Please enjoy this post responsibly

I'm always on the lookout for recycling projects that also make fun, unique gifts. For her birthday, my sister received these bottle cap magnets that I absolutely love:




They're simple to make, and depending on how/where you acquire the bottle caps, fairly inexpensive as well. Of course, if your gift recipient is under 21, you might want to opt for soda bottle caps instead. I even did a bit of brainstorming, and thought it would be fun to make similar magnets from Scrabble tiles or large buttons (Again, for the non-alcoholics in your life).

A photo of the complete collection is below. I need to ask Sister's friend how long it took her to collect all of these!

Happy Birthday

Today is my sister's birthday, and I volunteered to bake her cake. Since my mom, sister, and I have been doing the Flat Belly Diet for a few months now, I decided to try out one of their recipes.

The Super-Rich Chocolate Cake with Maple Frosting looked very yummy in the cookbook:

(Photo from Prevention.com)


Even though my attempt didn't look exactly the same, it came out quite nicely!




As for the taste: It was very good, especially for a low-fat dessert (And despite the fact that the cake recipe used canola mayonnaise as an egg substitute. I was a bit worried about that one). The best part was the maple frosting, which was very, very yummy! Our only complaint was the cake's texture. It was very dense and quite dry. I actually think the recipe is better suited to make scones.

I'm looking forward to trying more dessert recipes from the cookbook, despite being a bit let down this time around. There are some delicious looking Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip No-Bake Bars and Lemon Cupcakes with Citrus Icing I've been dying to try. I'll be sure to post if they were successes or not!

'Tis (Almost) the Season

The holidays are right around the corner, and if you're anything like me you're already writing gift lists and making budgets. As I've gotten older, my taste in gifts has changed, both in what I give and receive. In recent years I've taken to making gifts, or even baking goodies for family and friends. I love giving people a "one of a kind" creation, or satisfying their sweet tooth with homemade cookies.


Another fun "gift" idea I've stumbled upon is donations. Last year I donated $25 to the World Wildlife Fund, and sent a turtle to rehab* in my sister's name. As an animal lover, she absolutely loved this gift, and still has the printable certificate hanging on her bulletin board.


This year I'm considering donating some animals through Heifer International, which battles world poverty and hunger by educating communities about sustainable agriculture, animal well-being, and micro-enterprise. You can donate an entire animal or flock, or chip in with other donors to give larger livestock to needy communities. These animals become sources of income for communities worldwide, even within the United States.



Another great way to help those in need is through micro-lending. Kiva is a wonderful organization that makes small loans to entrepreneurs worldwide to start or expand their small business or repair their lives. Micro-loans have an incredibly high percentage of repayment, and there's almost a 100% guarantee that you'll get your money back. Once you receive a repayment you can loan to another person, donate to Kiva outright, or withdraw your funds. You can also join or create online Kiva communities, and have some fun, friendly competition! (Feel free to join the Stuff You Should Know Team. We're kicking the Colbert Nation's butt!) I've already made a $25 donation to Ben Sochoeurn of Cambodia. She earns a living by making clay pots and providing decorating services for wedding parties. It feels good supporting indigenous arts and crafts, as they are a wonderful way to preserve a region's culture and heritage.

I hope this post inspires people to really embrace the spirit of giving this holiday season! Please leave comments if you donate to any non-profit organization, and link to it so others can help as well.

*The turtles are injured, not drunk! However, I will admit that I donated to this program simply because I knew the idea of a sea turtle singing Amy Winehouse would crack my sis up.

One Awesome Road Trip

I've been neglected the blog lately due to my holiday retail job. The money and discount are great, but my art time has taken a bit of a hit. Still, it's nice having some extra moola lining my wallet this time of year.

One of the (many) things I'm saving up for is travel. While I'm primarily saving for some international travel, I love exploring places in the US as well. I've always wanted to visit more of America's National Parks, and photographer Ian Shive's work is definitely inspiring:




I hope to post again tomorrow with a whole mess of updates: sold items, Social Vibe stats, and maybe even a counter update.

Happy Halloween!

I carved this same face last October, but this year's came out much nicer:





He's not your traditional Jack-o-lantern, but Dwight Schrute can be very intimidating and scary.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

An Early Halloween Treat!

I'm not the biggest fan of hard candy, but I do love the way it looks! Check out the candy makers at NYC's papabubble in the video below. Who knew candy making could be so artistic?

Let the wild rumpus start!

(Image from Hunt Famous)

When I was a kid, Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book. According to my mom, I brought it home from the library several times before she finally broke down and bought me a copy. Unfortunately, she did not enjoy Maurice Sendak's classic as much as I did. She found the illustrations scary, and couldn't understand why her five-year-old daughter loved a book filled with such "creepy" monsters. Whenever I wanted WTWTA read to me, she'd suggest I ask my dad, who fortunately found reading it to be a fun experience.

Time eventually changed Mom and Dad's perspective of the book. Mom eventually sat down to really read it, and now loves it. Dad has completely forgotten he ever read WTWTA to me, and cannot remember a single thing about the book (to be fair, the last time he cracked it's cover was close to 20 years ago). Which is why I saw the movie with my mom while dad was at work.

(Image from Movie Crunch)

Here's my short review:
The Where the Wild Things Are movie is a beautiful adaption of a classic children's book, though it is definitely not for kids. There's no language or sex, and minimal violence, but the themes of loneliness and feeling life is beyond your control will likely be lost on younger viewers. Which is funny, because these concepts are exactly the sort of thing kids need to be reassured about. What child hasn't felt lonely at some point growing up, even when surrounded by people who love them? What kid doesn't act out at a situation beyond their control? WTWTA speaks to those kids, though they may not realize it until they're a bit older.

The Art of Elysium

A couple weeks ago I added a Social Vibe widget to my blog, and have gotten 38 clicks so far. These widgets are popping up all over Google hosted blogs, and help raise money for worthy causes. So when you see one, please click it!

I chose to support The Art of Elysium, a non-profit that provides creative workshops for children battling serious medical conditions. These kids are given instruction by professionals in the fields of the visual arts, acting, music, and creative writing during the most difficult time of their lives. Programs like these distract children from the anxieties caused by illness, and provide them with a creative outlet for expressing their hopes and fears.

Please check out The Art of Elysium website, and make a donation if you can. You can even send art or beauty supplies, books, costumes, or musical instruments. If you're in the Los Angeles area, you can also volunteer your time (as little as four hours a month).

Everything Must Go!

About twice a year something happens that triggers a massive cleaning of our house. This time it was my sister providing the family with her Birthday/Christmas list for the year. As I started penning my own Christmas list, I looked around the living room and suddenly noticed all the stuff that's accumulated: books we didn't enjoy, shoes that were hardly worn, trinkets that no longer fit the decor. An urge to rid the house of clutter took over, and I immediately signed onto my eBay and Amazon accounts. Now I just need to wait and see if things sell. If they don't, it's straight to Freecycle or AmVets, just in time for us to replace everything with new stuff at Christmas time.

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day, "an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day" to raise awareness and create global discussion. This year's topic is Climate Change, a subject that I am deeply interested in.

Artists can impact climate change in big ways, from choosing environmentally-friendly supplies to creating work that sparks meaningful discussion of how we treat our planet:




My current work reflects on climate change and responsible use of Earth's resources. I've been experimenting with recycled materials, specifically magazine pages:



I love making art from magazines that would likely end up in a landfill or consume energy during the recycling process. They are also one-of-a-kind creations, since I can never recreate the exact same combination of pages.



And just because I love it:



This Current pod is one of my favorites. Visiting other countries really makes one stop and think about how most Americans live their lives. If we all lived on a little less, we could make a big impact on climate change.