Yo, you in? Bust Craftacular. This Saturday and Sunday, December 6th and 7th at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint. Over 200 handmade vendors including yours truly! Plus food, booze, fun and music.
Hope to see you there!
Cyber Monday Gifts
Our artisan elves have been keeping busy creating one of a kind upcycled gifts. Here are some rad new pieces for Cyber Monday (really for Bust Craftacular next weekend, but feel free to purchase online now!)
Emilia (the elf) did a series of old postcards mounted to found objects. She finishes the scene by painting it in. Can you see where the postcard ends and painting begins? $65 and shippable!
Here’s another postcard painting done on a piece of antique bed frame. $50 for that bed frame postcard lover in your life.
Our Christmas ornaments are not even online yet. Glass balls with various decoupaged designs. Price range is $25-$35 per ball.
Oops, this guy isn’t online yet either. Guess you’ll have to stop by the shop! So much for Cyber Monday. A vintage wooden box with patinaed top and glass head that we found at a sale. The “collar” is a light fixture part.
The Holidays Are Here!
Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! As this is our first time ever in the retail world, we’ve been freaking out about this time of year since we opened back in April. And wouldn’t ya know it? We’re not prepared.
We did manage to come up with some fun things. Here are the Reclaimed Home holiday season happenings so far…
Today! Wednesday, Nov. 26th: Nothing special, really. Just wanted you to know that we’ll be open during the usual business hours and have lots of last minute table settings and host gifts for your Thanksgiving needs. Also, some tables and chairs if you’re that unprepared. **Plus, Emilia will be giving out free hugs.
Black Friday, Nov. 28th: Furniture and vintage artwork goes on sale. By how much? As much as we can afford without losing money. The name of the game is to make way for new furniture in the New Year and focus on handmade small gifts for Christmukkah.
Small Business Saturday, Nov. 29th: 10% discount all around. Spend $50 or more and get a free “Small Business” tote from American Express. Support your local small businesses, yo!!
Bust Craftacular, Dec. 6 & 7: Whilst the Crown Heights shop will be open for business, we’ll have lots of small handmade items at the Bust craft show in Greenpoint. Come check it out!
South Franklin Holiday Stroll, Dec. 13: We’ve teamed up with Owl and Thistle and I Love Mountain (and maybe more to join) to create an afternoon event for the shops south of Eastern Parkway. Tastings, drinks, raffles and crafting. Keep track of this on the brand new FB page.
Recycled Christmas Trees
Before you go out and blow your bucks on a previously living thing that was cut down in the prime of it’s life, that sheds needles around your house, something that you have to drag out to the compost 5 days after purchase, think about doing something more sustainable and creative. There are many ways to make a Christmas tree out of recycled materials. Here are just a few.
Happy 50th Verrazano!
Happy Anniversary to one of our prettiest bridges in the boros! 50 years since the Verrazano connected Brooklyn to Staten Island.
Recycled Drawer Shelves
A couple of months ago we purchased a gorgeous early 19th century dresser that was unfortunately a bit too far gone for restoration. The drawers were in good condition, but the frame was falling apart. Furthermore, we thought that the interior wood in the drawers was too beautiful to be hidden. We sat with those drawers for awhile until we decided that they’d best work as shelves.
Since there is no such thing as a new creation, all we had to do was pinterest (Can that be a verb like to “google”?) some ideas and figure out if we wanted them staggered or straight, yada, yada. Due to our lack of patience and not wanting to run to the hardware store for brackets or support, we followed DIY videos that showed folks popping screws directing into the drawer backs to secure them to the walls. (*Tip: Use anchors in the wall!)
We’re not crazy about this technique. First, you’re adding holes to the most conspicuous area. Second, objects will be sitting on the top and bottom, so you’re relying on that drawer being held together properly. That being said, a bracket on the bottom would be viewable also, so what to do? We added some extra nails and glue to the drawers that we didn’t wait for to dry (in other words, useless) before installation.
For a finished look, the screw holes should be filled. Did we do that? What do you think? It’s a friggin store display!
But it looks nice anyway, right?
Can Two Divorced Men Share an Apartment?
Happy Odd Couple Day!
Stenciled Damask Patina Wall
We were recently commissioned to do a stenciled damask patina wall in Tribeca for designer Liz Tiesi of Threshold Interiors. The application process took four days to complete and the results are fabulous!
Liz fell in love with a sample of our patinaed stencil that was meant for use in any area, but we had only ever worked on horizontal surfaces and didn’t consider the water-like consistency patina spray dripping down a wall. The actual application took less than a week including rolling the base coat, but the testing and preparation that went into it was a learning experience.
In the end, Emilia was able to create a faux patina look with paint. More controllable as far as coloring and a lot less touch up! A real patina solid wall without the stencil would look über cool with the drips, but faking it was the best solution for this project.
We can’t wait to take on more projects like this!
Lower East Side Tenements
Loved this article and related video from the NY Times this week! 88 year old Rita Ascione lived at 97 Orchard during the 1930’s. If that address doesn’t sound familiar to you, it’s one of my favorite museums in NYC, the Tenement Museum. Here, she goes back to visit and kina hora, she makes it up those steps!
I have a soft spot for that intact historic structure and the Lower East Side in general because that area is where my great grandparents settled with my grandparents and my own parents for a bit before moving out to the boroughs. Just like most New Yorkers with immigrant ancestors.
The thing is….ugh….I’m old enough to remember these tenement buildings myself. I lived in a couple of them during my “flee Brooklyn to the city” phase. Bathtubs in kitchens. The real deal. Do they still exist? There must be some seniors living in rent controlled apartments that haven’t been touched in years.
It’s nice to see a bit of NYC history every now and then. It’s disappearing so rapidly.
Make Your Vote Count
Politics has become a joke as of late. You may be asking yourself if your vote really makes a difference at all. Perhaps it doesn’t. But what if it does? Is it gonna kill you to get your ass to the polling place around the corner and pull the lever against the person you don’t want? I mean….for the person you want?
Don’t like Cuomo and refuse to vote Republican? There’s a Green Party candidate running too. His name is Howie Hawkins.
Don’t know who the eff anyone else is? You can find out who is on the ballot from a number of websites.
“But I don’t know where my polling place is.” Your fucking polling place is here! Aaannnddd…they also list your candidates so you don’t have to figure that out last minute.
Everyone is saying that the GOP is gonna run away with this thing because Dems and Liberals are a bunch of apathetic lazy ass mofos (I was the one who said that). Prove me wrong.
Wall O’ Lego
How many Lego pieces does it take to build a dividing wall? 55,000 according to German creative agency NPIRE. They should know, because they went ahead and did it in their Hamburg office.
It’s an incredible looking wall, but before you go ahead and say you’re going to install a toy wall instead of using the usual building materials, keep in mind that it would actually be more expensive, not to mention time consuming. Fifty five thousand new Lego pieces would calculate to around $3000. Compare to a few $12-$15 pieces of Sheetrock and some studs that would be sturdier.
But can you glue Lego to an existing wall for a similar effect?
Our answer is: Sure, why not?
Via: Design Taxi and Inhabitat
Ready for the Holidays!
Fork Hooks. $55
Now we understand why retailers start gearing up for the holidays as soon as the leaves start turning color. As early as August, we’ve been worrying about not having enough gifty items or having too much small stock. Being it’s our first year in business, we don’t know what to expect.
Since we’re not sure that the Crown Heights shop will bring in loads of people, we’ve signed up for some craft shows and holiday markets. Ok, that’s a lie. We only have ONE confirmed show and that’s BUST Craftacular. We’re still figuring out what else we want to do. Yeah, we’re cutting it close since it’s almost November already, but then the event promoters are taking their time getting info together too.
Here’s a preview of some of our handmade gift items. We’ll have to make a ton more if we’re to stock multiple venues plus do online sales, but we can eat and sleep after the holiday season.
Vintage Candlestick Menorah. $90
Double Light Switch Plate. $10. (not online yet)
Clockface with Double Glass Hooks. $40
Door Knob Coat Hook. $50
Found Object Face Art. $50
Upcycled Typeset Block Triple Hooks. $75
Industrial Metal Candle Holder. $40
Howl-O-Ween Sunday
It’s time for the 7th Annual Sean Casey Animal Rescue Howl-O-Ween Block Party! Get those pet costumes ready because there’s a contest. Your pooch is too cool for a costume? No worries, there are raffles, a baking contest, a kissing booth, live music and of course….an adoption van! Be sure to bring your petless friends, so they can go home with a special someone.
Sunday, October 26th
12-5pm
E. 3rd Street between Ft. Hamilton and Caton in Brooklyn.
Soldier’s Room Untouched Since 1918
Officer Hubert Rochereau died 96 years ago in Belgium fighting in the first world war. The room where he was born in 1896 has remained untouched since his death, as stipulated by the family during the sale of the home in 1935 that it remain in place for 500 years.
Judging from the photos it looks like a museum, only better, since this hasn’t been curated and set up for public viewing.
Think about how many private homes may have rooms or sections like this. I know a family whose son died in a car accident at the age of 16. It was in the early 70’s and until I lost contact with them in the late 80’s, the room had remained the same as per his mother’s wishes. Being it was the 70’s, that meant psychedelic decor and blacklight posters. A real trip. I hope the father kept it the same.
I’ve looked at abandoned bungalows and country homes that hadn’t been cleaned up before being put on the market. Personally, I prefer to look at them that way so I get a sense of history. Would I love to be the one to clean it up and yet have it retain an antiquated ambience? Absolutely!
Kudos to the purchasers of this soldier’s home that they kept their end of the bargain even though they weren’t legally bound to do so.
Via The Guardian
