Saturday morning beauties: Simple Dahlia arrangement

I went to the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning, right after it opened and before it got crowded. It is very unlike me to be out and about early on a weekend day, but I had to pick up my car before 9am and decided to take advantage of the early morning calm.

I got a lovely bounty of tomatoes, olive bread, sugar sweet corn and two bunches of Dahlias in absolutely irresistible shades of reds, oranges, and pinks.

The Dahlias' heads are large and heavy, and to display them in a flat arrangement, I enlisted a tried-and-true florist tool: scotch tape.

The grid, taped across a vase, supports the flower heads and makes the arrangement appear dense without having to overcrowd it with the delicate blossoms.

Et voilà. I really wish I knew how to paint—I'd love to capture these gorgeous colors.

Cermamic jars revived

For a recent garden party at my parents’ house, I was looking for some decoration from the “convenient, because on hand” category. Among other things, I found these lovely ceramic jars in a shady corner in the garden, waiting for their big break.

A trip to the farmers’ market at the height of summer in Northern Germany isn’t only a lot of fun, but also pays off when you’re in need of a lot of flowers.

I got bunches and bunches of flowers for little money, and arranged them to happy, colorful bouquets.

Sunflowers, asters and snapdragons looked great in the terracotta-colored jars, and were a fantastic fit for the rustic ambience of the outdoor party.

Which proves once again that the unorthodox use of everday items is a true virtue. It would have been a shame if these former pickle jars had missed their revival as summery vases, don’t you think?

Custom closet on a budget

After we worked away all of last weekend, I know two things for sure: the remodeling of our bedroom will take slightly longer than anticipated, but it honestly couldn't have started off any better. May I introduce to you my brand-new, custom-built closet?

We replaced our previous "solution" to store clothes — which consisted, among other things, of a broomstick clamped to a small bookshelf, sigh... — with this custom closet we built from Ikea's Ivar shelving units and some wood we got cut to size (= the wide shelf at the top that's connecting the three individual shelves).

The latter part wasn't in the original plan and cost us some extra time, but what do you do when Ikea is oversold on some of the parts you desperately need? Right, you curse, you cry, then you improvise. And in this case, it worked out for the better: getting wood cut for the connecting shelf allowed us to use every inch of space we had available, and made the closet much more stable.

We mounted some Vågen curtain rods to hang clothes from, and added organizers, shoe racks, and a couple of ingenious folding hooks. We fit two hampers in there (on casters!), and can easily add additional shelves if we need to.

Eventually, we'll probably hang a curtain in front of it, but for now we like walking into the room and seeing the result of our work. The whole thing cost us around $350 and was done in a day. Which isn't nearly as exciting as the fact that I have my broomstick back, and can fit an ironing board into my new closet!

Thank You cards

I finished an order of Thank You cards last week to match a set of wedding stationery I created for (now newlyweds!) Shefali and Samir in July.

The folded cards are blank inside so bride and groom can add a personal note. The design picked up elements from the other stationery items I created for them, like the drawing of the mandap, the traditional canopy under which the Hindu wedding ceremony is held.

Switching tools for the weekend

I finished an order of Thank You cards this week, and spent many an hour scoring, folding and adhering in a world of cream, maroon and gold. I'll post pictures of it next week, but for now I'm putting down ruler and bone folder in exchange for tape measure, paint roller and a slightly different color palette:

After we've been living in this apartment for almost a year now, we're finally going to renovate our bedroom this weekend. We painted the other rooms before or shortly after we moved in, but the bedroom somehow remained in its original, yucky state.

Soon, very soon, my bedroom walls will radiate a warm, yellow glow. Or so I hope. Below are some of the photos I collected over the months for inspiration...

Tic, toc, retro clocks

On a stroll through Oakland's Temescal District last weekend, I came across this lovely red toy rocket car in a storefront (the fabulous Scout Home Hardware). Awesome, no?

Upon a second look, I noticed that right behind it stood what is almost the exact same vintage stove we have in our apartment. Granted, ours isn't in quite as good shape, but still pretty close. I liked the big clock they had hung above it and since I keep missing a clock in our kitchen, I took a quick look around online for some retro wall clocks. Here's my shortlist:

From top left, clockwise (har, har):

1. Retro Kitchen Wall Clock in red and aqua.
2. Cream-colored Wesco Classic Line wall clock with timer.
3. Shiny retro clock made from reclaimed aluminum.
4. Kitchen timer and clock in egg-shaped black housing.
5. Round silver metal retro clock.
6. Flip calendar clock.

Talking of the nostalgic charm of everyday household items: here is a shot of a collection of ironing boards at Bakesale Betty's, where they serve as tables to briefly hold the tray with the most amazing fried chicken sandwich you'll ever have.

Surprise office birthday bash

My friend and former coworker C. is an amazing party planner. For years, she threw the most adorable and custom-themed birthday parties for her colleagues at her job as an office manager. Her sense for party styling is legendary, and yet it's always obvious that the birthday boy or girl's likes and interests are front and center.

Now that it was on me to throw a birthday bash for a colleague at my new job, I channeled my inner C. and organized a small Italian-themed surprise party for my boss, who has a deep passion for everything bella Italia. The green-red-and-white birthday banner was easily crafted from letters I printed on our office printer, and I served up rustic antipasti platters for lunch (easy to prepare the night before and then served on simple white plates).

Rustic antipasti platters:

Cut tomatoes and fresh mozzarella in slices. Serve with fresh basil leaves, good olive oil and a bit of salt.

Peel carrots, cut long ones in half crosswise, then cut lengthwise in ¼” thick pieces. Steam in a pot with little water, minced garlic clove, and a tad of olive oil or butter for about 5 minutes or less. Make sure to not overcook the carrots, they should keep some of their crunch. Drain and let cool. Season with salt and freshly chopped parsley and basil, mix in a couple spoons of olive oil. Let the flavors mingle in the fridge, ideally over night.

Serve with salami, prosciutto, olives, and Ciabatta or a similar kind of rustic bread.

Sewing for Felidae

Why is it that the majority of all store-bought pet supplies is so ugly? Cat beds and scratch posts make absolutely no exception to this rule. Is that a market niche?

Anyway, I sewed a mat for our four-legged friend from some extremely soft fleece with an art nouveau-inspired pattern in green and white — it just looks better in our living room than plush in beige and dark brown.

I whipstitched the edges by hand, but I'm a pretty bad needlewoman, so the result came out a bit willowy and offers room for improvement.

The cat couldn't care less about my efforts, and continues to prefer laying directly on the couch.

Urchins and peas

I have a lifelong fascination with the shapes, textures, and colors of sea creatures. I forgot what I was looking for when I came across Heather Knight's Etsy shop, Element Clay Studio, but if I had some extra money to spend, I'd do it here. Her serving pieces and textured tiles are inspired by shellfish and botanicals, and crafted from delicate porcelain.

How lovely are those pea pod bowls? I imagine them filled with an array of different kinds of Ceviche.

Rich

Something made me think about getting a CSA box a couple of weeks ago, and since I happened to be in a Getting-Things-Done mood, I sat down, did a little Google searching, and signed up for a weekly box of fresh local organic produce from Full Belly Farm. I chose them, among other things, because they deliver to my office. Nothing wrong with a little convenience when you're doing a generally good thing, if you ask me.

I got my second box yesterday, and I am absolutely in love with it. We used to get CSA-style produce a while back when we lived in SF, and I had forgotten how happy it makes me. I love having to improvise meals around whatever happens to be in the box, and have discovered many new favorite veggies that I would have never picked up at a market otherwise. Escarole? Fava beans? Even kale.



I love having to wash my lettuce three times because there is actual DIRT on there. Real dirt, and a lot of it. Reminds me of the veggies out of my grandparents' garden growing up. I found a ladybug in my first box, and two caterpillars in this week's.

Talking of lovely unexpected finds: When I came home yesterday, I found a paper bag hanging on my door, filled with four wonderful loaves of fresh bread. Our neighbor Amy is attending baking school, and whenever she has a lot of extra bread, she shares it with her friends and neighbors. She is officially the greatest neighbor ever. I ate about half of one of the loaves before I had even put away all the veggies.

Learning new tricks

I took another bookbinding class last weekend: "A Cord Runs Through It", at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

The style of the book I learned to make in this class is totally different from the traditional case-bound books I made in the past, and I'm not sure how much I like the loose, crafty feel of this book, but it was definitely fun to make. The signatures are sewn onto cords, and the covers are made from two layers of handmade papers, with the cords sandwiched in between.

I'd like to try to adapt this technique to come up with something a little bit more polished, but it's always so much fun to take a class and learn a new technique.

Springtime

It feels like I just wrote about Christmas, and now it's suddenly spring!

I've been working at a brand-new design studio here in Berkeley since January. My friend C. planned our launch party, and hooked us up with some lovely decorations. One of her ideas were these beaker vases.

We hung three each on a pair of walls that separate our main work area from the entrance. For the party they had calla lilies in them, right now it's daffodils. I think pebbles, rolled up handmade paper, or dried plants would look equally well.

Rejoice, exult!

One of my most interesting projects lately was the repair of a copy of Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The full score belongs to my Mom, and has so for about 30 years now. And since every self-respecting church choir performs the Christmas Oratorio once a year, this piece of sheet music had definitely seen better times.

Purchasing a new copy was pretty much out of the question: After 30 years of singing Bach's tunes, my Mom had recorded such a wealth of notes and comments in the book, that it had become a nearly irreplaceable document.

So I gathered book loads of information on book repair and conservation, and got to work. After removing the old case and all glue residue with the help of wheat paste, I was able to separate the signatures.

The outer fold of each signature was torn or severely weakened in most of the gatherings; the rest of the signatures was in fairly good condition. I guarded the folds with strips of japanese paper. The strips aren't being cut, but torn wet, as the frayed edges blend into the pages better than a hard cut edge would.

After repairing all signatures I re-sewed the text block and made a new, stronger case for the precious piece.

I added new cream-colored endsheets to the text blook and cased in the book. Done! Rejoice! Exult!

More Before, During, and After pictures here.

Cozy in Geneva

We got stranded in Geneva on our way out to Germany, which actually turned out to be quite nice. Sure, it was cold and we didn't have our luggage, but we wandered the streets and drank vin chaude and enjoyed the adventure.

I saw these lovely knitted cup warmers in a store window. Such a cute idea, and the timing couldn't have been better: Just a few weeks ago I had decided to finally learn how to knit socks — in blatant defiance of my poor knitting skills and lack of patience. But see? Even if I never learn how to do more than the upper part of the sock, I can still turn it into one of these!

Happy New Year, may it be a cozy and creative one!

For coffee, tea, grog

Santa brought us these adorable harbour mugs last year, so that we don't need to miss Hamburg quite as much.



They were crafted by Hildburg Lucardis Wittke and cure thirst and homesickness equally well. The mugs are light as a feather and the harbour scenes in their happy pastel colors are so much more darling than the usual Hanseatic imagery you'd find on a souvenir mug.



Fortunately our yearly visit to Northern Germany is imminent, right in time for the pinnacle of hot beverage season, and so we'll be spending Christmas drinking hot mulled wine (aka Glühwein) and singing a shanty or two.



And for those of you who really feel like having a grog now, there's a recipe in Marion's Kochbuch that'll also teach you how to avoid a hot mess on the kitchen counter.

Deck the halls, a little bit

My Christmas decoration is fairly minimal this year, and I only used supplies I already had. Since we will be spending Christmas back home in Germany, I held back on decorating over here and am all the more exited about advent wreath, tree & co. over there.



Of course I need some decoration. This festive wreath is done quickly, doesn't shed needles, and you can create it in pretty much any color scheme you want.

Simply wrap a straw wreath (image via Create For Less) with a fairly wide velvet ribbon, affix ends of ribbon with straight pins. Then thread three Christmas ball ornaments each (image via Amazon) onto a piece of slim ribbon, fasten the ends with a knot. Arrange the groups of balls on the wreath, secure them with straight pins. Decorate with felt snowflakes or other ornaments.

For further inspiration, here's a photo of a Christmas tree from a Macy's window. Makes my wreath look rather humble...

Happenstance festive scents

I had some fresh cranberries left from Thanksgiving, so I made this Cranberry Orange Marmalade recipe to get rid of them.



I altered the recipe a little bit and used just some orange zest, not the the entire peel. It came out nicely bittersweet, and goes great with blue cheese.



The smell in the house was lovely while it simmered on the stove top, so instead of tossing the orange peel, I set it out with some cloves and star anise. Much simpler than the old clove-spiked orange.

Leave room for milk

For years now I held on to a Starbucks paper bag with a pretty wintery print. Inspired by tulibri's paper bag books back then, I had planned to recycle it into a book some day. The day has come...



The spine and corners are made from off-white book cloth, and I found a red paper for the endpapers that matched the colors on the cover.



For the textblock I printed dotted blue lines onto white paper, somewhat resembling snowflakes. I feel like having a Caramel Macchiato now...