Can Your Car Do This?

Finally put this sticker on the car. LOVE IT! Get your own here, if your car is worthy.

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Pop-Up LEGO Buddhist Temple

I've always been a huge fan of LEGOs, but I was the type of kid who followed the exact directions on the box and then never dismantled my structures. I bow to those makers who can create their very own design with LEGOs as their medium.

This replica of the Kinkaku-ji Zen Buddhist temple in Tokyo actually pops up out of its "box", and was made by the very talented talapz.

[via Laughing Squid]

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Workforce

It's that time of year where our "to-do" pile fills a room, and the "done" pile is very nearly as tall as I am. I took some time to clean the house for our housewarming party tomorrow, and I'm going to spend a good while baking goodies. It's a good thing we've gotten Lea to help us get some work done!

I'm about to unveil our new policies and rates for custom orders, so join our mailing list here if you'd like the scoop. Only newsletter subscribers will be able to order custom items, so don't miss out!

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Keeping Up With the Johnsons

Our house projects seem to have stalled out for a little bit since we went on our trip, but I'm relieved and inspired to know that other people are dealing with similar projects at this very moment!

Garth Johnson (Extreme Craft) and his wife, Claire, have a fantastic new blog on the ReadyMade website, which is all about the purchase and remodel of their first home. The house is a lovely Victorian in Eureka, CA, (complete with 100-year-old wallpaper) which the two artists are giving a total makeover.


Luckily, we didn't have to peel wallpaper in order to paint our own walls, but we did have to do some minor plumbing work under the kitchen sink, and I loved reading about Garth's similar experience where he used a paintball gun barrel to attach his dishwasher to the garbage disposal. Our house may not have the same character as their classy Victorian, but their story is helping motivate me to keep working on it!

[all photos are Garth and Claire's from their blog.]

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There and Back Again

Boy, has it been a busy week. We just got back from our trip to Massachusetts, and I haven't quite processed the mounds of work waiting for us at home. Today is Sean's birthday, so it's a good excuse to take it easy.


Speaking of taking it easy, I hurt my back on our second day out (re-aggravating an old injury in a pretty severe manner), and I've been walking around with this awesome cane every since. Pretty great. I hate feeling crippled, but I should be back to normal in a month or so.


Portland has pretty much everything, as far as I'm concerned, except for a few foodie favorites. We made sure to each a bunch of Italian-style subs while in Boston, plus some fantastic pork and veggie burritos from Anna's Taqueria, Indian food (I had goat vindaloo for the first time!) from Punjabi Dhaba, and the obligatory Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. If you find yourself in New England and haven't enjoyed any of these simple delights, please try them immediately.


I'm thrilled that we were able to make the wedding favors for my sister's wedding, and we spent our first afternoon filling them with candy and curling ribbons. The musical note heart design was the groom's original artwork, which we etched onto these fantastic recycled glass bottles. The M&M's and chocolate mints were a huge hit with all the guests!


We ended up making too many bottles for the number of guests that could attend, so we'll be adding these to our shop for Valentine's Day next year. They'd make great bud vases, or vials for holding decorative sand or super-mini terrariums! I think I'll have to keep a couple for myself...

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Pre-Vacation Stress

Wow, this is my 200th post! Pretty exciting, eh? I feel like I should celebrate somehow...

Instead, I'll ramble a bit about the crazy stuff going on in my life, in case you're interested. Because I like lists, I'll format it so it's easier to get through.

1. Every day, we fix something important on our house (rewiring electrical outlets, caulking windows, patching missing siding, removing broken garbage disposals, etc.), and every day, we discover something new that needs to be done (broken ductwork in the crawlspace, more scary electrical outlets, doorknobs that don't fit on their doors, etc.). It's rewarding, but exhausting.

2. We're about to travel across the country to my little sister's wedding. We have so much planned for this trip, including visits with all manner of friends and family, for every minute of our excursion to the east coast. I've even got business meetings scheduled, just to cover all the bases.

This will be a long time away from our cat, and from the business and the house and all the projects we've started. It's really difficult for me to leave, even though I'm excited about the vacation. There's so much we have to do to get ready for this trip.

3. My friend, Lea, has just started helping us out with business stuff. She's a total life-saver! We're really behind on making stock for the holidays, and she's started coming over to lend a hand. Yay, Lea!!

4. Even though we're going away for a week, I don't like to shut down my website. I don't want people to think we're out of business, or anything. Instead, I pray that people don't mind waiting a few extra days for items to ship. Then, when we return, I drop everything and spend 2-3 days packing and shipping everything like a crazy woman. It's a fabulous system.

5. I want to organize a housewarming party for our friends, but I'm still kind of embarrassed about the disaster that is our house. I hope people can look past the fugliness and see the potential that we see. DETAILS TO COME.

6. I feel out of sorts, discombobulated, and topsy-turvy right now. I'm really grateful that people are so forgiving, but I wish I could be more on top of things. I'll make it up to everyone, I promise. There will be baked goods.

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