Cantilever lamp & teenage daydreaming

A long time ago I read in one of those cheesy horoscope books and pored over the romantic matches that are best for my sun sign, Pisces.  This was in my late teens when I had all the time in the world and therefore spent it on astrology.  I think I needed something or someone (besides my parents) telling me that I was not going to be a gawky awkward person forever and find love.  Now I realize that a lot of those astrological personality descriptions can apply to many people - but one thing in particular still stands out in my mind.  Pisces (woman) and Taurus (man) are supposed to be a good match - one of the reasons being that a Taurus guy can materialize a Pisces's gal's ideas.

I have found this to be true especially during Mr. Z and my home furnishing endeavors.  There have been several ideas I've had that he made physically possible.  Most recently, this cantilever lamp...

We needed a light above our dining table but didn't want to bother with mounting a light on the ceiling and dealing with electrical issues.  Instead it's mounted on the wall, and the switch is the little aluminum box on the cord that turns the light on with the tap of a finger.  We also wanted the light to be moveable like a swinging articulating arm, and the cord fittings can be loosened to allow the light position to be adjusted up and down.

It took a while for this lamp to be finished because Mr. Z was waiting to use our friend Daniel's workshop (Autumn Workshop).  At one point Mr. Z shaved off the tip of his ring finger trying to cut one of the wood pieces for the wall mount!  The accident delayed the project even more, but luckily he still has all 10 fingers.  During the interim, the lamp went through a few shade revisions.  Since the cantilever and wall mount weren't done yet, we used a mic stand to prop up the frame and light.  At first we wrapped the frame with a black twill tape but found it to be too dark.  We decided paper would diffuse light the best, so I drafted a simple 2 piece triangle pattern out of plain paper and stapled it to the frame as a mock-up.  The final shade is made out of rice paper sewn together.  Sometimes you just need to live with something for a while to know what to do, you know?

New Windowfarms! Pledge, do it - promise?

There are very few things that get me this excited - OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but this thing I'm about to share with you definitely makes top 10.  The Windowfarms project is kick starting their newly designed farms.  Please please pledge to get the ball rolling on this project - I  did!  Do it here.

Think that you don't have a green thumb?
I'm a window farmer now, but at first I was a little intimidated to start a hydroponic garden - since I've killed several plants and barely kept some alive.  However, growing plants this way is surprisingly easy.  The plants in my garden are much healthier and more flavorful than the potted plants I've attempted to seed!  So don't let that discourage you from starting a farm.

Also if you just want to donate to the cause, you can donate how ever much you want just because you agree that we {as people who live in a community - in this case the United States} need to support and help grow businesses like these {i.e. a business that manufactures in our country and supports easy sustainable living}.  Ok, that's as political as I'm getting - I'm stepping off my soap box now.

More about my Windowfarm

It took some work at first, but now I have the beginnings of a hydroponic garden!  I've been eye-ing the Windowfarms™ project for some time now, and was lucky enough to attend their moving sale/potluck/learning session.  The project is pretty amazing, and I can't wait to see what they come up with, in the next stage of their window farm design.  Made from found and recycled water bottles, tubes, and an aquarium pump (and more but you get the point) the current home kit runs about $274 ($139 without the bottles).  Perhaps the first generation of the farms are very well thought out prototypes?  It sounds like Britta Riley, the founder of Windowfarms™ is taking her project to the next level with "fancy" Windowfarms™.  Meanwhile, I'm very happy and content with my farm... luckily my cats are leaving the thing alone.

I started out with these parts...

  

and then sprouted the seedlings in grow pods...

...and once the seedlings were a few inches tall, I transferred them into the bottles.  Easy right?  Go here for more detailed instructions.

Antiquing part 1

Last weekend Zach and I drove over to Michigan to visit his family and search for new/old furniture, for our soon to be new/old apartment. Unlike NYC, Michigan has been untapped of antique goods, and we were able to return home with great finds (for great prices). Though we were in search of furniture, I was distracted by all the vintage packaging. So simply designed these packages were and much more enticing than all the plastic packages we see today.  But I have to say that some of the products people used were questionable...

Got an idea?

Today I'm headed to the Festival of Ideas. It started a few days ago, and the list of exhibitors, seminars, and vendors is pretty intense. The freakish organizer in me wanted to make a check next to each item I am interested in... but I realized very quickly that I should just pick a day and throw myself in it. I will definitely post the ideas that get me (the most) excited. Would love to see your thoughts and ideas in the comments! Comment here on my blog page.

If you are in NYC, hope to run into you! Happy Saturday!

Joseph Joseph

Not to get too home-y, but lately I've been REALLY nesting... I mean, to the point of obsession. Maybe it's because of all the slush and snow barricades around here, or the gigantic muddy puddle at the entrance of my subway stop, or perhaps the winter sniffles. Whatever it is, I am in full stay-at-home-mode.

Luckily for Mr. Z, this also means lots of cooking. I go through phases of this, and there has definitely been an empty refrigerator several weeks in a row in our apartment. However during this particular phase, I realized the utensils I have are sort of bulky and hard to use. After searching for a slimmer design with slighter angles (yes, nerdy), I stumbled upon Joseph Joseph Elevate Kitchen Tools.

The propping up feature is a smart bonus, and these tools are actually fun to use. I suppose cooking shouldn't be more of a chore than it already is, so utensils that feel more like a buddy is nice.