House Tour_In the Canyon:Mid-Century Modern_Santa Monica_10.23.10

I absolutely adore house tours - especially those of the historic nature.  Why?  I enjoy being a voyeur - tours are an intimate look into another person's life. Some historic houses definitely pose a lifestyle challanges, so it's interesting how owners adapt and confront design issues.  I toured four open houses during the Santa Monica Mid-Century Modern tour and here are my top three favorites:

Byron Pumphrey House, 615 Kingman Avenue, Santa Monica (Harwell Hamilton Harris, 1939)

Byron Pumphrey House

Byron Pumphrey House

John Entenza House (I), 475 Mesa Road, Santa Monica (Harwell Hamilton Harris, 1937)

John Entenza House (I)

Eames House, Case Study House #8, 203 Chautauqua Boulevard, Santa Monica (Charles and Ray Eames, 1949)

Eames House

Eames House

Eames House

Now Men Woo With Steaks!

Is this the next cupcake fad - candy in the shape of meat?  

Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1928, p.A5.

Pine-guins, Red Birds, and Elf-cones. . . oh my!

Last holiday season Martha Stewart inspired me to construct Pinecone Elves, Pinecone Penguins, and Pincone Cardinals.  My favorite to construct are the Penguins - the final product was as cute as the Martha pictures.

Tip:  Don't buy pinecones, find a free natural source.  I had to buy pincones from Michaels, since Los Angeles lacks pine trees, which aren't the correct shape or smaller size.  Now I keep my eyes out for pine trees and stuff my pockets full whenever I find some.  (weird...I know...)  I even had my Mom sending my acorn heads from Northern California.

Get to it!

Santa I want this...

Los Angeles Scene Poster

Craft_Mirror

Re-purposed wood frame mirror...

Supplies:  paint samples, modpodge, old mirror

Craft_Gobble Gobble Pinecones

Gobble gobble...ccenterpieces, place cards, gift toppers....
Supplies: feathers, acorn heads, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, felt, pine cones

Craft_Spooky Yo-Yo Halloween Greeting Cards

I'm slightly obsessed with sewing yo-yos - a small circular piece of fabric sewn at the edges and gathered.  A popular style of quilting from 1920 to 1940, quilters liked because they are a portable project that doesn't require much time and utilizes scraps of fabric (very "green").  I attempted to sew yo-yos on my own, until my Mom bought me a yo-yo template like this from JoAnne's.  The yo-yo template is fabulous!  It's so fast and easy to sew one after the other.

BUT now I have hundreds of yo-yos I don't know what to do with (well maybe not hundreds).  I'm now always in search of yo-yo embellishment ideas.  For Halloween I crafted these themed greeting cards: