple tables spoons of butter. Once melted, I added about 1.5 bags of miniature marshmallows. Once there were only a few lumps left, I mixed in a handful of chocolate chips...(you heard me) and stirred together until smooth. I then added Cocoa Rice Krispies and stirred and stirred until my arm fell off.

After a quick re-attachment of the dead limb, I started to make room for my 9x13 pan... just like Martha told me to. I went to put away the cupcake tin when I had another idea. I started to push a handfull of the RKT mixture into the cups of the cupcake tin. (Rub your hands down with butter before you do this step...you'll thank me later) I mounded it up and then compressed the cereal down into the cups.

After a few minutes, letting them cool down, I jabbed a fork in them, twisted them out, and voila! Perfect servings of chocolately RKT!

But I wasn't done... nope... dont just scroll down to the photos just yet, hear me out. I still had the idea of butter cream dancing in my head... and BAM! Another idea. I finished these stellar RKT's off with a piping of lavander butter-cream!

Needless to say, everyone at work loved them and the birthday well wishes were a success! I just thought I would post them here for all to steal!

OH... one last thing... these are pure sugar! If you dont have the biggest sweet tooth, I suggest adding half a teaspoon of salt to the marshmallow mixture to cut the sweet down... other than that... HAVE FUN! And Happy Birthday Kristy!!!

DIY Corner

So the past couple of months, I had this idea for some old IKEA coffee tables I had. I finally got up off my ass and did them! I apologize in advance for the crummy photography... my camera was on the wrong setting, and I couldn't tell until the photos were uploaded... and frankly, I can't un-do the tables!

First off all you will need the following supplies:
-Old Dorm Style IKEA Coffee Tables. Peeling white plastic coating optional.
-A piece of picture frame glass cut to EXACT size of the table top.
-Clear rubber bumpers. (You can get these at the framing shop while you wait for the glass to be cut.
-medium grit sand paper
-Acrylic craft paint.
After you sand the sharp edges of the glass down, drip and fling the paint on one side of the glass and a different color paint on the table top. (I put can lids under the glass so that and drips would fall below the glass, and not seep underneath.)After they both dry completly, place the rubber bumpers on the PAINT side of the table. Use liberally! place the bumpers mostly on the paint so that when flipped over, they are hidden. After enough bumpers are placed, flip the glass over and place on the table tops. VOILA!So fun... and SO EASY! both tables were transformed for around $20. Not bad... Not bad at all!

SUCCESS!

Brought 32 pieces to the show tonight and came home with 7! Everything was received very well and hopefully Apron Strings will be happy with sales to come! Thanks to everyone that stopped by... and to Richelle for keeping me company the whole time! I'll have a few pics of the display in the next few days!

First Friday

Heading downtown in two weeks for First Friday in Lancaster City! Come see me at Apron Strings in Haagar Arcade on King Street at the Market! New glassware will be shown as well as lower prices! If you have thought twice about some of my stuff on etsy, now is your chance! Typically a new line at Apron strings lasts only a few weeks! (A few days if its close to christmas!) I'll have photos to upload once the show is over! Stop by and say hi and check out some of the other great stuff at Apron Strings! See you there!

It's Been a While!

Well I wanted to post some pictures of my table at this years spring Barn Boutique! It was a fabulous day with a group of terrific vendors! I look forward to this coming falls show! Congrats to everyone for a very successful event! After selling a few things, and creating some new things, I have some work to do on my Etsy store, so please stay tuned for updated photos, items (yes martini glasses!) and some new lower prices! 

You're Fired!

I'm not sure that I even have to say anything about these fireplaces. I'll just let you have a look.

Even your S'mores would come out perfectly designed!

Where were these 3 months ago???

I think these are a GREAT idea! We recently did something like this in our bedroom, but I had to free-hand it onto 4 canvases... 

I'm glad I did it by hand.. and I could choose color, size, placement, layout...BUT... what a great way to have something exact, precise and clean!

Also check out their grandfather clocks and picture frames... I can finally live in the 2-d world I have always wanted to!

Visit them here: www.artstickonline.com

Chain Link Expense!

So I'm not sure if this is even real, or something that is purely concept, what I am sure of is that this should be mandatory! Chain Link fences are such an eye sore I think, and why not design them! How about a wood-grain pattern so when they rust, the color is an addition and not a sign that the building should be condemned!

Just an idea!

Quote of the Day...

The less something has to say, the more perfect it is.
-Andy Warhol

I do I do I do!

I came across some GREAT stuff on this site. It looks like its mostly conceptual, but all of it is great design if you ask me! Simple and to the point... the rings below are an engagement ring (left) and wedding ring(right)...

I'd say I do... even if I didn't!

http://www.trustindesign.com/site.php?page=89

Anytime cards!

Ok, ok...I'm a little late with this one... but go get them for next year! They are "The ____ Cards". What a great idea... and if you go to their website... you can punch out your own designs, and even see what other from around the world have designed. Below are a few pictures, but their website is super cool too so check it out!!

http://the-breeding-ground.com/index2.html

Wooden Mirror?

So I found this a long time ago on another design blog... designboom to be exact. and I just thought it was mind boggling. On top of it being a wooden motion detecting mirror... it sounds cool too! Finally... something to do with all of these extra scrabble pieces!!!

Crazy Little Thing Called Blog...

So this is really hard for me to do... this blog thing. It goes against every grain in my body to sit down and devote time to putting thoughts out there into nothingness. I'm really going to try and give it an effort though. I think the next few entries are going to be sort of "field experiments". No no no... not a social experiment like Tyra does on her show... No fat suit here! I would love to go shopping... a store, the mall, groceries, whatever, and take a few pictures of package and product design. "The corn flakes box shows neither corn, nor flakes... discuss". 

I also would like to announce a few new items that will be making their way to the etsy store family. Stay tuned...

What inspires me to do what I do.

The Bauhaus

This school sums up why I went into design. I have embodied many aspects of the Bauhaus before I even knew what it was. Below you will find some factual information and a few pictures. I urge you to google the school and research some of its design. Even today many of the pieces the students produced would be considered modern. They were Germany's Ikea... but without all the particle board!

This cradle is the perfect balance of design. The three elemental shapes are here; the rectangle, circle and triangle, as well as the three primary colors. I have a series of paintings I did when i was 19 that is eerily similar to this idea. This idea would also become one of the schools "backbones" of design.

Bauhaus is the common term for the Staatliches Bauhaus, a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar. In spite of its name, and the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department during the first years of its existence. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

The school existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932 and Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors: Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1927, Hannes Meyer from 1927 to 1930 and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 to 1933, when the school was closed by the Nazi regime.
This chair is something out of a contemporary interiors magazine and yet it was constructed in the mid 1920's.
This is one of the most famous designs and pieces from the Bauhaus. Pick up any book or do any research and you are bound to come across this Tea Kettle. Simple, practical, perfect.