A Rebirthed Idea: DIY Silk Eggs From Old Ties

Just meander outside and check out the season of birth. Popping up from under the gray/green floor of the winter that wasn’t, is a colorfully vibrant, if not eerily early spring. My husband tells me Easter is always the first Sunday immediately following the first full moon, after the first day of spring.

The tradition of giving eggs represents new life and can be traced back to ancient cultures. But the wasteful carbon footprint of unnaturally bright-colored eggs and plastic grass, stomps on our planet. According to the National Retail Federation, the average person is expected to spend $145.28, up 11% from last year's $131.04...a record $16.8 billion is projected to go into Easter-related spending. Yikes!

When my kids were younger, we ditched the harmful dyes and created gorgeous eggs (see last year’s post) from natural sources. And of course, we eat our daily dose of chocolate to stay thin. Really. Haven't you heard the latest study about eating chocolate to help you stay thin?

Last night the kids (and their significant others) ushered in the season with a new tradition. They watched the moon rise from the warmth of our outdoor hot tub. Divine indeed!

An Eggcellent Idea

My father-in-law is a tie-wearer, a tie-collector and a tie-lover. A while ago, I inherited a bag of old silk ties from him with a note: "You'll find something creative to do with these."

Voila! I’m beyond smitten with these silk-dyed eggs made from old ties. Just a wonderful idea from guess who? Martha Stewart, who else?

All you need are raw eggs, old silk ties (shirts or boxers), vinegar, water and this tutorial.

Rebirth seems like a good idea. And as Pete Seeger croons, "If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, or recycled, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed.”

Photos: The June Bride

The Center Is A State Of Mind

The passage below is from a Seth Godin post. It reminded me of everything I loved about playing with the geometric drawing toy, Spirograph.

Follow Seth, he's awesome. And I don't use that word often. Ever.

The action used to happen at court. In France, if you wanted to get ahead, you put on your outfit, called in favors and hung out near the King, because proximity was all.

If you're in Kibera, are you too far from Silicon Valley to write an app? If you live in New Zealand, are you too far outside the mainstream music world to perform a hit song? What about an author who lives 3,000 miles from New York?

The magic of our new form of communication is that it's no longer one-way. If you consume an app, you can write one. If you can read a blog, you can publish one. If you can grab an ebook, you can produce one.

The center has nothing to do with geography any longer. The center is a state of mind.

Drawing: box64studio

Try Harder My Love

I follow a lot of online happenings. It’s a big part of my world. This rosy red morning, a poster made its appearance all over my world. Many of you have told me that you enjoy the words I post. That makes me feel happy and loved. Thank you. I am a devoted writer, and I don't write for free (except here).

It doesn’t make me happy when something I've written pops up on another post, or in print without my byline.

When I can, I send a tactful note about recognition and attribution. Sometimes it slides away from me. Sometimes it makes a difference. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Along comes Pinterest and I fall blindly in love. Head over heels, I’m pinning away. I have two accounts, one for business, and one for pleasure. Inspiration is image driven, and I cannot contain my sincere love for the luscious photographs. In the blush, I try to find the source of my image affections and share pins with my world.

I will try harder.

How about you?

Please share with love.

 

Stay Fit (video)

In my last post, I rode the New York Times yoga wave, which is now drowned out by opposing sides duking it out. Of course, I'm not anti-yoga. As my kids can attest to when we were skiing a few weeks ago, I'm just a lot more cautious with my body as I get older.

Did you know I won a Nastar ski race the year I turned 50? It was my first (and only) official wind in your face, slippery, downhill ski race. At the time, I was in pretty good physical shape. I won a gold medal and never had to don any spandex. Yay!

Fessing up...a friend told me there were no women over 50 that had entered the race that day and I would get a huge handicap if I signed up. I've never been so scared in my life. But I did finish the race (without falling and killing myself), and I cherish my little gold pin.

I thought I would never be in racing shape (ha!) again until I saw this video on the Lines Of Beauty blog. The video of a 95 year old ballet dancer, shot on Fire Island, captures the secret and beauty of staying fit.

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.

Photo: Vintage Ski Poster

So You Want To Be An Artist

Life is so busy right now that posting has succumbed to "a picture is worth a thousand words." Can you tell that from my last post? There's so many posts in my head that I would like to grab a cup of tea (or wine), sit by the fire and write and write for hours. That time will come, but not now.

Both my kids are artists. My daughter is a graphic designer and my son is a musician. When I saw this poster, I could not contain my hysterics.

My dad would have gotten a kick out of this. He was an artist too.