I have to say that I’m more obsessed with Facebook than with Twitter. I can’t help it that I find my friends more interesting and talented than total strangers. (No offense, Twits!) I get my news from Facebook. I do my socializing on Facebook. And today I’m getting my blog post from Facebook.

Check it out…

This Sunday, the 21st at Public Assembly in Williamsburg.

“The United States of Consciousness” is a Multimedia Experience with live art, video projections, performance and music. My buddy Dave Barry of Toasters fame (& other great NYC ska bands) will be keyboarding it up with Andrew Zapanta. Only $5 suggested donation.

Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush alerted friends to a Clothing Swap with her “like” thumb icon. This takes place on June 27th from 3-6pm at the Wow Cafe in the East Village. $5 donation for trades and $10 if you don’t have stuff to give.

Nicole from Brooklyn Based has been living in London for the past year while keeping her awesomely informative blog going. She’s returning home in July but wants to know “Anyone in NYC want to do a three month (or more) swap for a fabulous North London apartment?” Tempting, but too bad Europeans get quadruple the vacation time.

Speaking of England, yet another friend is trying to move back to NY. Vintage peddler Marie asks “Anyone interested in buying a 2-bed apartment in Manchester England?” They’re asking £79,950 and it looks totally cute! Fun fact: Marie’s hubby was in a band with pre-Smiths Morrissey.

  posted @ 5:48 am Comments (0)

Hey, check out my guest post on Etsy! I met Ms. Etsy Vanessa at the Brooklyn Blogfest back in May and yada, yada….she asked me to write a post.

I wish my own blog got so many comments (that’s a hint) and I wish everyone in real life was as nice as Etsy commenters.

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Recycled Robot. Filth Wizardry

Father’s Day Photo Shoot. Bed Stuy Blog

Mercy for Animals, NYC. Supervegan

Byzantine Leaf Work. Brownstoner

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Gerald at Brooklyn Modern, my new BFF, sent me info on green roof workshops in Brooklyn. The intensive courses are $600 a pop for a full day or $300 for a semi-intensive 3 hour course. If you just want some basic info, there is a free class at the Park Slope Coop on August 8th.

Brought to you by Green It Yourself and Eco Brooklyn.

  posted @ 6:16 am Comments (0)

We needed to match a couple of Victorian ball tip door hinges so we finally got to visit the new Vaccaro’s location on the Park Slope/Carrol Gardens border.

Vaccaro Brothers Scrap Metal had been selling wholesale and retail out of a garage on 15th Street for about 50 years. The family had been in the scrap metal business for around 50 years prior to that. Now you can find Roy Vaccaro’s “New York Old Iron” right under the F train el near the Lowe’s parking lot.

The specialty here is iron. Gates, stoop ballusters and posts. If you’re looking to re-do the front of your brownstone stoop as we will be soon, this is the place. Be sure to have photos and measurements if you’re ready to get going on your project. Lots of pieces look similar but won’t necessarily work together.

Vaccaro’s has a decent selection of doors and sinks. There isn’t much furniture or wood as this is an outdoor place and only so much is sheltered from harsh weather.

Here’s an example of the pricing….We did find our hinges. Well, not really. We picked up 4 more ornate ones instead for $10 apiece. They’ll need stripping, but no biggie. Olde Good Things charges $125 for 3 of the same hinges, stripped. Less expensive places are around $25 apiece. So, not a bad deal.

Casa Cara’s article on Vaccaro’s

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Brooklyn Flea is launching their newest location this Sunday in DUBB (down under the Brooklyn Bridge). The Dumbo winter market has closed shop for the hot weather and they are moving it outdoors, right on the waterfront.

The market will feature many of the same great vendors, plus some new “nicer” merchandise. “Nicer”=more expensive?

Fort Greene is still there on Saturdays until the winter holidays and Dumbo will be on Sundays.

Ms. Reclaimed Home is cutting out for the summer months and returning in September full force. I didn’t do July and August last year because the gal can’t take the heat. I’m not not doing the remaining June weekends due to scheduling conflicts (completely disorganized life). I should have some supercalifragilisticexpialidocious inventory when I return in the fall.

  posted @ 5:14 am Comments (1)

I had four real estate shoots yesterday and all the properties were inhabited by tenants who just didn’t want me to be there. Some were still in bed at 10am. Some didn’t clear away their mess. One woman was downright rude. She later apologized. Nobody is happy that they have to move against their will.

What’s a photo gal to do when she doesn’t have much to work with? It’s a challenge. You have to see the beauty in the shit hole. Detail shots. Creative framing. Clever angles.

This super cool property is a retired railroad station. Now it houses a beauty salon and several small apartments. The tenants were around, the units weren’t clean. I got interior shots, but I like this one best.

This was a decent house with a separate cottage on a nice quiet street. One apartment was vacant and the other had meh decor. The realtor thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything with the cottage, but I thought those shots came out better than the house. When I opened the barn doors and saw that old VW, my heart skipped a beat. I’d buy that house just for the van!

What do you do with a bland new construction that’s cluttered floor to ceiling with kid’s toys and moving boxes? I got tired of moving things around by this point. It was the end of the day and I was like “Oh, so there’s a box in the shot.” This was the one piece of space with nothing but….space.

Previous real estate photos here, here and here.

All Flickr here.

  posted @ 6:02 am Comments (2)

3rd Ward in Williamsburg is a member-based community for creative professionals. Their 20,000 sq. ft. of space houses media and art studios, offices and an educational program.  

Take a look at some of the upcoming summer classes! Good stuff.

Here’s what looks good to me….

Welding Techniques for Sculpture and Furniture. A six week in-depth course for all levels. Evening classes start June 24. There are weekend classes later in the summer. $500 including equipment if you’re a non-member.

How To Make Crappy Stuff Awesome. I love the title! “In this course, students will learn the basic concepts for creating furniture and other useful objects out of recycled and found materials for little or no investment. Give new life to a boring Ikea cabinet, fix a hand-me-down nightstand, or turn a bus window you found on the street into a coffee table.” Been there. Live that. Classes start in August. $380 for non-members includes equipment.

There are also basic woodworking, welding and furniture restoration courses. I wish I had time and money. This self taught stuff is a pain in my vintage arse.

  posted @ 6:37 am Comments (1)

I actually remembered to take a couple of before shots of pieces I was working on! Well, ok….just 2 pieces. But it’s a start.

Picked this up at a garage sale. What is it? I call it “Bigger than a Breadbox” because it looks like something you can store bread in. But it can also be a bathroom cabinet. Or…??

Anyway, a bit of spray paint goes a long way. Silver and black. Can you tell I’m some throwback to 1980′s East Village? $120.

Ok, so this was a nice side table as is and I could’ve saved the wood. It’s actually veneer, so I don’t feel that bad. I’ll call it “Pretty in Pink”. Maybe my friend Ms. Thang will like it.

$ 150.

  posted @ 7:58 am Comments (8)

Three out of four stories of our brownstone had the original shutters on the windows. This was both a blessing and a curse. Obvious as to why it was a blessing, but have you ever stripped shutters? What a *%#{$# tedious job!

On the third floor, we found them painted and caulked into their housing. Again, a spectacular discovery until the actual rescue process.

Anyway, that’s mostly behind us now. The only shutters that need work are for our garden apartment. They’ve already been stripped, so the weekend project was just to paint them. Why are we choosing to paint instead of leaving the wood exposed? Well, first of all, they are not in good shape. After lots of glue and wood putty, the soft, water damaged pine didn’t look too great with stain. Secondly, I wanted to bounce the sunlight from the windows a bit with white paint. I think I actually tested this theory with a meter reading at the time, but I forgot the results.

As with all of our weekend projects, not a lot got done. Actually, there was no painting. It took close to 2 hours to take off all of the antique hardware, what with the stripped screws and all. Wiping all the shutters down, getting painting supplies, gossiping on the phone……too late to start painting!

Today is painting day. The quickest way to paint plantation shutters is to spray them. Although I do own a paint sprayer, it’s such a pain in the arse to set it up and break it down that I bought some Shur Line pad applicators to do the job. Haven’t decided which route I’ll take yet.

One tip I can give you is that you don’t use a brush. Well, it’s fine on the flat bits, but don’t even attempt to use it on the louvers. That’s where Shur Line is your friend. They make a small pad that fits between each slat and won’t get damaged as quickly as brushes or foam.

No matter what you use, it’s still a painful process.

  posted @ 6:50 am Comments (9)

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