Following Rabbits Blog — make it

It's no secret that I'm super inspired by street art-- tags, stencils, murals, posters-- I see it all as such a pure, unfiltered form of art that gets watered down the moment it's curated, framed or sold. Lately I've been really into stenciling, and over the weekend I took a crack at making a graffiti stencil from a photo of myself in Photoshop. I actually quite like the way it came out, but some of the details and fine lines would be lost if I tried to cut it out as a stencil frame. Rather than lose the details, I decided to make posters instead. I'm wearing headphones in the photo, so I added song lyrics to each of the posters. I particularly love this one:

There are several ways to make wheatpaste (like papier-mache or modge podge, it's a liquid adhesive used to adhere posters to a wall, then a coat is painted over the poster to seal it). The easiest/cheapest way is by mixing flour and water, but with time and the elements, the posters can be damaged. Shepard Fairey uses a synthetic paste, which can get a bit pricey, especially if you're adding a sealer to the mix in order to make your posters more permanent. But for beginners, a flour/water mix works very well, and can be stored in a sealed container for up to a week. And with that, all you need is a trip to kinkos to print your posters and you're ready to rock!

*Note: Hanging wheatpaste posters or any kind of unsolicited materials on the street is illegal. I am not suggesting you go out and paper your neighborhood or other people's property. Don't be stupid.*

I've been hunkered down at home all weekend with this 100+ degree heat. Yesterday I was so sick with a migraine and the heat that I was having hallucinations after taking 3 excedrin. o_0  So today I was eager to get some food in me asap. I had some fresh basil and tomatoes and a baguette that I got yesterday morning, so I threw together a quick batch of bruschetta.

I cut up a big tomato, four basil leaves, a clove of garlic, and threw in a splash of balsamic vinegar. I mixed it all together in a big bowl and set it aside. I brushed several slices of baguette with olive oil, and toasted them on a baking sheet at 350* for 5 minutes. Once the toasts were out of the oven, I added the tomato mixture and voila-- fab lunch for a hot day.

I am dying for Spring. I try to incorporate bright colors into my wardrobe year round, but lately I've been pulling out all of my pretty fabrics and (gasp) wore my white pumps today. Only 13 more days! Since I replaced my sewing machine I've been working on new items for my etsy shop. Here's my latest addition, completed last night:

Hopefully I'll be adding lots of fun new items over the next couple weeks! For now I have a few items keeping the shop warm... check 'em out:

Continuing my stretch of coconut recipes, I bring you a super quick and easy coconut ice cream recipe. If you're ridiculous enough (like me) to have a Kitchenaid mixer in your tiny NYC apt, you can get the ice cream maker attachment I have. Otherwise, you can get one on Amazon.com for under $40. Most recipes require cooking and then overnight cooling, but this one uses all cold ingredients- super simple! I had a guest over for dinner and wanted to make a fun dessert, and voila. Homemade coconut ice cream in an hour. It was delicious too- like a pina colada... very smooth and sweet!

It’s no secret that I’m a crafty lady. I love handmade gifts, and decided to make my Christmas cards this year. I got a great shot of the skyline a few weeks ago with the Empire State Building lit up in red and green for the opening night of the Radio City Christmas show. I got blank cards and envelopes at Staples for a decent price. A little scrapbook tape and a silver sharpie and everyone on my list got a little piece of New York City in the mail.