How to make map butterflies

A few weeks ago, I discovered Image Surgery's stunning butterflies by way of the blog The Estate of Things. Image Surgery's butterflies are made from laser cut vintage maps and look like they are well worth the 150 euro pricetag for a single butterfly. But this is also more than I pay to fly to Europe.

However, this seemed like a terrific inspiration for reusing maps from vacations - giving you a vacation memento and a bit of wall art all in one.

Here are my materials - a free book of Brooklyn neighborhood maps, small cardboard boxes from the recycle bin, scissors, glue stick, silhouette shapes of butterflies via Google, push pins and a fabric remnant.

To make the mounting boxes, check out my earlier DIY post here.

Cut out the butterfly silhouette and trace it on the back of your map, then cut out the butterfly shape from your map. (Hint: Make the butterfly about 30 percent larger than life for more impact.) Put a dab of glue on the back of a push pin and place the push pin in the center of the back of a butterfly. After it dries, center the butterfly on your mounting board (or inside of a photo frame or stick it directly into the wall.)

Admittedly, mine do not look as cool as Image Surgery's, but you can't beat the price tag - free.

Weeds

. . . can be pretty.

I stop and look at this one every time I go down Middagh Street. It's so bold next to all the grey.

69 knitted parking meters on Montague

There's not much that's warm and fuzzy about a parking meter, unless it's a parking meter with a hand-knitted muffler. Every parking meter on Montague Street is encased in its own knitted tube until mid-June, an art project of a self-described guerilla knitting collective, founded by artist Magda Sayeg. (Gotta love anybody who calls themselves a guerilla knitting collective.) The group has knitted over stuff all over the world, including bricks on top of China's Great Wall.

What I love is that the movement started off as a DIY project gone awry - unfinished knitting projects left lying around were converted into door knob covers. Now they are 'yarnbombing' objects as big as a bus.

The Montague sleeves (which the The New York Times calls 'meter cozies') were made by 50 volunteer knitters from around the world.

Here's a composite from the Montague Street Business Improvement District Flickr pool.

DIY despair

Have you ever started a do-it-yourself project only to get down on your knees a few weeks later to give thanks for the industrial revolution?

I started off in March with big plans to make my own shag rug for the foyer. It would be six feet long and about three feet wide. Total cost: $15.

However, the rug is made from approximately four million tiny strips of fabric. I have been working on it for two months and have calculated that it is 1/12 of the way complete. Also, it sheds.

I have a rule that I don't start a new DIY project until I've finished the old one. But, at the rate I'm going, this rug will be done in two years.

On the plus side, it's an excellent way to pass the time if you have a migraine. Those of you who've had migraines know that you can't read, watch TV, listen to music or even talk while you've got one, which leaves staring off into the gloom and contemplating your own mortality. The rug is simple enough to do even when sick but distracting enough to make you think you can live another day.

At least I'm not the only one with big DIY catastrophes. Love this flopped project from Sherry at This Young House. Those things in her hands that look like tumbleweed were supposed to be some kind of twine mobile.

Christina at Down and Out Chic had nightmares about her chair project, but it turned out great.

In the meantime, I'm shelving the rug until the next time I get sick and I'm moving on to my next project - a Moroccan pouf made from a party dress that I calculate will be complete some time in 2010.

How about you? Any do-it-yourself failures? Come on, make me feel better.

Brooklyn outdoor space inspiration

After days of chilly weather and rain, it's finally warming up again. I may be prejudice, but I think I live in an unusually pretty neighborhood. The windowboxes alone are worth stopping and staring at. The courtyard garden photos are via Cynthia Gillis Landscapes & Gardens.

brownstoner.com

Inspiring outdoor spaces

Met Home

It's 77 degrees with sunshine and low humidity here today, and . . . I'm at work. However, I can still dream of outdoor spaces.

I'm wanting to spruce up my balcony with a tented awning, Moroccan lamp, outdoor rug, deep floor pillows, lap pool and maybe a tamborine or two. I will settle for teak oil and some ornamental grass.

Elle Decor

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Met Home

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Elle Decor

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Elle Decor

Elle Decor

Secret Gardens of Sydney

Weekend with family

I jogged to the Borough Hall farmer's market for fresh spinach, and Tom made spinach and swiss omelets for six. Later, we nervously rolled Max and Danny to Battery Park via stroller to avoid having them trampled in Century 21 ('Fashion worth trampling children for'). The boys watched street dancers, chased pigeons, poured gravel on each other's heads, picked up glass and dug in the dirt. There were no tears, injuries or trauma except for a small whimper from Danny when the stroller flipped backwards with him in it.