Friday Fascination

What I'm obsessed with today:  glitter swizzle sticks.  Ok I'm obsessed with glitter most days but today it is particular to glitter swizzle sticks - watching the premiere of Mad Men the other day (Zoobie Zoobie Zoo) got me in the mood for some retro bar ware - which apparently glitter swizzle sticks are (now you know). 

I found a few options (but not many) online.  The ones I liked the best were from Daisy Chain Vintage  -  two unopened boxes of multicolor Glittertone stirrers (if I ever have a record label I think I would call it Glittertone).  Two packs were around $12.00 (notice the original price of 39 cents - oh to have access to a time machine) and I kind of liked the fact that they were still in the box. 

Image via Daisy Chain Vintage

These will soon be part of my collection of bar ware! Happy Friday!

The Year of Snow White

I have been a Snow White fan since forever.  One of my first memories of seeing a movie was watching the classic Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I have an obscene collection of Snow White collectibles, art and I still take my picture with Snow White at Disneyland.  I was obviously years ahead of my time because this is the year that Snow White is making her comeback. 

First the show Once Upon a Time which I never miss features Ginnifer Goodwin's Snow White as a major character and now not one but two movies are to be released.  I'm sure my weekend plans will include a trip to see Mirror, Mirror and come June I will be watching Snow White and the Huntsman.  I also love that these new versions of Snow White are a little edgier and not so damsel in distress.  Lest I forget it is also the 75th Anniversary of the release of the original animated movie so that means lots of fun stuff from Disney - can't wait.

In honor of my favorite Princess I thought I would share some of my recent favorite Snow White art and accessories that are more on par with her new attitude.

This is one of my personal favorites - I found it a few years ago in a shop in San Francisco and it doesn't seem to be sold in stores anymore -  the Fairest of the Them All necklace that is part of the  Disney Couture line.  I wear it to work, to meetings, out for drinks - it's red and gold so it goes with everything.  And its a little pick me up too because who doesn't want to be fairest of them all?

A necklace that you can still find, however, is the Heart and Dagger - also by Disney Couture - and one I think I must have for all my Snow White viewing this year.

Image via asos

A few years ago Disney released a book called The Art of the Disney Princess which has portraits and photographs of so many of the princesses like you've never imagined before.  They also made prints and canvases of some of the art work including my absolute favorite - Pop Snow White by Jenny Chung.  I have both a print (in my office) and the canvas version as well (in my home).  If Snow White is not your favorite there are also versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid and more to come.




Image via Acme Archives Direct

 If you're in the mood for any Disney princess paraphernalia today is a good day to check out the Disney Store website as the whole site is 25% off with the code HAPPY25 for today only - they have more traditional Snow White merchandise and some more modern items like this sequin shirt.

Rare Indeed

Who remembers shrinky dinks?  I remember coloring in My Little Ponies on the plastic and then baking them.  My mom let us turn the light on the stove so we could see them shrink.  But I don't remember them having a purpose - half the fund was shrinking them.   A few years ago I came across the shrinking baking plastic that made up shrinky dinks and wondered what you could do with it - well Tiff of Rare Indeed has found many wonderful uses.

Rare Indeed offers up a large selection of jewelry made from "durable shrink plastic" that is hand drawn on by the artist.  It is awesome for so many reasons that I can't begin to explain.

The earrings are darling and so many options from cupcakes to a pair inspired by Belgian surreal artist Rene Magritte.  And at only $8.00 a pair they would make great presents for your friends (or yourself).

Perfect for an art history buff (image via Rare Indeed)

 My absolute favorite however has to be the banner brooches that exclaim you are either "Marvellous" (note the Australian spelling) or "Not Bad."  I'd love to have an arsenal of them to bestow upon friends and co-workers but it would be hard to explain the choice of who got which one.

My personal favorite (image via Rare Indeed)



The shop is definitely worth a visit.

Tied Up in Pink Tape

During a semester in London and a tour of the Inns of Court I learned that the "red tape" idiom referring to bureaucracies and government shenanigans had its origins in documents being bound in red ribbons or tape and that English lawyers, or solicitors as they like to call them, still use red ribbon to tie up documents.  I much prefer pink, however, and was on a quest to find some neon pink tape to use for whatever purposes I saw fit (probably not for tying up documents however).

But neon pink washi tape seemed to be out of stock all over the web.  And if it was in stock it ran about $4.00 a roll for something like 11 yards which wasn't going to get me very far (and I'm always looking for a cheaper option).  Then I came across Find Tape, and, as their name implies, they have lots of tape.  Notably neon pink artist's tape that was just around $6.00 for 60 yards!  They also had green, yellow and orange.  Well it doesn't take a scientist to figure out that I ordered one in each color and now that's its here I can't quite decide what to cover in tape (I ruled out the dog as he is too wiggly and would probably just pull it off and eat it). What I didn't order was the dispenser that would hold up to 3 rolls of the tape (and I wish I had). 

Image via Find Tape


Speaking of dispensers, however, I did find a dispenser that would hold all the rolls of that Japanese masking tape at happytape on Etsy.  I tried switching out the rolls on my regular old tape dispenser but I kept losing rolls of tape behind the couch in the process.  And before I thought of that I spent one night using scissors to cut even lengths of tape for a project which made me very grouchy - but this little device eliminates all of that.  The best part is that they are made of wood (it smelled like a wood shop when I took it out of the box) and you can choose what color stain you want it to have.  Personally I couldn't decide so I went with the natural stain and figured I could stain it later if I wanted.  Also it holds a ridiculous amount of tape so you don't have to keep switching it out when you need to use a new color.



Image via happytape

Now as long as I can keep the dispenser away from the dog who has a penchant for chewing wood (his favorites are pencils but he also chewed a wooden Pinocchio sign I brought back from Italy) I think this will serve its purpose for a long time.

A Very Merry Unbirthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and not a big one in terms of numbers or anything and just having got back from vacation I was keen on keeping it low key this year.   A friend took me to a painting class with wine and cheese last night in Santa Monica at the Paint Lab which was fun.   There are plans to go to brunch this weekend at the Parker in Palm Springs with some friends so I'm a happy camper.

I also decided that I needed to get myself a little present so I headed over to Bauble Bar in between reviewing client files and got myself a little pink neon pick-me-up.  It doesn't ship until May but I am okay with extending my birthday celebration indefinitely (at least a little).

Image via Bauble Bar

Now I have at least a month to figure out the best outfit to wear with it!

Domino Coming Back . . . .Well Sort Of!

I am not sure how I did not know about this sooner as it seems to have been announced in early February on Domino's Facebook and twitter accounts.  It is a special edition entitled Domino Quick Fixes and according to a press release from Condé Nast it "will be full of Domino’s best home decorating stories, focusing on easy, often inexpensive changes that make a big difference – from quick spruce-ups of dowdy furniture to more involved DIY projects like painting stairs or reorganizing a home office."  This edition hits newsstands April 17 and will be available through July 16, 2012 at a cost of $10.99.  There are also plans for a second special edition in the fall. 

I can't wait and will be marking it on my calendar right now!

The Sunshine State

Much to my dismay California is not the Sunshine State - that nickname belongs to Florida where I spent almost the last two weeks eating seafood (including stone crab at Joe's Stone Crab),  sampling too much key lime pie, enjoying warm weather and getting my fix of Florida amusement parks. (There was also some interesting misadventures on a mini road trip between Miami and Orlando that involved New York style Chinese food, giant birds, a Publix grocery store and too little sleep which may not be suitable for sharing at this time.)  I have returned to temperatures in the 40s and 50s which is a bit unusual for a few days before Spring here in southern California and I'm not dealing well with it. 

In an effort to extend my vacation (and remember the warm weather) a tad longer I went trolling for a few reminders of my most recent vacation.

I've been a fan of Bird Ave and their skyline prints for some time now.  I was first drawn to the skyline print of my beloved San Francisco but they have some Florida cities that are also endearing as well and would be a nice reminder of the last few weeks.



Bird Ave Miami Print (Image via Bird Ave)

I would love to have one of these pinned on a bulletin board with some fun photo reminders and silly souvenirs from the trip - a sort of mini art installation that I could change out until I go on my next vacation.  
While I am not ready to fully exclaim my love for Florida yet (I was there in September as well and the humidity indirectly resulted in me almost losing a toe) I still find this necklace from Truche endearing. (Personally I would go for this one.)

Image via Truche

 While I am clearly a California girl I can appreciate the rest of the country (in small doses) now and then for vacationing and shopping and other amusements and I do hope to get back to Florida again soon.