After years and years of lamenting my black thumb things have finally begun to turn around. I have about fifteen plants of varying sizes thriving in my home right now, and I’m quickly running out of horizontal real estate. That’s where the Pot Cradle would be a huge help. More modern than a macrame holder, these little bags would also help eliminate spills during watering (at which I’m basically a pro).
01/ Notifly lets you know about a scheduled meeting by blowing a bubble!
02/ Get CallerID for your front door with Peeple‘s wireless camera.
03/ A handy chart sharing how long fresh produce will last once you buy it.
04/ This year’s Serpentine Pavilion honors the London Underground with a secret corridor.
05/ The Mason Watch is like is basically a sculpture for your wrist.
06/ Stefaan De Croock (aka Strook) uses discarded doors to create giant street murals.
07/ Gum, not just chewing these days – check out Maurizio Savini‘s sculptures.
08/ Meet Mr. Head, a vacuum cleaner turned artist.
09/ Jon Alameda throws the tiniest 1-inch scale miniature pottery.
10/ A Philadelphia church was transformed thanks to lots of paracord and Aaron Asis.
I must be a masochist at heart, because my desire to bake strikes at the most inopportune time of year. Summer. What could possibly make me want to turn on the oven when the temperature rises? Only all of the fruit at the farmer’s market. This week I found myself with the burden of two pounds of luscious blueberries that I knew would ripen before I could eat them all. I took a basic upside-down cake recipe and used a full two cups of blueberries, basically putting the fruit to cake ratio at a solid 1:1. (I’ll add my ingredient substitutions in parentheses that helped make this a bit more diabetic friendly.)
Ingredients:
• 3/4 C melted butter, divided
• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 C granulated sugar (1/4 C + 2 Tbsp Truvia)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/3 C all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 C milk
Set oven to 350º. In 9-inch square cake pan, combine 1/4 cup melted butter and brown sugar. Distribute over bottom, then spread blueberries evenly over top. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
With a mixer cream remaining butter. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light. Add in egg and vanilla. Sift or mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Spread batter evenly over blueberry layer. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out cake onto a large flat plate.
Serve warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 6-9.
Joanna Buyert is the potter behind Fringe and Fettle Ceramics, though she admits it took quite awhile to settle on one artistic discipline as a focus. After a lifetime of creating and making, Joanna went with pottery because of its endless possibilities. I love her simple functional pieces that are sure to make daily activities involving them much more pleasant.
It’s pouring down rain as I type this, and it basically has been raining every day for the past few weeks. Not all day but for parts at least. Anyway, my desire to bask in the sun is at a high and these Weekend Sunbeds look like an ideal place to lounge with a book in one hand and a cocktail in the other. Choose from twelve colors.
Every summer get together (and Monday) deserves a sweet ending. But who wants something rich and heavy when warm weather eating is about all things fresh and light? Enter the granita, a fancy slush if you will. This icy concoction couldn’t be easier to bring to life, and a splash of alcohol makes it very adult friendly. These ten version are on my radar for summer tasting.
Click on each image to go to the recipe. All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.
Crisp, clean bed linens and summertime are ubiquitous in my mind. That gorgeous inevitably rumpled look and fabric that only gets softer with use pair so well with warm evenings and deep sleeps. The only things that might make the experience even more perfect is a soft breeze.
Stick-Up Sticks are both fun and purposeful. Inspired by the colored chalk of your childhood, each painted beechwood magnet is set at a different angle. Use them to hang dish towels and aprons or to attach photos and important papers to the refrigerator.
This week on Design Crush:
The beauty of domesticity captures in Fuki Koike‘s illustrations. Tatoorary creates the best temporary ink I’ve ever seen.
Colorful large-scale wooden sculptures by CHIAOZZA.
Beautiful small-batch ceramics from Paper & Clay.
Paper gardens that won’t wilt by Anne Ten Donkelaar. Ten DIYs to keep your hands busy this month.
I’m obsessed with the canvas bags and accessories of Tiff Manuell. Colors are the best crayons you’ve ever seen. Tamsin van Essen’s Erosion Series is based on something completely unexpected.
