Category Archives: Stuff to make

Jessica Brilli at Salvage

Posted in Boston, Home Design, Things to see by

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I’m not sure how the very hip store, Salvage, found its way to my neighborhood (a happy one, but not particularly hip). Nevertheless, we are blessed with a store front full of mid-century teak and things the shape of kidney beans. I like to go in and gawk at the old-timey artifacts of my (recent?) past–cameras, typewriters, telephones with curly cords.

paintings, peconic

Last time, I wandered in, I found these Jessica Brilli paintings on display. She likes the old stuff, too.

I’d love to buy a Brilli–or a whole pod of them (a gaggle? a flock? what’s the word for a horde of paintings?). I’m short on cash but maybe we could make a trade.  Jessica, how about I’ll paint triangles on your staircase in exchange for the typewriter on red?

paintings, untitled

paintings, bicycle

Flight o’ fancy

Posted in Home Design, Stuff to make by

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Pop the champagne!  If you’re wondering where to find me, I’m in the back hall, hanging with the cat. Just looking. Resting on my laurels, as they say, while the cat rests on his kitty butt. The job is done.

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Or almost done. There’s the matter of polyurethane, but I’m thinking of hiring that one out. So I can keep resting on my laurels.

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If you stare long enough, you will see triangles in your sleep.

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Stairs in Progress

Posted in Home Design by

Hmmm. Should I have made this project less complicated? Maybe.

So far, there’s been a lot of taping. I’d say about three parts taping to one part painting, not the happiest ratio. Not to mention the significant amount of time I’ve spent cleaning paintbrushes.

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If you can’t tell what I’m up to, let me summarize: triangles. So far, I have red, pink, and yellow, but soon I’ll add orange and white. (For Benjamin Moore acolytes, I’m referring to Red, Strawberry Sorbet, Sun Kissed Yellow, Tangelo, and Simply White.) By the way, these are my back steps–used mostly for grocery schlepping, muddy boot stomping, and kitty box visits. So does it really matter how it turns out? Well, after drawing all those little triangles, taping and painting, I can honestly answer: Yes. It really does matter how it turns out.

Wish me luck and a steady hand.

Painted Stairway to Heaven

Posted in Home Design, Stuff to make by

OK, after the euphoria from my ombre* porch swing project finally died down, I’ve been fixating on what glorious thing I could do bedazzle and otherwise beautify my back staircase. I mean, look at all the possibilities:

Source: La Belette Rose

I’m so inspired (read confused) that I’m in a state of inertia. I keep reminding myself that it’s just the back staircase–it’s where the litter box is, for God’s sake! We’re not talking about the grand entrance of Tara in Gone With the Wind. Whatever I manage to do to the stair risers, they’re going to be scuffed and sprinkled in kitty litter, so it should be all in good fun.

*ombre–for folks who don’t frequent Pinterest and aren’t in the know about the world of ombre, the term is French for shaded. It’s very, very sophisticated.

Cardboard Boat Race 2013

Posted in Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

Would you build a boat out of cardboard, cover it in copious amounts of duct tape, and set it afloat (with your children inside) in the Hudson River? Apparently, I would. And I did.

Well, to be more accurate, my kids were set afloat in the narrowest part of the Hudson River, which is located in Schyulerville, New York, where they host the annual Hudson Crossing Park Cardboard Boat Race. And it might be a stretch to imply that I built the boat, because I contributed to the effort not at all. My husband, my kids, and Pop did the work, with Gramma making countless runs to the hardware store for duct tape.

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Our boat (modeled after a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda–don’t even ask) was wobbly but it didn’t capsize–at least until its second race. A group of local firemen had the most spectacular collapse of the event. They dive-bombed their own craft mid-river, earning themselves the coveted Titanic Award. Yet no matter how you do in the Cardboard Boat Race, it’s a transient glory. Afterward, the soggy boats wilt into an amorphous sponginess, and most are unceremoniously tossed in a dumpster nearby. Until next year!