From this to that...

How does one design their own wedding dress? I think I still don't know! I was led in part by my desire to use the antique lace my mother contributed--the idea of having all that history to carry with me seemed so romantic. And, of course, I had the Steampunk theme to guide me. I wanted a dress that was both Victorian and modern, elegant and yet with a touch of industrialism and ingenuity. Between the lace that I already had and the steel hooks I salvaged from a jacket I'd butchered for another project, I only had to purchase the satin for the dress and the green backing for the [removable]lace bustle(I must thank the staff at Rosen and Chadick)). Oh, and $5 for the crinoline at my favorite thrift store! While I had a lot of trouble--making clothes for yourself is much harder than for someone else--with the help of some friends it all came together in the end.


I accessorized with some diamonds my mother lent me--I pinned the brooch to a black ribbon choker--and of course one of the Steampunk bracelets my friends had made for my shower. I wore a ribbon-tape head piece. The arrangement of swirled ribbon reminded me of cogs fitting together. And instead of a bouquet I carried my great-grandmother's travel parasol. The silk had torn anyway, so I removed it, and just loved the way it looked with no fabric at all!

Add my new kickin' boots and I was set!

Final Countdown

My cat, being very patient about the fact that her window seat is covered in fabric.

OK, this "temporary" insanity has gone on too long! But I will be sorry when it is all over. I never thought that planning such a simple wedding would take so much work! But I will be sad when it is over, too. I imagine I will have the post-wedding blues a bit--although I will be so happy to be married to my fiance that it won't last too long.

So as I run around taking care of all the last minute bits: programs, decor, my dress... try to remember to relax and to enjoy myself.

And I appreciate the way everything seems to work out in the end. I have to thank my neighbors who moved out and left a lovely miniature lamp post lantern in the trash!






And I MUST thank inspyretash for having the perfect border for our Ceremony Program(and for tagging it perfectly for my internet search). At 2 in the morning it seemed too good to be true.



So this is it, by the end of this weekend I will be a Mrs. and loving it!!!



Still working on the dress!!!






My Maid of Honor and I found the sweetest head pieces at Bigelow's in Greenwich Village (across from the Jefferson Market Library)

Well, I know I had all these grand ideas about documenting the whole "creating my Steampunk Wedding" process, but right now it would read more like Sybil than Martha Stewart. There will be more details, but I think most will come after the wedding...

I do want to give a quick shout out to The Steampunk Home...another great find, and you will be sure to see a few of these somewhere at our reception:

gear candleholder

$6.95

Green lights. Reclaimed iron gears each host a single tealight. Cog multiples together to power raw, industrial interest. Found objects, each is unique.

Come out of Your Shell...

and take a more daring approach to decorating!



The other day I mentioned an online home decor store, One King's Lane. It is my new favorite addiction, because at least every few days they feature a designer with products that I can fall in love with.
I don't actually buy everything I moon over, but I do love to look!

Today they are featuring the work of Eduardo Garza. He presents a collection of artifacts that would make the most avid beachcomber swoon.



Turtle shells, coral, sea fans and ostrich eggs set on simple elegant bases that highlight rather than detract from the natural beauty of the object.

There is a statement saying that no turtles were harmed and that the shells were all from turtles that died of natural causes. The coral, eggs and sea fans--I do not know how he gets those. But if you are aren't sure about having these real pieces from nature in your home, try his line of trays and coasters! I think this is my favorite...

Lightening Show

I live in the city, and people are always surprised when I tell them we get awesome lightening. And in the summer, when it gets hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk (but who would eat it?) we get some pretty good shows.

Tonight I was particularly glad to hear that familiar crack, heralding a potential cooling of the steam bath that passes for air here. Having tried to create some flow of air from my meager air-conditioner through to where I was sitting at my work table, with a series of strategically placed fans, I immediately flew to my feet to throw the windows open wide, and I was awed by the ferocity of the lightening above our building. It seemed to be close enough to reach out and touch--I certainly wasn't going out on our metal fire escape to admire it. But I was able to put my camera out, into the lovely cool breeze, and snap some shots. So for all of you who don't believe in city lightening, here is the proof.

Even Curioser!

Now I am just hooked on the beautiful scientific illustrations of yore. It is amazing to me the amount of widespread interest and also the relentless pursuit of specimens that existed for a few centuries. It seems that before the invention of television and video games, people actually looked to the world around them for entertainment. Fascinating.

My sweetiepie and I had a a date night last night, and we went to the Metropolitan Museum. While we were there I noticed a Taschen edition of Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. It is not the full edition, but it is pretty heavy none the less! And it is affordable, at $29.95.

They also have Cabinet of Natural Curiosities: Complete Edition, with over 500 illustrations, for $125.00.

On the internet you can also find the Jumbo Edition, and on Taschen's site they offer a 636 page version, for $200.00.

Curioser and Curioser

Today I was so excited to see this wonderful collection of illustrations by Natural Curiosities. It is being sold at One Kings Lane, an online store that offers 72-hour sales on home decor items. They always have lovely things--it's a great place to buy nice gifts for people, as they have very nicely scented candles, address books, vases, etc.

Here is the description:

The history of Cabinets of Curiosity dates back to Renaissance Europe when encyclopedic collections of natural history objects, geology, archaeology, and antiquities were gathered together for study and appreciation. Inspired by these collections, Natural Curiosities founder Christopher Wilcox created boxed sets of reproduction prints based upon illustrations of such collections from the 19th Century. Each box includes fourteen, 14-inch square images that can be framed, arranged, or simply kept in their box on the coffee table as a unique type of art “book”.

Dimensions: 15” x 15” x 2”

The illustrations range from Insectum to Botanicals to Sea Life. I feel smarter just looking at them.

Our Steampunk Wedding: A Work in Progress

So you got a preview of the Groom's outfit with my post about his frock coat. I was so relieved when I found that--I thought, "Yes! This crazy idea is going to be OK." Honestly, once we decided on the Steampunk component of our wedding, I started to panic--could we really pull it off? Would our friends want to participate? Could we create the right atmosphere? Could I ever explain to my mother what Steampunk is?

But now things are really starting to come together. I called my sister today, and by her report, I am going to have four nieces and nephews walking straight in from the set of Lemony Snicket. I have started my dress, and actually feel like I might finish it before the wedding. And we have been stock piling "set dressing" for the past few weekends. Since I probably can't afford Robbii Wessen to design the venue, we'll just have to pull it together ourselves. I am so excited by our finds and as they slowly take over our living room, I can envision each table setting in my mind. We have the best thrift shop near us, and every time we go in we find something great. Just take a look at what $40 in the Bronx will get you!

Steampunk art? I may place this in the Men's Room.
I found four glass chimneys for candles...
A Thermal-ray Vitascope Projector.
	A couple more candle holders, a cool metal stand to hold toiletries in the Ladies' Room, a barometer we just had to have...

and, of course, lanterns!



I have to 'fess up--the pretty gilded birdcage I splurged from eBay ($10+s&h)



An objet on each table, with some fall foliage, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Stow it!

We all have those moments: we are cleaning up the kitchen, and we hesitate in front of the trash can or recycling bin, wheels turning in our head...should I really chuck this? I'm sure I can use it...but how??? And the object returns to the counter, or the junk drawer, awaiting that moment of inspiration when you say, "I have just the thing!"

Here are a few ways to use the more common items that we hate to throw out:

Take out containers. Obviously, we keep these and reuse them instead of buying plastic containers. But have you ever noticed how you end up with a bunch of lids and no bottoms? I wanted something small but sturdy to pack some sandwiches for my guy to take on the plane with him. I opened the cabinet to find...no bottoms! So I grabbed two lids, and they snapped right together, creating the perfect sandwich holder.

There is no wiggle room, so the sandwich won't fall apart mid-flight. And I won't feel too bad if he
doesn't bring it home again.

Plastic egg trays. Why do my organic eggs come in plastic trays? I don't know. But until someone in the egg industry sees the irony I will continue to try to find uses for them.

I have found that they are great for holding all those odd little things that you know you will use one day, but then when you want it you can't find it. The clear egg tray keeps everything separated, so you don't have to empty the whole thing, and you can peer into it without even opening it!

They are also perfect for any sorting job you might have to do. Just dump all your odd buttons, hooks and eyes, beads, etc into the square tray, then as you find matching objects you can put them into their own shell.





This is a great way to keep kids entertained on a rainy day.

Once you have everything sorted, pop them into those little zip-lock bags that come with the spare button from a shirt.

You can also use your plastic/cardboard/Styrofoam egg containers to store small Christmas ornaments. Also use the plastic or Stryofoam ones as palettes to mix your watercolors.

Have you ever had rice crackers? Yummy! I really like the wasabi-flavored crackers. And once they are gone you can use the packaging to keep all your spools of thread neat. Even the really big ones. Put an end to all that rolling about, unwinding and tangling that drives us all insane. Just line a drawer or your sewing box with a few of these and you've got that problem licked.

Prefer sweet treats to savory? A lot of cookies come packed in the same type of tray!

I love to get presents, especially if they come in a nice box. The gold Godiva box is a favorite of mine--they are all sizes, useful to hold anything, but they all match so they look nice on your shelves. Plus every time you see them you think of the nice person that gave you the chocolates.

I really lucked out one day at work. We got all the Christmas cards for the different office to send out, and the boxes they came I were so nice I kept them. I bet if you go to your local stationer, they may have boxes that you can have.

These hold all the larger strange things that I hold on to until just the right costume comes along: holsters, shoe clips, belt buckles, broken compasses, whatever... Again, just by having all this "junk" in this nice neat stack of matching boxes, I instantly go from "Totally Insane Studio" to "Super Organized Studio!" I want to go the extra step one day and make some parchment paper labels for them...but that's another day.

How many tins of Altoids do you have lying about? I can't bear to throw them out! I keep hairclips, paper clips, binder clips...and you can see one used to hold a bunch of little gold confetti stars.

I use them for travel all the time: they hold just enough jewelry, foreign coins, safety pins for a short journey. You an turn a tin into a travel sewing kit--just don't take the scissors on the plane with you!

And what to do with those silly mesh garlic bags? Again, perfect for storage because you can see what's inside. Great for holding little toys. And perfect for washing little things, like grimy buttons from a flea market. Just soak, swish and hang dry.

So I hope I have inspired you to not throw away your trash--it might just make you more organized if you keep it. Let me know how you use your throwaways.

Peruvian Connection

I don't know how I got on the mailing list for this catalog--it just appeared in my mail box a few days ago--but I am glad I did! The clothes are beautiful, and even if I can only afford one piece a year from them, I feel that I am their newest lifelong customer. The style suits me to a T, and as I read more about the company I was very impressed by their values.

The PC website says, " We are happy to be able to share our success with organizations devoted to improving and enriching people's lives through better health, education and a healthy environment." Two of those organizations are Pro Mujer, a micro-finance institution that helps women in Latin America with a variety of programs, and The Textile Museum, located in Washington DC.

On their website are videos of their catalog shoots. The most recent was "shot close to home in historical sites of civil war-era Missouri, and the grasslands and rustic architecture of Kansas." There is one great moment where the model, walking down the train tracks, brings home the meaning of "thin as a rail."

"But what about the actual clothes?" you are asking. Well, here is a sampling of what they have to offer:


How about this elegant linen jacket to complete your late-Victorian or Edwardian outfit? Edgy enough for a Steampunk riding habit, too, I daresay. Switch it out for the sweater (above) when it gets cooler...



And this is why shoulder pads are back in style. Can't you just picture Veronica Lake slinking around in this number? Classic!


And wouldn't anyone would feel beautiful in this simple art nouveau style dress.


Every outfit needs some accessories!





These will definitely be going on my fashion wish list!

Lucky Odds

First, a very important announcement: Odds Costume Rental, after 22 years of serving the film, television and theater world, is going out of business. Considering rent in New York, and the odds of most theaters having the budget to afford rentals like these, I was amazed they were able to stay afloat so long. I suppose the film & tv budgets did the trick ( considering the number of police uniforms on the racks, I'm guessing the Law & Order franchise alone could have kept them going).

While I am very sad to see any business go under, I did take advantage of the fact that they are selling their stock to see if they had anything for our Steampunk wedding attire. Boy, am I glad I did. I found the perfect item for my groom: A lovely velvet frock coat, created by the talented folk at Euroco*, in perfect condition!

I won't guess at what was going on with the crazy alterations someone had done--I was just thankful they'd handstiched them and not shoved it through an industrial. After picking out the "darts" and giving it a good steaming, it was back to its old self. Won't my fiance cut a figure in this number?!

Go to Odds. You'll find some great stuff, they'll make some cash, and the costumes will live on.

Odds Costume Rental
231 W. 29th St.
Third Fl.
New York , NY 10001
Phone: (212) 268-6227
sale 10 am-4 pm
Cash Only

*see photos of Janet Bloor's silicone caulk techniques