Browsing Category

The Uncommon Life

The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #6: Channeling Jackson Pollock

June 16, 2010

Action Painting Kit

1) Product Name: Action Painting Set

Action Art Kit

2) Background Research: I was looking for a fun way to make some paintings but it always seemed to be too time and energy consuming.

3) Hypothesis: If I use the action painting set, I will have some vibrant little paint squares for my wall.

4) Experiment: To use the action painting set and create some paint squares for my apartment and have fun with paint!

5) Results: So, I was all excited to get started with my action painting set during the weekend. I opened the package and it had a few paint tubes, drip stick , 2 little canvas squares and sand. The instructions were pretty clear, except for the sand part. It said ‘use the sand to give structure to the painting. I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant and decided to leave the sand alone and come back to it later.

Action Art Kits

I started to mix the paints in little plates and had three watery paint concoctions. The paints wash away easily, so don’t worry about messing up the plates or your dress! I followed the instructions for using the drip stick, it was as simple as dripping the dripstick in paint
and dripping/splashing it on the canvas. However, the drip stick tends to hold a lot of paint so it started to drip big blots of paint
on the canvas. If you want to get thin lines on the canvas, drip the paint on a paper before dripping it on the canvas a few times until the lines start getting as thin as you want. I did not seem to realize this until I had finished one of the squares, but my loss is your gain.

Action Art Kits

The canvas squares are not that big, so it won’t take very long to finish your drip painting. In less than 30 minutes, I had two painted squares finished. Though I did not use the sand (since I did not figure how to use it, and forgot all about it until I finished the paintings) and did not make any specific patterns, I had twp vibrant little pieces for my wall!

6) Conclusion: The action painting set makes for a quick way to get creative and have fun with paint.

Action Art Kits
The Uncommon Life

Alfresco Dining: Summer Salad

June 15, 2010

Cook books tend to scare me and last weekend was no execption. My best friend from childhood was visiting and the rain just wouldn’t stop. There was nothing else we could do — it was  time to face our fears. Candace and I pulled out five cookbooks and took a breath. Out of the thousands of pages, unknown ingredients and pots and pans that looked like they belonged to NASA,  we came up with a handful of recipes that didn’t scare us into ordering Dominos.

This delicious (and I swear oh-so-simple) dish takes few ingredients and just a couple of minutes of your day. Here’s the scoop.

What You Need:

1 1/2 pounds of fresh green beans, trimmed and cut

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

2/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasting optional

1/2 cup diced red onion

1 cup feta cheese

What You Do:

Cook green beans for a quick 3-4 minutes in a saucepan of boiling water. Drain and immediately run under cool water. Drain again and pat dry. In a mixing bowl, combine oil, dill, vinegar, garlic salt and pepper. Place beans in a serving bowl, add mixture, stir and top with feta. Mmmm good!

bean
The Uncommon Life

A thank-you letter to dad

June 14, 2010

Father's Day

Dear Dad,

Thanks for hanging our artwork up in your office. Thanks for giving us money when we needed it and cutting us off when we needed to be. Thanks for not getting mad at us when we wrecked the car. Thanks for not only coming to our games, but coming to our practices too. Thanks for not yelling at us when we got in a fight at school. Thanks for putting our toys together every Christmas and every birthday. Thanks for holding onto the back of the bike. Thanks for never asking for directions – getting lost was the fun part. Thanks for teaching us how to drive stick shift. Thanks for taking us to that baseball/basketball/football game – just the two of us. Thanks for helping us convince Mom to get a dog. Thanks for teaching us how to fix the sink and change a tire. Thanks for teaching us how to do a flip off the high dive. Thanks for letting us learn things the hard way. Thanks for the treehouse/tire swing/rope over the lake. Thanks for being hard on all our high school boyfriends – they weren’t good enough. Thanks for giving us our first pair of cufflinks when we got our first real job. Thanks for walking us down the aisle. Thanks for calling to check on us whenever something  happens within a 100-mile radius of where we live. Thanks for being such a good Grandpa/Grandfather/Pop-Pop/Pee-Paw.
Thanks Dad, for everything.

Happy Father’s Day!

What do you want to thank your dad for this Father’s Day? Share with us in the comments section!

The Uncommon Life

7 Steps To Lessen Toxins

June 14, 2010

The past month has been filled with nothing but news of the oil spill spreading, wildlife dying and no end in sight. Hearing this information and seeing the devastating photos leaves many of us feeling helpless. While we might not be able to stop the leak, we can work to clean up our own act.

green world

 

I saw 7  Tips to Ensure a Less Toxic World  on the HuffingtonPost it and piqued my interest. It turns out that the US’s “Toxic Substances Control Act” has not been touched since its inception in 1976. So it’s time to put things in our own hands. From bringing playtime back to the basics to eating intelligently, these tips are doable, reasonable and just downright logical. Take a minute to skim the tips and take a look at what you can do for your family and future generations. Does your life need a simple straighten-up or a deep scrubbing?

The Uncommon Life

Amazing Alfresco

June 13, 2010

I get it. I’m a little obsessed with it being “summer” even though summer doesn’t technically roll around for another couple of weeks. However, in my world (and I’m pretty sure the minds of most) this season hits the minute pools are open and the grill is lit.

In honor of this splendid time of year, I will be posting a series of alfresco dining recipes 5 in all — one for each course.

This week we will start with the sun-dried tomato, olive and basil bread. This crusty piece of heaven is referred to as “cake” in France and is a Parisian favorite.

bread

 

What you need:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 extra large eggs

6 tablespoons milk

3 1/2 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated

3 1/2 oz. sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped

2 oz. pitted black olives

a small handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped

sea salt and ground pepper

a 12×4 inch loaf pan, greased and floured Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

A Smashing Success

June 12, 2010

Brooklyn is just too cool. Last summer there were swimming pools made of old dumpsters and this year there is “cathartic” glass smashing. 

glass

 

David Belt, Creative Director of Macro Sea, has created free therapy and loads of fun for type-A New Yorkers. Participants chuck empty glass bottles from Brooklyn breweries into the recycling cage, filled with lights and fist-pumping music. Had a bad day at work? Maybe watching these bottles explode will ease your stress!  Check out Eco-Chick for the video and details.

The Uncommon Life

Art shows in California

June 9, 2010

Calling all Californians! (What I wouldn’t give to be laying on a beach in Cali right now….)

UncommonGoods artists Mindy and Grant Searcey have two art shows coming up in your neck of the woods. One is the Hermosa Beach Art Walk June 12-13 where Grant will be showcasing some of his paintings – very cool stuff! In addition to Grant’s work, there will be 100 other local artists plus food and drinks…aaah I love summer festivals:)

grant searcey

The Searceys will also be showcasing their jewelry, which is what we sell at UncommonGoods, at the Contemporary Crafts Market June 11-13 (Booth 415) in Santa Monica. Their jewelry always has a really cool spiritual or mythical element to it: Native American, the Chinese Zodiac, ancient Ayurvedic Indian practices.  It’s very unique and not overly precious, which makes it great for everyday wear.

The Uncommon Life

Gift Lab #5: Kira’s cupcake craziness

June 9, 2010
Kira

1) Product Name: Cupcake Corer and Decorating Set

Cucake corer and decorating kit

2) Background Research: I made Irish Carbomb Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day, and while they tasted great, they looked really sad — frosting in clumps or sliding off the cupcakes entirely! I like making cupcakes, but I shouldn’t have to convince everyone that they are, in fact, edible.

3) Hypothesis: If I use the cupcake corer and decorating set, my cupcakes will look just as delicious as they taste.

4) Experiment: Make the chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with caramel filling and chocolate frosting from the recipe booklet included with corer and decorating set.

5) Results: I couldn’t help but tweak the recipe, so I used 2/3 cup spelt flour and 1 cup all purpose flour, instead of just APF. Who says that cupcakes can’t be good for you? Also, the recipe mentions 2 tsp of vanilla extract, but the instructions don’t mention when to add it to the batter, so I included it after I added the eggs.

Cupcake Corer Decorating Set

It’s entirely possible that I have a freakishly small cupcake pan, but I ended up with a surplus of batter for the 12 cups.

Cupcake Corer Decorating Set

The instructions say to divide the batter equally between the 12 cups, and so I did, knowing in my heart that they were much too full. I couldn’t just let that delicious batter go down the drain; no, I had to make MONSTER cupcakes. Do not do what I did. This makes the cupcake cores really difficult to extract, since you can’t push the corer down far enough before the base of the corer hits the top of the cupcake. I ended up pushing down too hard on the cupcakes, which leaves a flower imprint on the top. Luckily, the icing could cover that up, leaving none the wiser.

Cupcake Corer Decorating Set

Continue Reading…