I spent Sunday night just the way it was intended, sitting on my butt.  Well, not JUST sitting, as you might have guessed I am a little too ADHD for that (no really diagnosed and everything).  I sat and watched Lars and the Real Girl, ate my Indian food left overs and made jewelry.  After last week's super sale, impending in-law visits this week and a trip to Dallas on the horizon for this weekend there was a lot of jewelry to get made.  Luckily I hammered through a ton of stuff and Hope and I should be able to mail out a lot of things today.  Anywhoodle after Lars and before the movie about Genesis (the band) Chris and I watched an episode of House.  It makes me sad that they have my favorite Massive Attack song as their theme even though I actually like the show.  During the episode a Miracle Gro commercial came on that caught my attention and I have spent the entire morning looking for the clip or pictures from it.

Usually I don't look up for commercials, let along ones from Miracle Gro but this one was really cute.  There was a young girl and the story line was "look at this quirky girl make all this weird stuff into planters for her garden".  I too being a weird quirky girl that uses ... jars as planters and has trophies stuck throughout my garden was glued to the TV.  She made a hanging basket out of one of half of an old metal globe that was amazing!  Old drums were used as flower pots (and to think I have just been using them as trash cans around my house) and my favorite were the bowling ball planters lining her stair case.  The other two projects I get, but I need more details on these bowling balls?  Did she cut off the tops and they are hollow inside?  How did she cut off the tops?  Did she cut off the bottoms a little too so they would lay flat?  There is so much I need to know because I have a ton of brightly covered bowling balls in my house.  Who can resist them at the thrift store, I know I'm not alone.  I even registered on the Miracle Gro website and posted on a blog there in hopes of an answer!  In the meantime I thought I would share a few pictures of oddball planters around my house.

I collect thermoses and a few were missing their lids so I spread the collection out into my dining room and made them into planters!

I found this vintage ice cream maker at an antique shop and the minute I saw it I knew it would make an amazing planter.  I took out what mechanical guts that I could and filled it up with dirt and ferns.

This is a little array of planters on my back porch.  Some are just plain pots, one is mosaiced and one is a vintage plaid coffee can.  I also found a bag of dirt bike trophies at the thrift store that I stuck into a ton of plants.

A metal meat drawer from an old fridge now holds plants in my backyard.  I found this little treasure in someone's trash one day.

Chipped cookie jars missing their lids are transformed into planters at my house.  I have another one that sits next to my stove and holds ladles, slotted spoons and other tall cooking utensils.

One of the things Chris and I used to love to do together when we first started dating 10 years ago were crafts.  Well we didn't do a lot of crafting but we did adorn these flower pots with shells and super glue after a trip to the beach.  This is a before and after picture as to what the weather has done to the pot through the years.

Back when Naughty Secretary Club was a zine I had a few gardening how to ideas.  I thought I would repost the project about making a bird cage into a hanging basket here.

So I was reading that Fab book PAD that no home is complete without and there was a lamp that someone had made out of an old birdcage. Inspiration hit me...

I thought I'll make my birdcage into a hanging basket for a plant instead, and that is just what I did!

Luckily, my parents had this old rickety bird cage in their garage from some parakeet I had many moons ago. Thanks God I have had a tetanus shot recently one stab with this cage and lock jaw would have set in for sure!

And so I had my cage now I needed the other stuff...

I used a plant already in a hanging basket and basically just switched houses on it.  I am not sure what kind of plant this is, but is seems to be in the succulent family and has little flowers. What I was looking for was

A) something that vined

B) something with thin branches that could fit through the wires of the bird cage.

I also got a coco husk liner to set the plant in so dirt wouldn't fall out through the open sides.

  Here is where it got a little tricky...

Well first of all I immediately threw away the tacky basket that poor plant had been subjected to. I then sat the plant inside the coco husk liner. You might need to add a little dirt, but I didn't. I then sat the whole thing inside a plastic bag so the plant would not get as damaged as I shoved up into the cage.

I took the bottom off of the bird cage and gently began to squeeze the plant up into the cage.

Once the plant was all smooshed in, I slid the bottom back on the cage. I then cut away at the plastic bag and pulled it out.

At first the poor plant looked a little squished, but never fear that is what wire clippers are for. I took out a few wires of the bird cage just so the plant could come out a bit.

I then sat and fingered out the vines of the plant so that it was coming out all over the birdcage.

Presto! I had my new hanging basket in a bird cage!

Remember again that all container plants need to be fed and hanging baskets in particular are going to need more water.

You can hang this from a tree or on your apartment balcony. I sat mine as the centerpiece on my patio table.

I still keep an eye peeled for cute bird cages when I am out and about.  5 years later there is a different plant inside the cage, but it still hangs in my yard.  These days I don't do much gardening I leave that my husband Chris.  Read all about the landscaping he did in our front yard here and the loquat cobbler he made from the tree he planted here.

I'll keep you posted on whether or not I find this infamous Miracle Gro ad.  What cute things have you seen used as planters?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Today is like a national holiday around my house only rivaled by Christmas and Easter.  Today my friends is Secretaries Day!  Hooray!  Whoo-hoo!  As someone who was an administrative assistant for several years and took the name of their company from this occupation I hold it very dear to my heart.  I thought today was as good a day as any to formally introduce you to my new jewelry book... The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.

The book comes out this August, but you can already pre-order it on Amazon and Target.  I'm so so excited and I really hope everyone loves it.  The book is being released by North Light who puts out some of the bestest books in the whole wide crafty world if your asking me.  Books like Plush You, Altered Curiosities, Collage Discovery Workshop, Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful, The Secrets of Rusty Things, Collage Unleashed, Anticraft and more.  Plus they are the cool company behind the fun new website My Craftivity. 

I buy lots of jewelry books and tried to write one like I would want to buy.  Lots of color and tack-a-liscious awesomeness.  There are tons of fun jewelry projects using all kinds of kitschy goodness like tin typewriters, rulers, doll house furniture, resin, eye glasses, garden gnomes, paper - you name it!  For a jewelry book I think I only used actual beads once or twice, of course they were big fat polka dotted beads or ones that I made.  There are over 25 how-to projects, plus I went a little crazy with the variations.  That means for several of the projects there are tons of different spins on the theme. I'm one of those people that when I buy a book I want tons and tons of pictures for inspiration so I insisted on the same for the The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.

Here is a baby sneaky peaky of a project called Phoning Flo.  My sister Hope Perkins did a wonderful selection of illustrated secretaries that I use for projects throughout the book.  Of course there is a page in there where you can photocopy them and use them in your projects too!

This book has not even hit the shelves yet and I am already planning out book number two!  I can't decide if it should be more jewelry or if I should branch out into home decor or other accessories.  Hmmmm... I'll keep you posted. 

If you feel like treating yourself to a little something special to celebrate Administrative Professionals Day stop by Amazon and pre-order yourself a copy or perhaps add it to your Amazon wish list.  Speaking of treating yourself don't forget the 25% off sale at Naughty Secretary Club!

As promised I am adding new goodies every single day.  Just last night I added new Nostalgic Notions Bracelets, Revamped Vintage Necklaces and More.  Feast your eyes on just a few of the latest editions.

Thank you to everyone who has been helping me spread the word about the super sale!  Shout outs to Collage Contessa and Margot Potter.  The sale and some bling got featured on fun blogs like Cuteable, Average Jane Crafter and Funky Finds.  Who-hoo.  Let me know if you see the sale mentioned anywhere else.

To cap things off I leave you with a fun video.  Of course it is from 9 to 5 because is there a movie more poignant for today?  Plus it is just not Administrative Professionals day until you have heard Dolly Parton sing the theme song.  Enjoy clips from a film that I have found countless bits of inspiration from.  Look for lots of references in The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember awhile back when I told you I was asked to help judge the Ponoko Jewelry Design Challenge?  Well they announced the winners earlier this month!  People were asked to submit their jewelry ideas to Ponoko and from there they chose the invitation round winners.  I was sent that list of about 20 entries and asked to choose my favorites.  I sent my list back to Ponoko and the other judge Dan Emery and the Ponoko gang chose the final winners.  Here are a few of my favorite entries!

A Screw Loose: I chose this necklace for several reasons. Fist being that it caught my attention more than the other designs and is something that I would wear. Statement necklaces are the must have accessory for spring and summer 2008 and Screw Loose definitely counts. I thought the project was a perfect combination of materials, design and a sense of humor. A screw loose is "a reaction to the frustrations of building flat-pack furniture". Anyone who has ever made a trip to IKEA feels their pain. The large necklace has charms for everything you will need including: hammers, saws and drills. There is of course some assembly required, but this gives you a little liberty with the design so that each necklace can be different for each person.

The Hair comb by Schofe was a very close second place for me. I love the vintage look of the comb as well as the fact that they were the only people that submitted something to be worn in your hair.  I have always wanted a large elaborate antique celluloid hair comb, but they are so expensive.  These are only $10!!!

There is something very lovely and organic about the Orchid Necklace by Nervous.  Thirty-nine layers of plastic are sculpted into a complex form inspired by the morphology of orchids. The layers are held together simply with red silk cord.  As far as good design these guys really nailed it.

If you dream of amazing things you could have cut out of acrylic or wood check in with Ponoko.  All you have to do is dream the shape, make it into a computer file and send it over to them, choose a fun color of acrylic or wood, pay, then they will cut your shapes and send it to you.  From there you can make jewelry, puzzles, furniture - whatever your master plan is.  You can even sell them through Ponoko!

I stayed up way too late last night cruising through blog land.  I just could not get tired to save my life and way into the morning hours I had to force myself to get into bed.  It was one of those things where you read one blog and from there click a link to another blog and so forth and so on.  So many pretty pictures, inspirational pieces of art, cute outfits, things I wanted - it was hard to tear myself away.  I found a few new blogs as I cruised that I really enjoyed: Poppy Talk, Creature Comforts, Auburn and Ivory and Design for Mankind. 

I also came across a blog called Perhaps with an amazing piece of art called Spring Roll by Jo.  It reminded me about the current issue of Rare Magazine and the fact that they featured some Naughty Secretary Club jewelry.  Also featured is a Hot Pink Pistol purse and a piece of art by Hope.  Actually one of my favorite pieces by Hope, her fruit head mannequin that was on display at Gallery Lombardi.  I know I just made a list yesterday of Blood Thirsty Bears, but it got me to thinking about art and hair and another new and exciting list was born.

1) Fruit Head Mannequin Centerpiece for Susanne's Wedding. 2) Fruit Head Mannequin photographed by La Pistola Photography for Rare Magazine.  3) Dead rapper Fruit Head Series.  All by Hope Perkins of Hot Pink Pistol.

NEST OF BIRDS IN BEEHIVE HAIRDO Original Painting by Jikits and Beehive Babe by Natasha Westcoast.

Chipmunk Coiffure Print and Miss Orange Topiary Print by The Black Apple

Autumn Intensity and Neighbour print by Lottie Frank

My Melodies by Rosie Music, Cosmic Gaze by A Break Studios and Showing Something I by Laura George.

Carlottas Cat - AlphaGals Digital print by The Small Cat Club and ACEO Bee Hive Hairdo by Backroom Treasures

Blue Butterflies Print and Belinda Illustration by Carambatack

The Darling Nest, Print by Marmee Craft (thanks for the tip Marilyn) and Siamese Twins by Anahata Katkin

Makes me want to race out and wear flowers in my hair or hit the costume shop for a Carmen Miranda wig.  Do you know any awesome examples of ladies with something in their hair?