Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Travel & Design: Peruvian Style

Buenos dias mis amigos! If you've been wondering why I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks, it's because I was down in Peru visiting Lima, Andahuaylas, and Cuzco. I went down with an organization called Kids Alive International to serve in an orphanage in the small mountain town of Andahuaylas, inland from Lima. I can't even begin to tell you what an amazing experience it was with the friendships made, the amazing children, beautiful landscape, fantastic shopping, and lives changed.



Aside from spending time with the children, one of my favorite moments was when the director of the orphanage found out that I love DIY furniture upcycling and asked if I could re-finish a table for them. Of course I said YES! The table was nice solid wood, but the finish was a bit out-dated so I decided to sand it down (by hand, which was the biggest part of the job, but I enlisted some helpers). Here's the original:


Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Instructables: Changing the World of DIY

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! Now for most of us it's back to reality, and for many that means going back to work, and for very few, that is an enjoyable feat. Who finds going to work enjoyable?? Well, I know for a fact that the people who work at Instructables fall into this category. I'm willing to bet that most of them probably don't even call it work--it's their passion and they love what they do, so they will never work a day in their life (sound familiar?). This is something that many strive for, but few achieve so major props to all you bots people!

What is Instructables? So glad you asked! As an avid DIY-er this online community is like Mecca. Here you will find tutorials on everything from fashion to technology to your new favorite dinner recipe. And the best part? Anyone can be a part of this creative community and grow as artists, designers, foodies, etc., share our ideas, learn from each other, meet new people, make new discoveries, and enrich our lives in ways we never thought possible.

Today I had the pleasure of taking a tour of their INCREDIBLE workshop located at Pier 9 in San Francisco. Anything you could possibly imagine can be created in this workshop--I'm not exaggerating. This state-of-the-art facility includes a cutting edge digital fabrication lab, a woodworking shop, a metalworking shop, a 3D printing lab, laser cutting and printing capabilities, an electronics workshop, a commercial test kitchen, and an industrial sewing center as well as smaller specialty project areas. Here's a little sneak peak:



Photo cred

Ready to get to work? I sure am! Here are some of my favorite Instrucables so far:

The Honeycomb Pinboard:


I think I'd use different colors, but this is definitely a contender for my wall above my desk! Black, white, and gold perhaps?



How cool is this? I love the pattern they chose, but it also gets my mind reeling with the infinite possibilities with this project as far as pattern, shape, color, texture....now I just need to get my hands on a laser cutter...more on that later ;)



I've been wanting to make a tufted headboard for years now but for some reason just haven't gotten to it. This method, however, looks to be much easier and just as effective (if not more!) This one looks pretty modern, but if you just change up the fabric you could achieve any style or mood you want.

These are just a few selections from their thousands of tutorials, and it keeps growing every day! So if you are in need of a little creative outlet, spend some time checking out the amazing things you can make at home from Instructables and the creative community that surrounds it, come join!








Thursday, July 3, 2014

Stars and Stripes Forever

Happy "Friday" my friends! I hope you are looking forward to this long weekend as much as I am. This sounds weird to say, but I keep forgetting that it's summer because it's so cold and foggy here in San Francisco, especially where I live (near the ocean). Due to these misty mornings and cool evenings, this 4th of July holiday really snuck up on me!

When it comes to holidays, I always say, thank goodness for Pinterest (well I say thank goodness for Pinterest for almost anything) so I thought I'd share some of my favorite red white and blue pins with all of you...




Follow the jump to see more...