Blizzard

Last night every single car that drove down our street got stuck in the snow.  It was a constant chorus of spinning tires and gusting wind until an ambulette got stuck down the block and then no one could get through. There are still abandoned cars on every block; some halfway parked, others in the middle of the street, and I haven't seen a snowplow yet.  I don't think they can get through.  It definitely makes for a surreal winter wonderland!

Happy Christmas!

One Surprise

(And I hope you have many more!)

Two

2 coins. a copper penny (from England) and a silver dollar.

Gift Wrap

Wrapping presents is my favorite part of Christmas.  Seriously, I love, love, love making boxes pretty, and while store-bought giftwrap can be very nice looking, I prefer to use things I already have. Well, I am also a complete cheapskate.

We've gotten a few boxes this season filled with brown paper stuffing.  I always love it when we get packages filled with brown paper because it has so many possibilities.  I can reuse it as stuffing,  or for making sewing patterns (which I do very, very rarely), or, best yet, wrapping paper.  I just got a pretty damask style stamping set, so I'll show you how to take crumpled brown paper and turn it into an old style-looking fancy wrapping:

I usually iron the paper before I use it.  It keeps the wrinkled-ness of the paper, but it also allows it to lay flat. I have a cheap, cheap iron that doesn't actually get hot, so its always on the hottest setting and won't burn anything, but I would recommend using a lower setting than you think you need and see how it goes from there.  But look at what a difference it makes!

Once it's flat and ironed, just stamp away.

I finished mine off with a cream cotton yarn, a pom pom bow, and a stamped chipboard tag:

Since ribbon can be so expensive, and I have a way-too-big-for-my-own-good stash of yarn, I've been finding alternate bow-tying material.  I've fallen in love with pom poms.  I also collect boxes throughout the year (I can't throw anything away) for potential present wrappers.  The below gift doesn't actually contain tea, but I love the twinings tea tins, and am amassing a quantity greater than what I use.

If you have a hard time tying a beautiful bow, you could always draw the ribbon:

But my favorite are the crochet motif toppers. Way, way better than those sticky bows you buy at the store and they only take about about 5 minutes to create.  And they make great tree ornaments, pins, or they can be reused as gift bows.  I have a box of little motifs, whether they be mistakes, or the wrong gauge, or I started something and then got bored with it.

Three

Three cats--this was more difficult than it looks, and it involved lots of delicious fish shaped cookies.

Four

Four cups of tea

Five

Five days, five silver spoons--one of my favorites.

Six days left

Six days left: six pearls.  These were fun to photograph!

Seven

Seven days left: seven silver rings

8 Stones

8 days, 8 stones

9 days left

9 glass bottles

10 buttons

Ten Days left: 10 buttons (my favorite is the glass crystal one, and the copper one, and...oh, I like them all)

11 Keys

Eleven Days: 11 keys

Last chance!

Tonight! finish your Christmas shopping here!

Visit the pop-up shop today from 4 pm to 9 pm at 350 Bowery, between Great Jones and East 4th St. Each day this week there will be 11 vendors from 4-9 pm (perfect after work shopping hours).  We'll be there tonight (wednesday) only, so come see us!

And don't forget to enter our giveaway on the Function Key!  Today is your last chance!

12 Twigs

Twelve days until Christmas: 12 twigs

I'm counting down the last 12 days before Christmas with objects that inspire me. Enjoy!

Success!

The Bust Craftacular was a success--Even though it was a miserable, cold and rainy day, many people braved the line to come and see what people had to sell.  We had fun, and the vendors were fabulous--I had a lot of fun shopping and browsing.

Some of my favorites were :

a.s.i.s.

She makes crochet chain necklaces--but with cashmere, netted crochet stones, and silk blouses with doilies on them!  I wanted to buy one of her shirts, but they were sold out.  And she bought crochet bottles form us.  I love the crochet stone necklaces--I was looking at her shop and was falling in love with so many things! I'm visiting her at the Brooklyn Flea to get a shirt, and I am so, so excited.

Georgia Varidakis Jewelry

The gals at this booth were great. I bought a ring from them, and they came by us to visit for a while. She had some fabulous bunny necklaces and earrings, too!  I love my ring.  It's carved to look like a twig (hmm. . . surprising I would like something of that nature...) and then cast in sterling silver. I like it because it works with my other stack, too.

KG + AB porcelain
I bought some cast porcelain nuts and another gift for someone who may or may not be reading this. But I love my nuts!  Perfect little objects.

We also have one more event this season: Bust has partnered with Hendricks Gin to put on a pop up shop this week and we'll be participating in the show tomorrow evening.

It's at 350 Bowery, between Great Jones & East 4th St. and it runs from 4pm until 9pm.  It may be your last chance to get some cool new things before Christmas--so come visit us!

Craftacular!

Don't Forget to come visit us tomorrow!!

Getting ready for this weekend

We made some new rings and they are now in the shop.

You can click the photo to see each description.

Our Very Own Banner

Very happy with our new banner. I finished the edges today (it was used at 3rd Ward when it was still slightly unfinished)  We projected a business card on canvas, traced it in pencil, and Lock did all the delicate painting. It was surprisingly easy and it turned out very nicely!  Although, Lock did have banner envy at 3rd Ward since it is relatively small.  I like it fine, (and it was still too large to easily photograph) but we may make another, larger one for BUST.  It makes me think of all the hand painted signs we saw in Mexico

Beautiful

I am so in love with Van Der Glas's shop.  I want everything:

I love these pieces both as art jewelry and wear-it-everywhere jewelry. She's managed to take something slightly horrifying: cast off pieces of bodies; and made them into something hauntingly beautiful.  I especially love the teeth rings.  I'm also very interested in what she has to say about her materials:

"Hair and teeth were brushed, treated with colours and bleaches; fingernails were grown for show, painted and emphasized. When attached to the body, they are central to social values of beauty yet when they become disattached, the meanings they hold drastically transform."


And in case you were wondering, I like to make things out of hair, too.

3rd Ward

The 3rd Ward holiday craft fair was great!  Sadly, were tucked away in the corner, but we still made out well--look how crowded it was!  And don't forget that the Bust Craftacular is this Sunday!  (don't worry, we'll remind you again before the week is out)

Saturday in Brooklyn

3rd Ward is 195 Morgan Ave.  It's an easy walk from the Grand or Montrose stop on the L: From Bushwick ave, walk 3 blocks east on Stagg st. Check out a map here.

The first 100 shoppers will get a free tote bag stuffed with goodies from the vendors--like our penny buttons above!

So come by and say hello--Last year there were so many things I wanted--not just for me, but for gifts as well!

Vintage

This is what I bought:

The vintage stores were the best.  I was impressed with the inexpensiveness of the items--much less than comparative shops in New York.  I just wish I had more time to search through the racks and bins--There was a large bin overflowing with scarves for €1 each!  I'm sad that I only bought 2. And the shirt is a beautiful lacy eyelet cotton that I must sadly wait until spring to wear--one more thing to look forward to.