This week on Design Crush: Pat Perry‘s illustrations will transport you to another world.
Temperatures are slowly climbing and I have my spring wish list ready!
Beautiful modern female portraits by Annie Kevans.
How things are going after being back in Pittsburgh for six months.
The storytelling embroidery pieces of Michelle Kingdom.
These 8 great apps are some of my recent favorites.
Energetic abstracts from Kerri Rosenthal. Ten March DIYs to keep you busy this month.
Take a peek at Gus Hughes‘ right-out-of-the-tube paintings.
Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year (whomp whomp), food porn has become even more prevalent in my carb-counting lifestyle. Thankfully there are not only plenty of ways to adapt recipes (zucchini noodles and mashed cauliflower have become my favorites), there are also plenty of sites that create beautifully developed recipes that are photographed so well I can almost taste them through the screen of my laptop. Here are five that make my tastebuds daydream.
Hipsterfood is a vegan site run by couple Cara and Bob. Their ironically named site is full of sometimes healthy, sometimes decadent recipes that are made from “95% cheap, easy-to-find food, and 5% sort-of-pricey, specialty food.” I love how realistic and unpretentious these two are and look forward to the day when they write a cookbook.
Butterlust is the work of the witty and intelligent Katie, who runs her site kind of like a test kitchen. If something goes wrong you’ll know it because she’ll tell you, just like how she sometimes uses cake mix and is super messy in the kitchen. Honesty is always refreshing.
Lady and Pups is a self-proclaimed “angry food blog” of one woman and her move to Beijing three years ago. You see, she kind of hates it so she’s turning all of that frustration and angst into lovely meals. I’m totally down with that – some of the best creativity is born from situations we can’t control.
Seasons & Suppers is Jennifer’s cooking diary as she makes her way through the seasons Ontario, Canada. Seasonal and healthy, hearty and comforting, occasionally decadent recipes fill each post with a focus on taking advantage of what’s fresh and at its best.
My Name is Yeh follows the hilarious Molly through her adventurous in food and life. Most recipes are inspired by her Jewish and Asian roots, and now that she’s moved from Brooklyn to a farm in North Dakota there’s a bit of that as well. It seems she’s always on a adventure.
One of my only goals for the new year is to perfect a kickass Moscow mule, the classic is new(ish) to me and it’s quickly become one of my favorite cocktails. They just go down so smooth and the shiny copper mugs make drinking one all the more fun. I’ll keep you all posted with my progress, but for now here are ten variations that I’d love to try while doing my own (ahem) research and here are some of the best ginger beers to use.
Click on each image to go to the recipe. All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.
When subscription boxes became an overnight trend a few years ago it was tough to separate the wheat from the chaff. There were plenty of smart ideas, but little quality in my experiences. I’ve remained true to Birchbox and Hatchery, and now I’m under the spell of Makrbox.
01/ This floating greenhouse is powered by solar, wind, and tidal energy.
02/ Tara Donovan creates incredible paper towers.
03/ Here’s to 2014!, and illustrated mashup of pop culture events from the past year.
04/ The prettiest confections from Nectar & Stone.
05/ The captivating beauty of libraries around the world.
06/ If I owned this beautiful Hock Design Fitness Equipment there’s a tiny chance I might workout.
07/ Intricate paper animals crafted by elaborate origami techniques.
08/ Support the #FreeTheNipple campaign with a Tit Tee.
09/ Mirage Pavillion is a mind-bending installation made up of of 1,200 small mirrors.
10/ Bottom Feeders depicts tea set pieces that appear to have been dredged up from the sea bottom.
It’s holiday party season – are you organizing one this year? I’ve been having a few friends over here and there, which I much prefer to one grand shindig. More quality time to talk and just hang out at the speed I prefer. I wanted to pull together a little takeaway for each gathering and came up with this candy buffet in my dining room as a sweet treat to end the evening.
I used the metallic tones I tend to gravitate towards during the holidays as a starting point. Lots of glass jars of different sizes, small porcelain bowls, gem-cut mercury glass bowls, a metal hammered gold bowl, and a few pieces that I already had tucked away round out the spread nicely.
Layering different heights adds visual interest that pulls you right through the buffet as you gather your goodies on the go. I stuck to a palette of silver, blue, red, and green candy and was sure to include lots of different types – chocolate, fruit flavored, chewy, hard – lots of different textures and flavors to satisfy even the choosiest visitor!
The main focal point is a group of three paper trees I made a few years ago, a sweet white ceramic stag head, and several tea lights in small mason jars to add lots of sparkle and shine to the surface. A flocked wreath hanging in the overhead in the window added some extra holiday spirit.
Of course we couldn’t forget the most iconic Christmas classics – candy canes and peppermints. Miniature candy canes are perfect for adding to a cup of hot chocolate. Use one as a stir until it dissolves for a twist on the old standby.
The buffet is easy to replenish as things run out between get togethers and looks pretty enough when not in use. Hope your holiday season is stress-free and sweet!
My Grandma turned 90 this year and has finally agreed to relinquish cookie making duties to me this Christmas. (She’ll still be making her famous-among-hundreds nut rolls, however.) I’ve done a few cookie swaps over the years, and I have to admit they make the cookie task much more interesting. I love trying other peoples’ tried and true family recipes, and I love the variety that comes with a good ‘ol fashioned swap. Do you have a go-to?
This week on Design Crush:
Are you following along with 24 Merry Days? Twenty-four bloggers are doing giveaways for 24 days this month. Drake General Store x Design Crush is giving away a cherry-picked prize pack worth a whopping $1,000! Check out eight art prints I’ve got my eye on this month.
Crushing on the ceramic work of RedRaven Studios.
Time to start fresh with some clean stockings this Christmas?
The wall hangings of artist Heather Levine are stunning.
More holiday cards, just in case you have yet to pick yours out!
This monthly art subscription – Papirmass – is perfect for the art lover on your list.
Showstopping hand-painted wallpaper from Voutsa. 2015 calendars, part 5 to get you ready for January!
Sharing the last room on the first floor of my home, the kitchen.
A bevy of drinks for holiday entertaining and coping – Happy Alcoholidays!
Drake General Store is a traditional hotel gift shop, a classic general store, a flea market stand, and a museum shop all rolled into one. They have the biggest and best Canadian pride and love supporting homegrown artists and designers, making them a perfect match for Design Crush and our sensibilities.
Please tell me you took 1.5 seconds to read that graphic, because we’re giving away a $1,000 prize pack!Drake General Store is my favorite shop north of the U.S. border and I’m pumped to be partnering with them for the second December in a row to give you all a HUGE something awesome. I’ve cherry picked my favorite pieces from their classic, modern goods that are a mix of sensible (socks, throws, kitchen pieces) and not so sensible (tarot cards, incense, wind chime) and everything in between.
I KNOW! So many well designed pieces and so many little luxuries to help get you through winter. You could either go the Happy Holidays to Me! route and keep it all for yourself or the My Shopping is Done! route and dive up your winnings as gifts for everyone on your list. Either way it’s a win. (But if you do spy something you’d like to gift know that Drake General Store has worldwide flat rate shipping!)
