1925 w hubbard street, chicago
I spotted these rusted old garbage containers as planters on Chicago’s Near North Side yesterday. Pretty creative and green idea.
Monthly Archives: September 2009
monoprinting inspiration
monoprint by emmanuel pratt
So you’ve always talked about wanting to take a monoprinting class? While I can’t guarantee that yours will turn out like Emmanuel Pratt’s, I can offer a simple tutorial for starting at home to get a feel for it.
Supplies
a piece of plexiglass or regular glass taken from a thrift store picture frame
acrylic or tempera paint
a brayer, cardboard paper towel roll or a small paint roller
paper
a paintbrush or pencil
One Way
1. Roll paint over the entire piece of glass.
2. Place paper directly atop being careful with air bubbles.
3. Using the tip of the handle of the paintbrush or the eraser side of a pencil, draw a design or picture, pressing firmly but not too firm that you tear the paper.
4. Slowly lift up the paper.
5. DONE!
The Other Way
1. Load your paintbrush with color.
2. Draw directly onto the glass.
3. Press glass down atop paper.
4. DONE!
by emmanuel pratt
Posted in diy
thrift store rundown: milwaukee
set of vintage bowls from St. Vincent de Paul
Midwest is best, especially when it comes to affordable thrifting and antiquing. But only if you don’t count my fair city. Chicago is definitely not number one when it comes to reasonably priced goods; our sales tax is the highest in the nation for God’s sake. Since scouring thrift stores for bargains has become a hobby for many and since the recession has made it a downright necessity, Chicago’s thrift stores are increasingly picked over and treasures can be hard to find. Consider that most items in Chicago’s thrift stores will cost double what they do in neighboring large cities, and you’ve got reason to spend the gas money to get out of town.
vintage carafe from St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store
Enter the Milwaukee day trip. With tons of shops to choose from, crazy weekend half-off sales, easy parking and no traffic, Milwaukee is a boon for the urban thrifter.
I only made it to two thrift stores and one antique shop before my legs gave out and still managed to come out with some gems for under $25. It seems I am on a dishware kick and decided only to photograph my kitchen acquisitions!
pyrex mugs; one from St. Vincent, one from Value Village
St. Vincent de Paul is located on Milwaukee’s Southwest side at 2320 W. Lincoln Avenue. Every single clothing item in the store is $1.99 and though I wasn’t in the mood for clothes shopping, I did notice lots of fall and winter jackets in great condition. They also have a small selection of curated vintage items for sale at slightly higher prices. And of course, we went on a day when everything in the store was half priced and there was a bit of a frenzy. St. Vincent has a HUGE selection of glassware, dishes, milk glass and appliances. The shop also has a large space for furniture and electronics. For 25 cents, you can also purchase something from their shelves and shelves of fabric, tablecloths, placemats and table runners. I copped some great pieces of fabric that I didn’t photograph at St. Vincent.
corning mugs from St. Vincent de Paul
love this small dish with yellow trim from St. Vincent de Paul
orange Pyrex! from St. Vincent de Paul
Value Village, part of the Saver family of thrift stores, has numerous locations in Milwaukee, my favorite being just off of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and North Avenue on the Northeast side of the city. On this trip, I decided to check out their St. Francis location at 3100 E. Layton Avenue. I’ll be honest: it was a hot mess this Saturday. Value Village is half-off everything in the store on the weekends and by the time I got there, the place had been ransacked by bargain hunters from top to bottom. We were still able to find some great items for the price of dinner for two at a taqueria. Value Village has racks and racks and racks of clothing from men, women and children. I’ll be honest: almost everything my dad wears comes from the MLK location. He’s bragged about walking out with three bags of blue jeans for $5.00. Not bad, Dad. Not bad!
carafe from Value Village
winter pyrex bowl from Value Village
50 cents! my big bargain for the day from Value Village
Posted in thrift store rundown
new house bbq
heating it up
Ok and I had our first BBQ in the new apartment this past Labor Day. About twenty people showed up for drinks and my first time manning the grill (with huge help– okay, with most of the work being done by the hostess-with-the-mostest, my friend Kate.) It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be and only the chicken thighs needed to be returned to the grill for further cooking.
The BBQ was the perfect occasion to put my vintage dishware to use. I’m positive no one noticed it but me but I still took some pleasure in being the chick that actually uses the nice dishware instead of locking it in a china hutch like my Gram. By the second hour of the party, my carefully curated tabletop had deteriorated into something out of a picnic at the park and my vase of gladiolas disappeared somewhere in the pantry and I was too busy with the grill to straighten things up like I wanted to, but a good time was had by all. The dishes were done and the table cleared by my best friend Aziza, who no one should ever go with out for a party! Ok and I were left with nothing to do but mop the next morning, which leaves me in good standing with him when I beg for another party before the warm weather leaves us.
A few photos from the talented Temi Kujore, our good friend who brought Pimm’s and plantains to the party.
aziza gets the burgers ready
back porch conversations
finally my old-school union hall benches get some action
dave and kristen
miss syd... and my dirty windows!
new parents!
before the flowers left the table
chibueze, always with blue cup in hand
i must have taken this one- temi & ronke
the gorgeous tanisha... and chi
america's next top...
beautiful ronke
i knew i painted the kitchen bright turquoise for a reason
syd and i
my gorgeous husband
max smile
kate and one of the twins
look at that face!
max
outside in
good night!
Posted in my apartment, my life (personally speaking)
gocco printing
Peony Gocco Print by Sarah Parrot
Available in her Etsy shop.
Print Gocco (pronounced go-co) is a small Japanese printing machine that has gained quite a following over the last decade or so in the US. The machine, which has a very small footprint and was made to be a “kitchen table” printer, offers a super easy way to make screen prints with an extremely small footprint on coffee tables, the dining room floor, or even your back porch, which is where I plan to use mine.
M.E. Williams has a teriffic post over at DIY Life on how to use your gocco machine. Since that’s already been covered, I just want to swoon at some of the artists creating designs with them. Continue reading
embossed diy invitations
diy embossed invites
Embossing is so easy! It takes nothing but a $20 heating tool, some ink, embossing powder, a stamp and some paper. I learned how to emboss at the Paper Source store in Berkeley back in 2007. One of their staff was nice enough to give me a short tutorial and I ended up embossing all of my wedding paper needs: invites, escort cards, table numbers, the guestbook. Embossing is a simple way to make a raised surface where you stamp. It adds some shine to your stamp and makes it look more ‘done’ than a plan old stamp would. Click below the jump for a simple tutorial. Continue reading
vintage graters in the kitchen
vintage cheese graters
Vintage kitchenware is one of the easiest things to start collecting. You never know when you will find something from early last century haphazardly pushed into a cardboard box next to someone’s Mickey Mouse plate.
I found these graters at two different shops for less than $1 and later discovered that they can fetch anywhere from $7-$40 on eBay. The markings tell me that the one on the right, “The Perfect Grater,” was made in the 1930′s. The “All-in-One,” on the left, can be found online for as little as $3, though I am unable to trace its origins. The Bean House Store has a lot of three vintage graters for $12. You can display them, resell them, make art or hell, maybe use them to grate some cheese.
I like the way they used vintage tin containers and pegs to hang the graters on.
Another easy collection to start for the kitchen: vintage Pyrex dishes. Look for some of my gems in an upcoming post.
welcome to urban casita
I hope to focus on thrifting, vintage finds, home decor, DIY projects and crafts and some slice of life posts. Casita means “little home” and I look forward to sharing mine! Please check back and feedback is always welcome.
