March 2013

Create Your Own Before I Die Wall

If you remember my post about the Before I Die wall? In case you don't it's an extremely passionate project that is bringing together communities and inspiring individuals all over the world. The coolest part is that the creators of the project have come up with a toolkit so people can make a wall of their own. The kit includes a title stencil, guide, metal chalk holders, gloves and chalk. The best part is, you can also download these files anytime if you want to create a stencil of your own. Be sure to visit the project website for more info.

Meet the Artist: Boris Bally

After sifting through the interwebs for a couple hours today I stumbled across designer Boris Bally and the amazing furniture that he creates from old street signs, weapon parts and other found objects. His work is so witty and innovative, and I find it to be reminiscent of work Dan Phillips does! But that's besides the point. Bally hails from the small state of Rhode Island and he has gone through hoops and hurdles to create his piece "The Broadway Armchair". He makes sure that each traffic sign that he finds, works together perfectly with his next piece of art. And nothing goes to waste! Ever. Any leftover material or scraps are saved so that they can be used in another one of his works of art.

In one year alone Bally can produce hundreds of these arm chairs, keeping tons of discarded traffic signs out of landfills. Bally is great because he hopes to inspire others to look beyond the "intended" purpose of the objects around them. Which isn't hard to do when you think outside of the box a little bit. I like to make pieces out of found objects as well. Something about upcycling just speaks to me! What about you? Are you feeling inspired?

images via desginboom

The Cutest Lunches

images via Susan Yuen

Okay, I'm not going to say that my parents didn't love me, but damn! Have you seen these lunches?? I stumbled across Susan Yuen's blog the other day and she painstakingly makes one of these lunches for her children every single day. When I was a child I remember getting sandwiches and a little juice box, but apparently that just doesn't cut it anymore!

I did a little more sleuthing of my own and discovered that it's a pretty big deal for Japanese parents to create these amazing bento box lunches for their children. In fact, Mother's can even take classes on how to create these innovative lunches. Parent's have to devote quite a lot of their time in order to makes one of these boxes every day. One lunch alone can take close to two hours to make!

If I ever have kids in the future, I don't know if they can count on me to create these kind of lunches for them. I'll probably just teach them how to make simple stuff instead haha. Do you think you'd make a bento box for your child?