in rainbows

making rainbow cupcakes has been on my culinary to-do list since last september when i first saw a tutorial on the dainty squid. to be honest, i'm not much of a cake baker unless it's for quite a few people, so i knew the best time to make these cute cuppies would be when i had my nieces for the day.

i watched the girls this past weekend and lined up a few fun activities for saturday. in addition to baking the cupcakes, we also got rainbow manicures, took a trip to a converted opera house used book store, enjoyed homemade ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlor, went to the park, and had a fun movie night (fantastic mr. fox is fantastic).

i made a concerted effort to film snippets throughout the day in the hopes of making a cute video for the girls. i was completely inspired by bleubird vintage's iPhone videos this past week and i've always wanted to make a family video with she's a rainbow by the rolling stones, so...


She's A Rainbow from Megan Charters on Vimeo.

i shot everything on my iPhone and used the 8mm app to post-process the clips before editing the film in iMovie. it all came together really easily and i think it turned out pretty sweet. if you look closely, you can spot a cameo of my oldest niece (who was at work all day - boo) dressed as a pirate. classic.

i hope you had a fun weekend!

my hipstamatic day // 05.20.11-05.23.11

i apologize for the photo dump that's about to take place (and why does it have to be photo dump? it just sounds bad). it's been a pretty great few days and i managed to catch snippets with my favorite app (that i definitely use way too much), so here's what's been happening in my little corner of the world:

rain. so much rain. but sometimes?

rainbows.

thrifting. i love the colors and design of this old sewing machine.

antiquing. kind of like thrifting, except i don't usually buy anything in antique stores because i'd rather have the thrill of finding something in the 'wild' (and for much cheaper).

loving old vinyl floors in antique and thrift stores.

finding a new best burger ever. square burger, you and your sweet potato french fries with garlic aioli are amazing.

finding new sushi joints (with absolutely ginormous bento boxes. good grief).

this piece reminds me of a terrarium.

remembering just how good mediterranean sea salt & caramel gelato is.

also good? pistachio almond gelato.

hanging out with super cool friends in dallas...

and getting to hear super cool music. the black angels, i think i can safely say, are my favorite band to see live. they're amazing.

laughing at animals who join you for dinner on the patio...

and trying to calm a dog who is terrified of thunder (again, so much rain).

enjoying the pretty colors of nature...

and begrudgingly wanting to learn a little bit about them.

and finally? (most importantly?) really loving essie nail polish.

what have you been up to?

the exceptional internet // 03.13.2011

some fancy things that caught my eye this week:

i've long been a fan of the decemberists and am in love with their new album, the king is dead. i saw the video for down by the water a few weeks ago and was in awe of how perfectly the vibe fit the band. to make the video, photographer autumn de wilde partnered with the impossible project and used 2,500 polaroid shots to create a flawless part-stop motion, part-digital scrapbook as a visual companion to the deluxe box edition. it's pretty magical.

london, you will always be my favorite ♥

(via neatorama)

though i've been pretty lucky lately, you can only open so many kidrobot dunny blind boxes without ending up with a duplicate (or six, as was my case with this darn dunny). what to do with the dups? if you're lucky and well-connected, you can participate in a dunny trade. or you can turn them into an awesome keychain. the kronikle shows you how.

there's been a lot of iPhonography app round-ups lately and i've been loving it! i have 12 photo apps right now, but i wouldn't mind a few more cool toys. some of my favorites not included below: cross process, pocketbooth, labelbox, and 100 cameras.

(source)

a beautiful mess shares samples of seven different apps (including my new fave instagram - anybody else on instagram? let me know so i can follow! you can find me under bibliomeg).



(source)

ohdeedoh also has a great post on 5 iPhonography tips & tricks. i definitely want to try creating a double-exposure and using a tilt-shift generator.

what is more awesome than a ukulele and a profound love for the great stephen fry? nothing, i say, except maybe when the two come together. this open letter by molly lewis to the great british icon and technology enthusiast could easily be from me, if only i knew how to rock a tiny guitar and were willing to have children at this point in my life. soooo, maybe not.

(via boing boing)

tartelette makes the most beautiful foods and i'm in awe of her food styling. this week, she shared a recipe for meyer lemon macarons, which, i have decided, i must make immediately. i've tried lemon macarons before, but meyer lemons are a different business.

(source)

i love these monster landscapes! an anonymous artists picks up cheap and tacky landscapes at thrift stores and yard sales and makes them awesome.

(source)

and finally, because this made me have an actual laugh out loud moment at work while i was on the reference desk and shouldn't have been checking my feed reader, this bit of awesomeness (via boing boing).

my love for mr. humphries knows no bounds! what were your exceptional internet finds this week? 

my hipstamatic day // 03.04.2011

(ina's 1969 film, melodie lens)

(ina's 1935 film, chunky lens)

(ina's 1969 film, bettie xl lens)

(dream canvas film, melodie lens)

(ina's 1935 film, chunky lens)

(ina's 1969 film, bettie xl lens)

(ina's 1935 film, melodie lens)

(ina's 1969 film, melodie lens)

cosco work table updated

a few months ago, while hitting up garage sales, thrift stores, and estate sales in the historic neighborhoods of dallas, i came across a vintage collapsible cosco work table in rough shape. the table was actually being used at the garage sale to hold the knick knacks that were for sale (you know - the obligatory junk table at most garage sales).

on a whim, i asked if the table was for sale, as well. the owners were surprised anybody would want a rusted, splotchy old table, but from the shape and materials, i suspected it was a cosco table and i knew it had potential. plus, i could add it to my cosco collection. ten bucks later (i probably could have offered $3 and they'd have taken it), i had a new project.

i've sadly misplaced the very initial before photos, but there was a lot o' rust. the chrome legs were a mess of red oxide - you couldn't see any silver. but there's a trick to de-rusting chrome: steel wool! make sure to use the 0000 grade steel wool and be ready to put in some serious elbow grease. if you are as easily pleased as i am, the reward for your hard work is watching the chrome magically appear from beneath layers of coppery flakes.

after sitting in my friend's garage since november, my table made it out into the sun today - hoorah!

i actually didn't completely mind the rustic appearance of the yellow top, but i have a lot of yellow in my apartment and wanted something darker, so i cleaned the years of grime build-up with glass cleaner.

to remove the more prominent rust marks on the top, i gently used more 0000 grade steel wool. i wanted a flat, rust-free surface for spray painting.

rather than paint the underside, which nobody will ever see, i just prepped the top and sides.

i used valspar gloss spray paint in a pretty (and retro-inspired) dark turquoise. 

i'm not usually an even hand at spray painting. i always, always get drips and globs everywhere, but i managed to somehow get a nice, uniform color. it's the birthday weekend gods, i tell ya.

i'm really happy with my $14 project! i totally have nowhere to put this table in my tiny, cramped apartment, but i love it and that's what counts, right?

i actually think this would make an awesome desk. i'd love my all-white sleek technology center on top of this slightly rustic industrial base.

are you pulling out any projects that have been hibernating? i'd love to hear about it!

*hipstamatic details: dream canvas film, melodie lens.

music // heartless bastards

the heartless bastards are anything but. erika wennerstrom fronts the group, originally from ohio (go buckeyes), and you wouldn't think it to look at her, but the huge voice she possesses is compelling, soulful, utterly unique, and pretty damn rockin'.

i almost passed on the opportunity to go see them last night at dan's silverleaf in denton because it was a work night, they weren't playing until almost midnight, i'm old now, yada, yada, yada. i'm glad i was exhausted today. totally worth it.

if i had to classify their genre, i'd say indie-country-blues-rock and that's about as specific as i can get. it's a great sound, so listen up if you've never heard them! (you know... if you want)

*both videos shot with the iSupr8 app for iPhone.