Holiday Window

Wow!  Things have been really busy with Black Friday, Christmas preparations, et cetera.  Our Christmas window went up about a week ago.  It was a lot of fun to put together and surprisingly wasn’t too stressful!  Here are some shots from a couple days later.  Enjoy!

If you get a chance, come down to Urban Indigo and do some shopping.  I’d love to see you and we have lots of really cool, unique gifts for the holidays.

Tip : Recycled Gift Wrap

About a week ago, we were unpacking new merchandise for the holidays.  By the time we were done we had two large garbage bags filled with brown packing paper.  Unfortunately, at work we are unable to have a recycling bin because of the limited amount of space.  My co-worker suggested that I take the paper home and use it.  I was planning on buying brown paper from Paper Source to wrap my gifts for the holidays anyway, so I thought why not use this instead?  Here are some photographs from my experimentation :

I’m pretty excited about how they look so far!  It’s great to be able to do something that is “green” in terms of gift wrap this Christmas because so much waste usually comes from Christmas wrapping.  It was also fun to be creative in coming up with the different techniques and making each one unique.  I’m looking forward to doing more Christmas shopping, so that I can keep on wrapping!

Tip : Paper Chain

I have been making paper chains for as long as I can remember.  They have always been and remain my most favorite holiday decoration.  I have done many different variations of paper chains, but I think this is my best yet, so I decided to share it with you.  Do you have any old magazines?

I took two or three of my old Anthropologie catalogs from last year that I have not looked at in awhile.

I ripped out all the pages that spoke to me.  I looked for variety in color and pattern.

Then I cut all the pages into one inch thick strips.  See?

Now, all that was needed was a good stapler!

It was a lot of fun hanging them around my room.  I even made a paper chain chandelier!

This was just the thing to get me in the mood for the holidays!  I hope you enjoyed these photographs taken by my dear James and that you are inspired to make your own paper chains!  Happy crafting.

Bag Lady

Tonight is the SFSU Student Runway Fashion Show & Showcase in Jack Adams Hall.  Here is a sneak preview :

Four friends & I made a garment completely out of plastic bags for a recyclable, sustainable project.  75% are Safeway bags and the other 25% are from small stores that read “Thank You”.  The top has a braided piece that is attached to the bodice and criss-crosses in the back.  The bodice was fused with eight layers of plastic bags and designed using a repetitive pattern of the Safeway logo.  The skirt is a 45 inch double-circle skirt with an extra layer of pleated bags underneath to add extra pouf.  At the very bottom of the skirt we decided to add a braided hemline.

To see this piece and other cool creations, come to the fashion show tonight.  Tickets are only five dollars.  The doors open at six thirty & the show starts at seven.  I will be walking this piece down the runway as well as another piece that is part of a “Reptilia” collection.  More photographs to come later.  Hope to see you there!

Twenty

Here’s to a new decade!  Thanks to everyone who made my twentieth extra special!  Here is a visual diary of my weekend including an incredibly romantic date and a Thanksgiving birthday.  I’m quite tired from the weekend events, but it sure was fun while it lasted!  Enjoy . . .

Phenomenal

The first experience I had at the symphony was amazing.  I was moved to tears the moment the music began.  Vivaldi & Tchaikovsky were definitely a good introduction.

The second experience I had at the symphony, however, was phenomenal. This past Friday James, Sarah & I all traipsed over to Davies Symphony Hall to hear Semyon Bychkov conduct a piece Rachmaninoff constructed to accompany Edgar Allen Poe’s The Bells.  There was a chorus that sang in Russian and it was all quite dramatic (& Russian, of course).

The second piece was his second symphony in A minor.  The moodiness, the romantic qualities, the crescendos – everything was right on, perfect.  I do admit . . . I was a little let down by the ending to The Bells.  I was expecting that climactic, dramatic ending of Rachmaninoff’s that I had so come to love.  However, the ending of the second number was the cherry on top of an amazing night.  Here are a few photographs from the evening.

The view from the balcony.

James & I.

Sarah & I.

Davies Symphony Hall.

Champagne.  I look so happy.

I was introduced to Rachmaninoff by a college friend and I immediately fell in love with this piece.  Once I get any sort of free time, I’m going to learn it.

Listen to it by clicking here.  My favorite part is around 8:25.  Enjoy!

Spooky

Halloween was a lot of fun this year!  For an early Halloween party and for work, I dressed up as a zombie bride.  The dress was my cousin’s that she bought off eBay for a dollar! Can you believe that?

I know it is difficult to see our outfits in this photograph, but Hannah (a friend on Lakeshore) was an awesome cowboy and I was, of course, a zombie bride.

This photograph was taken at Kandance’s house with April and Tara who were so cute dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. What a great costume idea!

On Halloween night I transformed into the bride of Frankenstein’s monster and we put on a whole haunted house for all the kids in the neighborhood.  It was a lot of fun to act and scaring the adults was the best part!  We had a couple hundred people pass through – I would call it a great success!  Here are some of the photographs taken last night :

The long tunnel leading to the backyard.

My darling Grandma.

My brother Aaron played Dr. Frankenstein, of course!  Here are some of the tools he used to create his infamous monster.

We all had very different pumpkins this year!  Mine was the second on the left.  I decided to make a “French” pumpkin and gave my little guy a moustache, as well as a pumpkin beret!

As I said, I arrived as a zombie . . .

. . . but quickly became the bride of Frankestein’s monster!  My mom backcombed my hair for about five minutes straight and the result was quite horrifying.  What was even more horrifying was trying to comb my hair later that night . . .

Overall, it was a very spooky evening.  It was really exciting to be able to be creative and make the night fun for kids.  Many of them had never heard Mary Shelley’s story of Frankenstein.  I hope to upload some more photographs later of my family (my dad as Igor, Sarah & mom as villagers) and James who played the monster ever so well.

See & Explore

My friends Tami & Steven have such a fun house!  There are sheep, chickens, an adorable beagle and even a chinchilla!  Here are some photographs I took of the place :

This girl is a big-eater.  She will eat almost anything that is green.  One of her favorite treats?  Fig leaves.

This baby lamb was recently born.  I’m not sure if it is a girl or boy, but the lamb is very skittish!

This is Boo the beagle.  I don’t need to describe her because you can see for yourself how adorable she is.

Here are three of the six chickens.  They all have really cool names like Perry, Disco, and Michael Jackson.

I think that this house would be an amazing place to grow up because there are so many things to see & explore!

Mistake

One of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever been given came out of a mistake.  You’re probably wondering why I am putting up pictures of a piece of metal.  Well, let me tell you – this piece of metal is one of my prized possessions!

If you don’t know my boyfriend James, he used to work for his dad at Alpha Magnetics and they would cut magnets and make all kinds of things.  Before James & I started dating, a friend that worked with him told me that James had been distracted at work and made a mistake while working.  Metal flew everywhere and one of the pieces he picked up was this very piece.

He gave this to me nearly a year later and told me that the reason he had messed up that day was because he had been thinking of me.  I think that mistakes like this are the most beautiful kind and should always be treasured.  Every time I see this, not only am I amazed at it’s natural beauty, but I am always overwhelmed with emotion.  Truly a gift that keeps on giving.

Thank you, James.

Día de los Muertos

I am very excited to share this with you!  Our Día de los Muertos window went up last Monday.  It came out great with lots of vibrant colors and Day of the Dead ephemera inside.  View more photographs of it at my work’s blog here : Urban Indigo’s Blog

The window will be entered into an annual Halloween/Day of the Dead window display contest at the end of the month.  Cross your fingers & may the best window win!

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Photograph courtesy of Elizabeth Kinsey.