As soon as I spotting this bird feeder in Fern Richardson's beautiful, new book Small-Space Container Gardens, I immediately had to ask her publisher, Timber Press, if I could share it with my fellow Curbliers. Okay, yeah, it's a bird feeder and Fern's book is about small space gardening, but she does devote an entire chapter on attracting birds, bees and butterflies to tiny gardens. So there. Now, on to the… Continue Reading
No garden? No problem. Fern Richardson of Life of the Balcony fame shows us how to have an enviable garden without the acreage in her title Small-Space Container Gardens from Timber Press. Organized into 9 tidy sections, we cover everything from flowers to herbs, from shady patios to sunny decks and everything in… Continue Reading
Don't let the title of Marie Iannotti's new title from Timber Press fool you. Her guide for growing all that is heirloom is perfect for the beginner and the experienced gardener alike. However, if you are a beginner to this variety of vegetables, you might wonder just what an heirloom vegetable is. According to Ms. Iannotti, there are three requirements that must be… Continue Reading
Lorene Edwards Forkner’s book Handmade Garden Projects is filled with step-by-step instructions for over two dozen projects that will keep you busy for this growing season and beyond. Featherweight planters (made of peat and cement), vinyl wall flowers (made of LPs), a vintage-y outdoor chandelier (made of wire edging), a pergola (made of plumbing pipes) and much more, there’s something for every garden and every DIYer. You can snag it right now at Amazon for about $14.
With the permission of Ms. Forkner’s publisher, Timber Press, we’re pleased as punch to share two original projects from Handmade Garden Projects. The first is this Gabion-Style Cocktail… Continue Reading
Don't let the unassuming title or cover of industrial designer and artist Christopher Stuart's new book, DIY Furniture: A Step-by-Step Guide fool you. The work is filled with some of the most interesting DIY furniture I've ever seen--and I've seen a lot. Chris collected 30 projects from the best designer-makers out there and put them into the collection that includes projects for every room in your home, and they're all constructed of… Continue Reading
Imagine this: On the eve of your 29th birthday you lose your job. What do you do? Well, if you're Molly Bakes you stay up until one in the morning baking and frosting 30 cupcakes for your friends. That evening proved pivotal for Molly, as it was the beginning of a love affair for baking and a new career.
Soon thereafter, she began selling cupcakes in Brick Lane Market in London's East side. It was then she came to another turning point. She… Continue Reading
It's Spring, and for most of us (at least up here in the north country of Minnesota), that means a raging, uncontrollable urge to be outside of the house. Reading books? A not-so-close second. Still, there are lots of good new titles out there, and some of 'em might even assist you in your outdoorsy endeavors. We've updated our Recommended Reading page for Spring 2011; here are some excerpts ...
Grow more in less space! Ok, to be fair,… Continue Reading
Confession: As a vegetable gardener, I'm pretty pathetic. We used to have a 12' x 15' vegetable garden at the back of our property (about 200 feet from our house and down a somewhat steep hill). With the weeding and watering, our excitement every spring for growing our own peppers and tomatoes faded quickly, leaving us with a less than flourishing garden. Several years back, we gave in, realizing that, even though we have plenty of room for a 'proper' garden, we just weren't 'proper' garden people. We… Continue Reading
For the first time in months, there's a beautiful ray of mid-afternoon sunshine cascading through my window, and illuminating all the dust and grime that's built up through the winter months.
I dunno if the sun is going to last, but I do know that I can't pretend like my house doesn't need a thorough scrubbing and organizing anymore. Grrrr...stupid… Continue Reading
Cleaning house while dreaming about cleaning up the garden beds. Looking back, it's likely that I could have done a better job at both last year. To get myself pumped up for a Spring clean and purge, both inside and out, I just ordered 1001 Old-time Household Hints: Timeless Bits of Household Wisdom for Today's Home and… Continue Reading
David Erik Nelson's new book Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred from No Starch Press is subtitled 'Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids.' That's true; the projects inside the book will appeal to kids, but they will also appeal to adults with a penchant for DIY. That's why it's a perfect book to buy to tell the kids in your life it's for them, but really it's for you!
The book is divided into 3 parts. The first is entitled 'Kid Stuff,' and it contains things that are great for… Continue Reading
Guess how many new books are released every day? Yeah, I have no clue either, but it's a lot. Too many to keep track of, though we do try. Today we've updated our Recommended Reading page with a bunch of new titles for Winter 2011. These are books we've reviewed on the site, or just books we came across and thought looked cool. Here are some that I liked (make sure to click through to see them all):
I watch Rick's show on public… Continue Reading
According to Sasha Duerr, the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, if we can cook, we can dye. One of the chapters contained within is even entitled, "Kitchen Couture". And couture it is. Dozens of recipes tell us how to use such things as lavender, turmeric and red cabbage to dye plant and protein-based fibers the most luscious colors imaginable, all of which harmonize in ways 'only botanical colors can.'
Sasha begins at the beginning, outlining supplies we'll need, explaining in easy to understand terms… Continue Reading
Amy Sedaris has been out promoting her new book, Simple Times: Crafting for Poor People, and one of her stops was on NPR's Marketplace. The book, of course, is a parody of the DIY and crafting culture, however, her recent comments in the NPR interview are pissing people off...at least people who don't appreciate satire. One… Continue Reading
I know it's 'not cool' to talk about reading 'books' these days, but we at Curbly still love 'em, and every self-respecting DIYer has their prized collection. Our copy of Budget Living's Home Cheap Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to Great Decorating is dog-eared and damaged from all the use it has gotten (check out this cool book-art project we did more than three years ago!). Our other favorite book is our irreplaceable copy of the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (seriously the most useful cookbook I've even seen):
So, to keep track of our favorite analog volumes, we create the Curbly Recommended Reading page. It's a quarterly-updated list of our current reading recommendations for crafty-doers like yourselves, and it looks like… Continue Reading
The title of the new print from Creative Publishing may have the word 'common' in it, but there is nothing common about the contents of Common Sense Storage. Filled with images of luscious interiors, the book is a cornucopia of inspiration, that just happens to solve all of our storage problems as well.
… Continue Reading
Just yesterday, I was searching for the bookmark that had fallen out of my current book group read. How delighted I was today then to see this no-slip bookmark idea. The maker claims she has seen them around all over the place. I must admit, I haven't. To make one,… Continue Reading
I was accidentally introduced to Novella Carpenter's Farm City. I was at the library, and managed to knock off an audiobook version whilst putting back another, and it fell to the floor, a CD rolled out, and wheeled itself across the aisle. I'm not a mystic, and certainly don't believe I was destined to check it out, but I did, and it's totally worth your time.
Novella's an urbanite, dedicated to the diversity of a metropolitan landscape. Novella's also a farmer, and keep pigs, chickens, rabbits, and huge garden on a squatted piece of land next to her apartment. She feeds her livestock from the waste stream - dumpsters behind high-end restaurants, and houses her chickens in sawdust from a local… Continue Reading
The new book by Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Enter If You Dare!, includes some interesting real estate stories. Here's just a few examples you can find within its pages, if you dare to open them.
The Shark House, pictured above, is located in Headington, Oxford. The 25 foot long, fiberglass shark, commissioned by Bill Heine and created by… Continue Reading
We talk a lot about home renovation around here, but what if you want to renovate your life? One way to take on this monumental task is by following the Chinese Proverb that says, If you want to change your life, move 27 things in your home. It is the connection between ourselves and our living spaces and the energy we share that… Continue Reading
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