So, I usually don’t pick my Christmas theme out this far in advance, but I was leafing through one of my old holiday issues of Victoria Magazine that I’ve saved since forever, and it reminded me of how long it’s been since I did a full-on, over-the-top Victorian Christmas. I’d better start aging that figgyContinue reading “Living In: Victorian Christmas”
Category Archives: cliffswallow
Merry Grinchmas!
OK, it’s a little late, but that’s how I roll these days. Here are a couple of snaps from my Grinch-themed Christmas decorations. It all started with the animatronic singing Grinch doll my mom gave me this fall (ogling the ninjabread men there…), and then it mushroomed from there. Turns out there are websites willingContinue reading “Merry Grinchmas!”
Powder Room Remodel Plans
So, I’m putting together a plan to do a light remodel of my powder room: it’s the only space downstairs that remains un-updated since the house was built in 1989, and as such, it has all the mauve formica, brass lighting, and southwestern-style vinyl flooring you would expect. I don’t want to do an invasiveContinue reading “Powder Room Remodel Plans”
Field-Trip Fridays: Wollparadies Fadeninsel
My knitting needles finally arrived today (let’s not talk about how much I paid to have that box shipped to me), and so I went to a yarn store today to get ready for my next knitting project. Wollparadies Fadeninsel is on Oranienstraße in the cute, hip neighborhood of Kreuzberg. The staff were *super* friendlyContinue reading “Field-Trip Fridays: Wollparadies Fadeninsel”
Living In…Seoul Villa
“Living In” was an old series on (the awesome but now sadly defunct) Design*Sponge where different contributors would put together collages (I guess the kids are calling them “mood boards” these days) that brought to life the ambience of a particular movie or book. Here I’m taking it a little more literally and designing housesContinue reading “Living In…Seoul Villa”
Ceramics Saturdays: Edmund de Waal
I just finished reading Edmund de Waal’s White Road, a poetic and gripping personal history of porcelain–from its discovery in China to its infection of the rest of the colonial world, first through feverish collection and later through emulation as enterprising potters in Germany, England, and even the Americas attempted to reverse-engineer the “white gold”Continue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Edmund de Waal”
Winter Harvest
No, this is all of it…. And those carrots are about 3 inches long. I can’t blame this on the RBQ, so I think it’s official that I’m a terrible gardener 🤣
Upcycled Red Carpet Scarf
I can’t even remember which awards show it was last year, maybe the Oscars? But the New York Times (I think) ran a red-carpet slide show that sorted the looks by color and then put them in a gradient that started with black and went through gray to white, then did the metallics starting withContinue reading “Upcycled Red Carpet Scarf”
Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda
You can’t tell from this image, but these pots are TINY. The bowl on the left is just big enough for the tip of my thumb to fit into and as thin as an eggshell. And John Almeda throws them en plein air on a tiny portable wheel the size of a big poker chip.Continue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: John Almeda”
Storing Christmas Decorations
Since Epiphany is tomorrow (the 12th day of Christmas) and my city’s tree-cycling program ends this weekend, it’s time to de-decorate. Honestly, it’s fine: as much as I love Christmas, I recognize that its ability to thrill me every year stems in part from the fact that it’s a limited engagement. Also, while I neverContinue reading “Storing Christmas Decorations”
The Rookery 