Today's Moment of Happiness - Saturday Night Version

We dodged a bullet, folks.

Is anybody else breathing a sigh of relief?

Pablo Neruda - Standard Oil Co.

I'm feeling kind of crafty

With all of the home improvements and decorating we've been doing since the fall, I've found myself itching to do some sort of craft project for myself. I didn't know what until I stumbled over some jewelry organization projects in Blueline/Blueprint via Design*Sponge.

I'm not a big jewelry wearer - rings and bracelets get in the way and I had a late in life brush with pierced ears that ended painfully and puffily. But I do love necklaces and I have several that meet my very particular tastes. However...they are all in a small box somewhere - out of sight and out of mind. Consequently, I rarely wear them.

So, once I saw the lovely DIY projects at Design*Sponge I knew what I wanted to do - make a lovely display box to feed my craft yen AND make my necklaces more than just a box warmer. First on my list - rustle up an appropriate shadow box or small glass front curio case. (If I end up putting this in the bathroom, I'll need something a glass door as it will need to be enclosed to protect them from moisture.) Next, decided on location: bedroom vs. bathroom. Third, make the darn thing.

Instructions from Blueprint are below:

Boxed Rings
If surface area in your bedroom is scarce, try a wall-mounted solution on for size. This jazzed-up shadow box, retrofitted with a variety of hooks and knobs, shelters delicate earrings and chains from possible entanglements while turning them into objets d'art. Small decorative bowls perched on the box's lower ledge corral rings, pins, and brooches and complete the charming trinket tableau.

Box How-To
1. Select a shadow box (or a small wine crate) with a back and sides that are at least 1/4 inch thick to accommodate the hooks. Sand and prime the box, then apply two coats of semigloss spray paint.

2. Cut a piece of decorative paper to fit inside the box, coat the back of the paper with spray adhesive, and press it into place, smoothing it from the center out to the corners with your fingers. Then lay out the jewelry where you'd like it to hang and screw in hooks at the appropriate points.

3. Finally, add two evenly spaced saw-tooth hangers to the box's back for a steady mount.

Credits: Shadow box, $12, frames-direct.com. Similar Berenson "Barcelona" knobs, $6 each, cdmcabinethardware.com. Rust-Oleum "Painter's Touch" spray paint in Seaside Green, $3, rustoleum.com for stores. "Nepal Fish-scale" paper, $5 per sheet, New York Central Art Supply, 212-473-7705

I'll be sure to post pictures when I have something.

Domino Bedrooms

Domino Magazine has a slide show of reader bedrooms and I've included four here that I like. They are in no particular order and I like them for all quite different reasons. For instance, the picture above. I like the cool blue and the simplicity of the design.

The white bedroom below I like for the horizontal planking on the wall, and the slightly bohemian feel. It may be a bit "Anthropologie" to my taste, but I think it could be a cool starting point.



Except for the reflection of Jesus in the mirror, there are a lot of things I like about the room below - especially the blue paint and the chalk like mural of tree and full moon. I don't think I'd ever get tired of looking at that.



The last room (pictured below) is meant for a child, and pink is not my favorite color. However, our bedroom is already painted dark pink with a pale pink trim and I have to admit it is pretty restful. But I would love to add some dimension to the room and I love the paper parasol display. No "Hello Kitty" for me but, otherwise, the fun in this room is infectious.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Today is Lunar New Years Eve, with tomorrow being the first day of the "Chinese" New Year which is, by the way, The Year of the Rat.

I find the Chinese New Year and by extent, the Chinese horoscope, to be incredibly complicated so I limit myself to knowing that I was born in the Year of the Sheep and that, in this year of the rat, love is going to be the theme.

However, I find these two bits of information to be really interesting:

According to legend, in ancient China, the Nián was a man-eating beast from the mountains (in other versions from under the sea), which came out every 12 months somewhere close to winter to prey on humans. The people later believed that the Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the colour red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the colour red. These customs led to the first N(ew Year celebrations. Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passover of the Nian.

And this:

The first day is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth. Many people, especially Buddhists, abstain from meat consumption on the first day because it is believed that this will ensure longevity for them. Some consider lighting fires and using knives to be bad luck on New Year's Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before.

Most importantly, the first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.

You can find more information about the Chinese New Year here, and here.

Gil Scott Heron -The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

The revolution will be real...

Rejiggering the pokey

I spent a little bit of time playing around with the blogs layout and links section.

I wish that either Blogger had more flexibility in blog layout/design or that I had more (re: any) hacking skills to restructure and redesign the blog to my liking. But I don't so I have to content myself for the moment with temporary fixes.

What I've done is shorten the number of posts viewable by limiting them to the last three days of posting. I've also added and rearranged the Link sections over to the right. I've added a "Daily Links" section for the sites that I check out pretty much everyday starting with news/commentary, ending with design/small living and sandwiching some miscellaneous fun sites in between.

"Links" has been changed to "Friends of Rimer" to which I've added Espressobuzz' Flickr page.

I'm still undecided on the number links to include in "Turntable" and "Bedside Table" and probably will for awhile. It really doesn't matter how many links are there which makes it oddly hard to come to a decision about it.

"Archives" are at the bottom.

Update: Not able to leave well enough alone, I've also changed the font to 'verdana'. I think it reads easier now.

Today's Moment of Happiness - No Rain

Admit it, you're bopping around and singing, aren't you?

Mini Dracula review

I'm almost done reading "Dracula" for the first time. My brief review of the novel thus far is: Dear god, sit DOWN, Abraham Van Helsing! Sit down and SHUT UP!