Danny SEO

Stacked Cups and Plates

For a while now, I've been using this super adhesive glue (E6000) to glue random plates, cups and mugs together into tall serving tiered trays as gifts.   They are so easy to make and all you have to do is have some of this glue and patience to let it fully dry.

So, imagine my surprise to see this lamp in Anthropologie recently: stacked plates, cups and a teapot to make a lamp.   I'm thinking these were vintage pieces that they repurposed into a lamp and the end results of kinda fun.    I do love how Anthropologie is always pushing their designers to come up with more interesting and handmade looking pieces.

And for those of you who don't remember my stacked tiered project, here's a pic from the very first example I did.    It is literally flea market chipped plates, creamers and a five cent bird figurine all glued together.   This E6000 glue is so strong, you could literally hold it by the bird and it won't break apart.    Don't even think about trying to do this with a hot glue gun....it just won't work!

Laundry Ghost

Happy Valentine's Day!   

Just a funny shot to post about today: my laundry ghost.   I washed some t-shirts and a hoodie today and hung them all up to air dry.  Lately, I've been air-drying a lot more because A: it's good for the environment and B: it doesn't shrink my shirts.   I've even gotten to the point of piling t-shirts next to the vents in the guest room to dry more quickly.  The forced air from my heating system gets them dry in minutes.   

But as I looked at the laundry area this morning, I thought this looked like a creepy laundry monster/ghost.  

Enjoy the day!

Crate and Barrel Weekend

Last weekend, I was in New York City to help train the sales associates at the Crate and Barrel store on Madison Avenue (by Central Park) about the Natural Care line of mattresses.   I'm proud to say that Natural Care is now also available at all Crate and Barrel furniture stores nationwide, in addition to JCPenney stores and many fine sleep specialty stores nationwide, too.

In between training sessions, I walked around the empty store (it was done in the morning before the store opened) and felt like I had a private store all to myself.   There is something very calming about shopping in store that's pin-drop quiet: no music, no employees and just daylight pouring through the windows.   Fun! 

One item I spied was this collection of ottomans made from reupholstered vintage carpets.   No two are alike and they have a feeling of being an heirloom piece.

Yes, $1800 is not cheap, I admit.  But you are looking at a piece of furniture that is made from authentic vintage rugs and is hand upholstered to give you a polished, very professional look.    Whenever I see something I'd like to buy, I just wait for the appropriate sale and markdowns to see if the price is agreeable or not.   And sometimes,  I'll look at this inspiration piece and just make one myself.   Which one would you do?  Wait for a sale or try it yourself? 

And here is a fun idea: use your dining room hutch as as tableau presentation instead of just stacking endless amounts of dishes on top of each other.   Why not mix a big ball of twine and shells with everyday dishes?   Or just fill up the entire cabinet with jars full of household items.   I think the rules of decorating are broken and we can be as creative in every room of the house.    Have fun, I say.

Okay, back to meeting the lovely folks at C&B to discuss eco sleeping.... 

Magazine Shoot

Last Friday, I had a photo shoot at my new house for Philadelphia Magazine.    I love Philadelphia Magazine because A: it’s a very well written and researched regional publication and B: I live in the Philly area!   So, it was an honor to have them come and shoot my home for their April issue.

In this first pic, I asked to take a picture of one of the staffer’s feet to show that I have a very strict “no shoes” policy in my house.   I’ve written that  80% of all the outside dirt, lead and pesticides are dragged in from shoes.    Why would you want 10 people walking all over your house with their shoes going room to room?   Thankfully, everyone obliged and agreed to go shoe-less all day.

In the living room, there was more equipment set-up to light rooms, block light and diffuse light.  It was all about lighting, lighting, lighting!       There were lots of plastic water bottles everywhere, which is such a strange sight to see.   I don’t drink from plastic bottles, but they keep becoming a mainstay at photo shoots.   I need to do something about that for future shoots!

Spring!   Even though it’s winter outside, this is for a Spring issue.  So, lovely flowers and greenery were brought in to warm up the home.    After we shot the living room, I set a nice fire in the fireplace to keep everyone nice and warm.  Once I put out the marshmallows and chocolate, people couldn’t stop roasting and eating…  S’mores!    At one point, I thought the stylist was going to have a nervous breakdown (she was standing in the snow holding bamboo branches from my yard...trying to make a shot facing outside look "green.").    I broke out a bottle of organic champagne to see if that would help...