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A Lion’s Nest

22 May

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So, LIFE magazine did a photo spread back in the day on a family that actually kept a real-life, Narnia-looking lion as a pet. In their house, nonetheless! How insane is that? And hilarious, too, when you see him tucked into bed with the kids or just taking a lazy nap on the kitchen floor.

I tried to do some digging around for the original article, but no such luck (just the pictures, courtesy of Joanna). Some sites say the lion’s owners were Melanie Griffith’s parents(?). If any of you guys have more information on this, I’d love to know! The photos are crazy enough on their own, though… after looking through them, I think you’ll find this lion as charming and cuddly as a teddy bear. Maybe. :)

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{photos via}

Top (Hat) of The Morning

14 May

DIYable: top hat lighting - Mr. Kate

I counted yesterday. I’ve technically been to London at least six times. “Been to” is a relative term, though. So far my longest stint in London was 13 hours … overnight … during a layover on my return from Egypt. I’ve even done some sightseeing. Once on a bus from London City Airport to Kings Cross tube station, I passed by Big Ben and the Eye of London — but it was more like a scene from the Griswalds’ European Vacation than an actual tour.

That said, during my last layover there, I had just enough time to see my sister’s new apartment, grab a pastry and a coffee and discover this amazing idea: top hat lighting fixtures! How adorable are these? I spotted them at this yummy little pastry shop in London’s Angel neighborhood. So naturally, I had to find a DIY. Here’s one from blog Mr. Kate that sounds pretty easy.

A perfect souvenir from another layover in London.

{Photos via Mr. Kate}

Vintage Theater Etiquette

23 Apr

These images are actual movie theater etiquette announcements from the early 1900s! Isn’t that insane? And aren’t they hilarious? The hats kill me. :)

{via Gems & Old Hollywood}

Just in Case

16 Apr

DIY Project: Suitcase Vanity and Towel Holder - Design Sponge

I missed last month’s Rose Bowl Flea Market, but I have just the thing in mind to pick up next month: A cute little suitcase like the one in this adorable DIY from Design Sponge. My bathroom is tragically short on space — and decorations — so I think this would be just the thing to spruce it up!

{Photo via Design Sponge}

Titanic

5 Apr

When Titanic came out in 1997, I was 13 years old and completely obsessed with the film; it helped that I had already gone through a ton of reading material on the ship in the 6th grade (yes, huge geek here) and  it’s still the only movie I’ve gone to see three times in theaters. TIME magazine recently released an amazing collection of the only photos of the Titanic at sea to survive the shipwreck, all taken by an Irish Jesuit priest named Francis Browne, who by chance decided to disembark from the ship after the first leg of its trip. The photos are a fascinating–and eerie–glimpse into life on the ship before the crash, and what things and people looked like during that time period. (Of course, director James Cameron really got all of those details spot-on in his film.)

Here are some photos from the slideshow…

Do you guys think you’ll see the movie in theaters? I’m not really a fan of 3-D, but I do love the idea of experiencing it on the big screen once again–it was seriously such a thrill to watch when I was a kid.

To see the entire Titanic slideshow, go here.

Polaposts

29 Mar

This would make for such a sweet surprise for a friend: Polaposts lets you turn regular photos into Polaroid-styled postcards that you can send off in the mail. All you do is purchase the sleeve, clip your photograph to size, slip it inside, and seal; the writeable back lets you personalize it with a message. With all of our photos going online these days, wouldn’t it be amazing to send a special photo to someone and have them receive it in the mail like this?

Have a great weekend, everyone! xx

{via swiss miss}

Patchwork Creatures

27 Mar

How amazingly beautiful are Abigail Brown‘s textile creations? I especially love the deer–don’t they look so sweet and peaceful?

{via Oh Joy!}

Books As Craft Projects?

12 Mar

The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti

While the idea of destroying a good book for the sake of style makes me sad, I’m a little more lenient about the practice when it comes to books that aren’t so “good.” I find plenty of these: old books that have a beautiful patina or cover, but a subject matter like “Carrot Farmers of the North Atlantic.” In these cases, I think it’s totally justified to make one of the fun and crafty items found in Lisa Occhipinti’s “The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life.”

In fact, some of these projects just might serve to put these so-so books in the spotlight more than if they were just taking up room on a bookshelf. What do you guys think? Is it OK to turn a book into a craft project?

Wake Up and Smell the Bacon

29 Feb

Wake n' Bacon alarm clock

This cracks me up. It has to be some sort of health code violation, but I still love it. And actually, one of my fondest memories from growing up was waking up to the smell of my grandma cooking bacon when we’d go to visit her in Indiana. So this is really just the a next-gen version of that.

[Photos and concept by Matty Sallin with engineering by Josh Myer]

Face to Face With Literature

27 Feb

Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë - from The Composites

Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald - from The Composites

As much as I love seeing my favorite books make it to the big screen, it is sometimes hard to reconcile my own envisioning of a particular character with Hollywood’s. Case and point: the Twilight series.

So I’m slightly intrigued yet slightly wary of this tumblr feed created by Brian Joseph Davis that uses law enforcement composite sketch software to create mug shots of famous literary characters.

I think I’d be more on the intrigued and delighted end of the spectrum if the software didn’t make everyone look like descendents of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Luckily I don’t have a strong affinity for any of the characters featured so far.

Regardless, it’s a fascinating and thoughtful project, so it technically meets “smitten” standards :). Learn more about the project and creator Brian Joseph Davis in this video feature from the BBC.

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