Happy winter solstice everyone! It’s the reason for the season, and it means from here on out, the days are only going to get longer! Praise!
And in the spirit of the season of stuff, I want to share with you some of my favorite material possessions.
These are on the wall of my living room: The centerpiece is the green splatter paining, a prop I made for a play The Grey Boy wrote in college. (It was the first student-written play to ever go on the mainstage theater, so props to him!) And around it are bubble pictures that I made out of watercolors on top of an old book collage with frames from Ikea. In the foreground, my iPod. I did not make that.
Extreme close up of the bubble picture, which was not intended to be bubbles, just blue circles. But darn if they don’t look like bubbles.
Hugh Laurie, another favorite thing. He was on TV while I was taking the pictures, so I couldn’t help myself. Sadly, he is completely sold out at the moment.
These, I love. They hang opposite the bubble pictures, and I made these out of some graphic novels I had. While it hurts to hurt a book, I was never going to read those novels again, and they were so pretty that I wanted to make something more of them. I hope the artist/writers don’t mind, and I hope that they’re not collectibles that go up in value:
Extreme close-up: I did this by folding the pages in triangles, starting at the center. Then I just tacked them to the wall near the spine. That’s Art with a capital “A.”
I got these angles at K-Mart the first year that I was living in my own place. They remind me of these gold angles/candle holders that my mom always put on the mantle. These guys have matching bows and ornaments from the “purple, green and gold” collection that K-Mart was touting that year.
As you know, I have three purple trees this year, and I love them. I have a lot of ornaments, so it’s nice to be able to divide them up. The medium tree has all my 50-state ornaments collection (I have about six so far, but I only just started.) The big tree has all my real ornaments, and the small tree has all the ornaments that The Grey Boy has given me over the years. Notice that they are all sheep. There is a really good reason for that, and the reason is that we have a thing about sheep. And that stems from a story for another day, my friends.
This is my mother’s coffee pot. It is older than I am. It is proudly AVOCADO colored. It is not used to make coffee. It is used to make hot apple cider. When you take the pot out of the box, you are overwhelmed by the awesome smell of apple cider. The way you do it is that you pour a gallon of cider into the pot, and then you fill the top with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and whole allspice instead of coffee. Then the cider brews through it.
If you really want to go nuts, like I did for our kickball friends party last night, you add whipped cream, caramel, and nutmeg to the top of the cider, and a shot of rum to the bottom. I strongly suspect that’s why I have as many friends as I do.
Lastly, when my mom makes the cider (sans rum) for Christmas at the house, she always serves it in these red-rimmed glass cups. Except these are not the exact cups. This picture was taken at a thrift store in Ventura, California in 2005. There we were looking at various vintage wares when I realized that someone was trying to sell us a set of something already owned in my family. The note at the store really should mention that hot apple cider only truly tastes right out of those glasses.
If you’re in the area, I recommend picking them up, provided some lucky family hasn’t bought them in the ensuing three years.
I also like whiskers on kittens, but that too is a post for another day.
Posted by Erin on December 22, 2008 at 10:02 am
I love your book art! Ted and I have been talking about doing something like that, we just haven’t yet worked up the courage to be mean to our books…but now I’m feeling inspired.
Also, the purple Christmas trees? Awesome.
Posted by nancypearlwannabe on December 22, 2008 at 10:11 am
I love photo tours! I also love that avocado coffee pot and your purple trees. Are the 50 states ornaments a set, or are you just collecting random ornaments from different states?
Posted by MrsTwink on December 22, 2008 at 10:23 am
I love your book art! That’s really clever.
And a purple tree?? ornaments from different states? Seriously – I want to hang out in your house. I just have a bunch of ornaments purchased from IKEA.
Posted by apollocreed on December 22, 2008 at 11:06 am
Don’t be so modest, you totally made that iPod.
Posted by lizgwiz on December 22, 2008 at 11:45 am
I love the sheep. And I’m quite sure that, at some point in my past, I drank something from an avocado coffee pot. It seems inevitable, as my mother had an entirely avocado house for a while in the 70s.
Posted by courtney on December 22, 2008 at 12:12 pm
It’s sad that when you said “we have a thing about sheep,” my mind went straight into the gutter. I may need help.
Also, book art? That is awesome.
Posted by Kristabella on December 22, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I love the book art! You are mighty creative!
Posted by Vicious Headbutt on December 22, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I got a thing for that Jackson Pollock-esque green painting. Very nice. The art you made from the old graphic novels is very creative too.
I could sure go for some hot apple cider with a shot of rum right now. That sounds so good.
Posted by Allie on December 22, 2008 at 2:55 pm
The book art is fantastic! I love that you have your own art work up in your home.
Posted by mickey on December 22, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Good stuff. You are quite the Artist.
But who made Hugh Laurie?
Posted by Carmen on December 22, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Sorry… I bought the last Hugh Laurie at the store the other day… I am sorry they were out of him for you…
I can only wish. That man makes me giddy.
Posted by Little Fish on December 22, 2008 at 5:57 pm
You need to sell those graphic novel creations! I love!
Posted by elizabeth on December 22, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Don’t forget to bring the Avocado pot back home….it wouldn’t be Christmas without it!
Posted by cadiz12 on December 22, 2008 at 8:36 pm
H is totally in Ventura right now visiting family! i should tell him to keep an eye out for that set.
mmmm, i could go for some apple cider right now!
Posted by erikka on December 23, 2008 at 8:05 am
the felt sheep ornament is my favorite! and nice work on the book art.
Posted by jennifer on December 23, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Is the point to collect an ornament from each state that you visit (this question has DUH written all over it)? If you just want to have one from each state whether you have been or not say the word… I will mail you an Alabama ornament after the holidays. Seriously, let me know!
Posted by Sobe on December 26, 2008 at 8:07 am
I love the graphic novel art – how clever!
Posted by Stefanie on December 31, 2008 at 1:17 am
Did you really post this on December 22?? Man, I have been absent from the blogworld even longer than I thought.
I love what you did with those graphic novels (and love that you said “it hurts to hurt a book”). Also, I think my mom has that same coffee maker. Avocado green, too, of course.