make your own paper flowers

(image source)

Links to tutorials for these kusudama flowers on Elizabeth Anne's cute website

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Pretty paper rose tutorial by dozi

robot garland

(image from Made by Rae)

Me, I’m a huge fan of robots. When I saw  this tutorial on Made by Rae, I was delighted. It’s so cheerful and fun!

There’s probably lots that you can do with these... if you have a dark-coloured wall, I imagine that robots made of aluminum foil would look really cool! Or, you could chain them vertically, or stack them in geometric patterns on the wall.

Love them!

dugong

(image source)

(image source)

I had never heard of dugongs before until someone made a reference to them the other day. I was pleasantly surprised when i looked them up-- they are adorable!

Dugongs (Tagalog for "lady of the sea") are gentle marine mammals that are closely related to the manatee. They are currently close to extinction due to being over-hunted by humans. Dugongs are herbivorous, and unlike manatees, they live strictly in marine environments.

They are so cute... I want to give one a hug.

Wikipedia article on dugongs

plastic bags --> cute shoes

I love these shoes!

They were made by a talented young woman from plastic bags that have been heated and compressed. I've made compressed plastic bag crafts before, and the result is surprisingly sturdy. These shoes look like they'd also be water-resistant and great for rainy days.

Link to source (in Spanish)

lovely moccasins

Exquisite, handmade moccasins from Darlingtonia.

somewhere, a dog barked

Illustration from this amusing article on Slate.com.

travelling

Lucerne

Basel

Basel

Bern

I had seen advertisements for the Henri Rousseau show at the famous Fondation Beyeler art gallery in Basel, Switzerland, and I was so thrilled when I actually got to go see them. It was the last day of the show, and we were super lucky to catch the opening day of the Basquiat exhibition as well. I absolutely loved it.

I was so moved by both artists' pieces... but completely unexpectedly, I was blown away by the huge Monet painting (Les Nymphéas) in one of the beautifully-lit rooms in the gallery. I've never felt any particular attraction to Monet, but seeing a real piece in person is so different than seeing photos of paintings. The colours are so much more vibrant and there is so much more depth. I felt like my eyes were swimming in a sea of colour.

We had only 45 minutes left before we had to catch our train, so we blasted through the Gabriel Orozco exhibit at the Kunstmuseum Basel. Orozco does some really interesting, highly imaginative work.

paper peony

I saw this wonderful tutorial by the amazing Dana of Dana Made It and just had to try it with our green napkins.

I altered it a little bit from the original-- I used regular kleenex for the white centre, pulled each ply apart, and cut separate petals out of each layer so that it would resemble a peony.

Super quick (ten minutes or so) and cute!

mucha♥

I'm in love with paintings by Alphonse Mucha.




I've printed a few out and mounted them on cardboard to hang on my wall... so pretty!

diy centrepiece

the centrepiece/candelabra pictured above is made from thrifted chinaware, found here. it's lovely and simple, and i'm tempted to make one myself.

i've become completely obsessed with various eco-friendly diy blogs recently. i've always loved making things and trying to save the environment, but i had no idea that there were so many great blogs out there that meld those two. i think something good did come out of the recession... it's forcing people to be creative and resourceful, not to mention non-wasteful.

here's a few of the blogs:
http://www.diylife.com/
http://portovert.com/
http://www.shoestringmag.com/

the wonders of wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_hypnotism

best subheading ever: "notable people who have discussed chicken hypnotism"

not nearly as funny, but related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trout_tickling