We came across L’Econome’s perfect paring knife years ago in a kitchen ware store and have been in love ever since. They’re inexpensive – about $10 each – feel good in the hand, sharpen easily, AND look good, even as they age and weather. Since EVERYBODY needs a good paring knife, we’d buy them in…
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A couple of years ago, we posted about wine and spirits writer Anthony Giglio’s inspired practice of writing the name of each guest on his/her wine glass to cut down on “lost” glasses (and the attendant OMG-there-aren’t-enough-glasses stress). Anthony uses a china marker, a wax or grease pencil that writes perfectly on glass or china…
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Over the past few months, we’ve seen a spate of paint-dipped wooden spoons, with instructions to diy or just buy, like these Etsy ones from Living Embellished. Wanting them for ourselves, we realize that they’d make great inexpensive gifts. Here is all you need to know to diy or buy.
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We were browsing our old friends’ Gentl and Hyers Portfolio site when we came upon some lovely images of air plants in a stylish bedroom. They are from Bring the Outdoors In: Garden Projects for Decorating and Styling Your Home, photographed, we’ve discovered, in a mutual friend’s country home, and styled by Shane Powers. The air…
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Aside from my hands, one of my favorite cook’s tools is a fondue fork I bought at a flea market many years ago. It is basically an elongated fork with a thin wood handle: 3 tines and about 12-inches long. It is perfect for turning a piece of meat in a pan, scrambling eggs and…curiously,…
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Always on the lookout for things that shift our view and spark ideas, we were very happy to discover that Yoko Ono’s 1970 book Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings by Yoko Ono has been reprinted. It is a FINE book of instructions— koan-like meditations that will, in fact, make you see a little…
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Maria Robledo forwarded this image of a wildly-wrapped gift a friend received. Her words: Thought ud like this wrapping! Totally up our alley: newspaper, duct tape, string. Perfect! Related posts: diy stamped gift wrap (from erasers + potatoes) gift: endlessly useful furoshiki cloth…you can even wear it reader improv: ny times illustrated wrapping paper an artwork…
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Every since we bought on of Grain Design’s Tyvek shower curtain, we’ve been fans of Tyvek’s ability to crumple like fine fabric, while being incredibly durable (after a year, the shower curtain is going strong…and a black Tyvek Issey Miyake bag we’ve had for years has only gotten softer and better looking). Always on the…
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Suddenly realizing that Easter is just a couple of days away, we started thinking Easter eggs, the symbol of the day both Christian and pagan. Immediately, photographer Tessa Traeger’s egg series came to mind. All eggs collected from various birds, they provide inspiration for egg decorating from Nature. Witness Livet Hamma’s diy spatter-painted eggs below.…
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I met New York City Baker Katherine Yang at a book party for Canal House Cooks Every Day, one of our favorite cookbooks. Co-author Christopher Hirscheimer described Katherine as having created one of the best chocolate chip cookies EVER: crisp, at once salty and sweet. Katherine is the creator of Gigi Blue a by-order seriously bakery, where…
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In the past month or so, two readers of ‘improvised life’ sent beautiful virtual bouquets in the form of emailed jpgs. You might think that a cyber bouquet would have little of the power or effect of a real one, but we’ve got to say, NOT SO. Part of the reason they were each so…
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We love the possibilities inherent in the great valentine DIY we found at Mineco Co UK, made of woven paper. All you need is an exactto knife and straight edge and some nice paper. Mineco’s site tells how-to, but there’s lots of room for improvising (were thinking cut up photographs, magazines, ribbon…)
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Our friend Maria Robledo makes “stealth” valentines for her husband Holton to find. She stitched “BE MINE” onto a curtain, and arranged beaded necklaces into hearts on the carpet.
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We are amazed at how often we return to The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster’s classic kid’s book that is celebrating 50 years of stunning popularity. It’s the story of Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. In his rarely-used kid’s-size car, he embarks on a surprising…
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We found this today on the strange, great, illuminating Daily Fluxus Do It Yourself Instructions: Instructions: 1. Identify the happiest feeling of the day. 2. Put it in a jar. 3. Switch it if something happier happens. … We’re wondering if this happiness jar would work in a similar way as jars full of air captured in…
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We’ve been admiring this Valentine for years. It’s by Fluxus, a collaborative whose philosophy resonates with our own: Erase the boundary between Art and Life… Fluxus is an attitude. It is not a movement or a style. Fluxus is intermedia. Fluxus creators like to see what happens when different media intersect. They use found and…
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Indian children play on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India, on Nov. 17. A reminder to leap and play, no matter what age you are! Need encouragement?
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Autoprogettazione, roughly translated “self design,” was a project and book by the modernist artist and designer Enzo Mari that gives instructions for building easy-to-assemble furniture — tables, chairs, bookshelves, wardrobe — using rough boards and nails. Originally published in 1974, it has been reprinted many times. Mari created the project because he thought …if people were encouraged to…
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Omar Sosa and Ana Dominguez of Apartamento magazine, with photographer Nacho Alegre, created a series of still-lifes with balancing bread. They’re beautiful, though I’m a little doubtful they are just balanced breads, no pins or stuts anywhere. To my former food-stylist’s eye, they seem, well…. …possibly faked, though it would be fun to get a bunch of breads and try. Nevertheless,…
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The other day, I accidentally knocked a treasured cup off a table and watched, in the slow motion of a car accident, as it crashed onto the stone floor. It was gone in a moment, an object whose beauty I’d enjoyed daily since my friend Suzanne Shaker had given it to me over a decade…
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