Maker Faire NYC 2012

YAY!!!!

Maker Faire......A two-day, family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.

If you have never been to a Maker Faire I strongly recommend going. This is the second time I have made it to the NYC Maker Faire and it was AWESOME!

This was especially neat-o.

A Woman converted an RV to a moblie park. How cool is that??

What an awesome place to sit and relax.....

So creative!

There are so many cool exhibits from some super creative people.

This is the Hall of Science building. I have always loved it. The building was part of the 1964 World's fair and all those little rectangles are blue glass. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture. Maybe next year :)

These are a collection of some antique patent application models.

Check out the 'coffin with a window" in the photo above. I was totally geeking out on these.

Adult rides. Who doesn't like a little danger :)


Aaaaand.......

The Coke Zero - Mentos Fountains!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently Coke + Mentos = Geysers. It was so fun I watched it twice :)

Brought to you from the guys at EepyBird.com.

If you have never been to the site. GO NOW. They are too cool!

Next..... the Life Size Mouse Trap Game.....

Using bowling balls ;)


Too cool for words. Instead of catching a mouse, it crushes a car..... :-)

(see first photo)

There were lots of crafting booths for kids, like make your own soap with little toys in it.

One of my favorite things every year..... 

The Maker - Bot 3D printers!!!!

I geek out a LONG time over these.
Everyone makes such cool things!!

There are also lots of great crafters with all kinds of green and upcycled creations.

And Finally the food!! I can not express enough how great all the food vendors are. There are amazing organic, vegan and vegetarian options for everyone.

This is my personal fav. The Treats Truck.

Oh. My. God. Can this girl bake. I was a total piggy. Got cookies at 10:30 AM. Really??? Couldn't even wait till after lunch.....and a stash for later on our way out the door.

One day I hope to make it to the Bay Area Maker Faire. It is the original one and I imagine it to be even more awesome :)

Mark your calenders for next year kiddies!!!
♥jenny

Pool Garden Phase 1

The Before photo.....

New pool cover, grass around all sides of the pool. Grass looks nice but is only practical in a design magazine :)

First up. Some really great bushes
for privacy. We settled on English
Laurels and I am really happy with
them. They are evergreen, will get
up to 12 feet high and can be pruned
into a nice hedge.

Next, we dug up all the grass in the area to make way for the garden and patios.

Work in Progress!!! The Mister unloads all the stones and I lay them in sand and fit them. It's like a giant really heavy puzzle :) Then we fill the spaces in between with pea gravel.

Even Roxy likes to get in on the action!

Almost there.....

 Done!!!

When we moved I brought 4 car/ truck loads of plants from my old house.

My old garden was starting to get crowded and needed dividing  so I gave some away and took the rest. It probably could have used some more but at the end I was so overwhelmed with the move I just didn't have it in me.

So we didn't buy much other than the Laurels. We used one pallet of flat stone, lots of sand and paver sand, and 1/2 a bucket load of pea gravel.

I think my little Tiki guys just make it, don't you?

Phase 2 will be at the back of the pool behind the diving board. I will be putting the rest of my plants under the Sycamore to build a shade garden. Hopefully this will happen this month. those poor plants have been in pots for over a year :(

♥jenny

Brimfield Antique Show

A few weeks ago we went to the Brimfield Antique Show. It's held every year in May, July and September in Brimfield Massachusetts. It is one of the largest in the country with over 5,000 dealers covering 21 fields and is over a mile long.




We stayed at the Sturbridge Host Hotel 10 miles down the road. Brimfield is pretty small and only has a few B&B's that fill up quickly.

It is a cute old hotel on Cedar Lake.
















They're common area is pretty unique.....

It's looks like it was originally an outdoor area that they inclosed.

The center section is several raised areas with gazebos over them and the pool at one end. It looks like they do events... would be a cute place for a wedding ♥

The whole area is surrounded by hotel rooms that have cute little balconies over looking the courtyard.

It has a nice lake you can swim in ans a restaurant inside and one right next door.







Now to the important stuff.......






Here's a shot of the road........

A really awesome vintage camping tent. how cool is that thing???? The mister was totally smitten♥

Some cool old Mason jars......

And some great vintage Christmas ornaments....

Some great outdoor chairs.....

The MOST amazing jukebox I have ever seen.....

It was, of course, SUPER expensive but admiring it is free...

Now for my purchases....

Totally amazing vintage string art. I have been itching to make one and this one is great inspiration, plus I absolutely love peacocks.

My find of the weekend..... I needed new dining room chairs and oh, did I find some!




 Super awesome 60's vinyl chairs, each one a different color. Yay me.

A few pieces of Fire King luster 

for really cheap.

The Mister found a banjo that someone never finished making.

A super cute black chalk ware poodle...

Some cool vintage
kitchen gadget that
I have NO idea what it does..... but it looks cool :)

A vintage drying rack. The photo doesn't do it justice... 

I will have to post it once it's hug up.

I had a super good time and I highly recommend it if you get the chance to go.

Now....... I just need to make it to the World's Longest Yard Sale..... :)

Happy shopping!

♥jenny

New Walkway!

Well, it has been a busy summer!

I will post our big project later. But for now let's turn our attention to the old walkway........
 

 The photos don't even really do justice to how uneven and unsafe the walkway was.

 We were going to tackle it ourselves since we are major do it yourself-ers. I would say we do 99% of our renovations and projects. Mostly by ourselves but sometimes with the help of our awesome friends :)

We have only hired people a couple of times and at our old house the one time was for our large patio and retaining wall. The guy that did it was really nice and he did a great job so we had him stop by  to give us an estimate for our very sad driveway.

That was totally NOT in the budget now or in the future (unless we win the lottery). But he was interested in doing our walkway for a very reasonable price.

So what would have been a long project for us turned out to be a quick two day make-over. An who doesn't like a make-over????

TA - DA!!!!

           Oh, it looks sooooo much better.
The brick were in good shape so we just had him re- lay them.

 I forgot how awesome it is to have someone else do work on my house :)

I finally got to plant the ferns I brought from our old house.... they have been sitting in pots since last July :)

I think it makes a very nice garden spot. I will be moving that large rose bush all the way to the right to a better location in the spring. It is not in the best spot and has grown to be very lopsided. Not sure what I will put in it's place but I will keep you posted :)





Happy Gardening!

♥jenny

The Fair. then.... Jackalope

As always, while antiquing for things I kind of need for decorating the house (like floor lamps), I found awesome things I don't need but just had to have :)

Our day actually started the at the Sussex County Fair which I go to every year. It is a great fair with all your typical yummy and bad for you fair food,

 rides,vendors, tons of 4-H animal awesomeness.....

even chainsaw sculptors and acrobats!


One of my favorite things is homemade ice cream made by a mini steam engine :)

Of course on our way home I had to swing in to a couple of my favorite shops. Made a couple small purchases and moved on to one of my favorite shops..... and there he was.... the majestic jackalope.....

Pictured here on my book cases.

I have no taxidermy because I am soooooo picky about the faces. But this guy..... so perfect. Perfect little face, nice antlers. Plus the Mister has wanted one for. like. ever.

Next stop produced this gem! A Burwood wall plaque. I am not familiar with it but I was smitten right away.

The only problem is that is broken on top so I must figure out the proper way to repair it. Something tell me it will be worth it :)


happy hunting,
♥jenny

what i think is awesome.....

I would like to share my current obsession......

 Yayoi Kusama Sunglasses

A new collection from Louis Vuitton by Yayoi Kusama. The whole collection is just fantastic. I can not believe that I could love polka dots so much and have spent my whole life in the art world and have never heard of Yayoi Kusama. Ah, such is life.... you can never know it all. 

Any-hoo..... I am so in love. The color, the shape, the polka dots..... with the perfect flower accent. (sigh)  But alas, they retail for $650 :(  Definitely not in the budget......

Much more affordable are these FAB shoes on Modcloth:

Oh how I love thee.... could they be any cuter?

I have bee on the hunt for floor lamps lately. This one has really piqued my interest. Well, it is actually a pair if you can believe it which is making them so much more desirable :)

 That's all for now.... time to get some scratch offs ;)

♥jenny