Painter's Tape: Love at first use!

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The first time I saw this blue tape being stretched across walls and along trim on HGTV I did not realize what a miracle it is. A simple blue tape can change your life forever!

I bought it for the first time when I decided to spray paint my dresser. The painting experience was horrifying to say the least. The dresser had the absolutely wrong kind of finish for spray painting, and then it got real windy and dust starting blowing all over (I was doing this in an empty parking lot). And to top it all, I ran out of paint three quarters of the way. I ended with an even more hideous looking dresser than I started with.
But,
but,
but,

As I began to peel off the painter's tape, revealing some order in the midst of an irreparable mess, I realized that the day had not gone waste. I had discovered THE PAINTER"S TAPE. Now this blue roll is always present in my DIY kit, not just for painting furniture, but load of other things:

1. Packing: I found this to be great for packing furniture while moving. I padded up edges of furniture with newspaper to prevent chipping, holding packaging in place with the painter's tape. You can rest assured that this tape wont leave behind that nasty glue behind on your furniture!

2. Painting: You can use this tape to paint almost anything- a lamp shade for a custom look, a scarf, cushion covers or your apron!

3. Its great for pest control too. Tape up the areas that you want to spray before spraying. It can serve as a reminder to kids (and to your self) where to stay away from. Peel off when you are done for chemical free floors etc.

4. Use it under double side tape to hang art work. This is great when you don't want to punch holes through your walls or don't want to mess with the walls of your rental!

More on De:Plastifying

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The ongoing quest of deplastification has been fun. Another easy switch has been achieved in the dishwasher soap aisle.

Powder soap in cardboard box VS Gel in plastic bottle!

Although I think in general the gel soap leaves less scum, but I am now habituated to rinsing out dishes before using them. Also watching out for the amount of soap you put in helps fix the problem of scum somewhat.

The thing I plan to try next is power laundry detergent. What I am worried about is scum/flakes on dark colored clothes.

Other items on the line -

1. Floor cleaner

2. Soap for washing dishes by hand (In India we used the ultraaaa powerful- VIM bar soap, it was pretty good actually)

Please do share if you have any ideas!!

De: Plastify Part 2 on Foo.Clo.Ho

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My first guest post on another blog. It talks about switching from liquid soap to bar soap for easy and sustained deplastification! I like how Georgia Natural Gas puts it in their adds - "Make a difference, without feeling a difference"

Foo.clo.ho post located here

A lot of other goodies out there on foo.clo.ho. So enjoy!

Serenbe, GA

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A friend ours here in Atlanta, arranged a weekend trip to Serenbe, a community just south of the city. At a small distance from Atlanta, with many people being former residents of the city, they have created something quite unique, something you could instantly fall in love with. It was amazing how this very new neighborhood reminded me of some of the oldest neighborhoods in the city like Candler park and Inman park- very cozy, very interesting mix of architectural styles and very approachable.

Before I visited Serenbe I always had a question in my head looking at the new suburban developments which are mostly quite banal, directionless and have little sense of delight -"Can we create places to live that will age as beautifully as some of the old neighborhoods?"

I guess the answer is YES!

Just as we got there, we stopped to ask for directions to the inn we were staying at and guess who we ran in to? Steve Nygren! The very person who first envisioned this place! We ran into him several times during the stay and here is the big difference! The people who created this place, live here! We enjoyed the stay thoroughly and is highly recommended to all visitors to Atlanta! Psst..and In case you did not know the HGTV dream give away house for 2012 is here at Serenbe!

Translations : Title song for "Neem ka Ped"

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Used watch "neem ka ped" religiously with my grand father. The show was about a poor farmer -Budhai, who is a bonded laborer for the village landlord. All his life he has been exploited by the "heartless" landlord but Budhai is as loyal as can be. He plants a neem tree in his courtyard when his son is born. The script dwells on analogies between the tree and Budhai's son . Just as the tree shades his courtyard, Budhai feels his son will rescue him from a life of poverty and bondage. His son gets good education and becomes a high official with the government but only to become another version of the landlord, post independence. This song says it all for so many of us.

In this marketplace of noises,
Who will hear my silence?
He listens to what I say,
But does he know what I feel?

Year after year, its the same,
Every road is a long winding search,
but when I finally get there,
something gets lost.

In this marketplace of noises,
Who will hear my silence?

He is my reflection and I am his shadow,
We live together in the same house,
that someone, who is like me,
...But who am I?

In this marketplace of noises,
Who will hear my silence?

My thoughts,
they were talking too fast, about too many things,
Of love and strangers, passion and fools?
I could see it all, as I lay asleep...

In this marketplace of noises,
Who will hear my silence?

Original Lyrics by Nida Fazli
Translated to English by Minu Agarwal

Potato Printing- Screw it

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I had been wanting to try my hand potato printing for a while. Did lots of it in school, and even "diversified" into other veggies like okra/ladyfinger, lotus root etc. Actually the idea was to do a custom print on a scarf. But could not come with a cut of potato that I liked. They were either too simple or did look good in print. Then I remembered an old trick from school days where I used the head of a screw to stamp flowers. And Wallah! I had a cute little custom print. Here a few tips from today's experience if you would like to try it too.
1. Definitely, definitely test your design, paint color and paint consistency.
2. Practice with your stamp (atleast 4-5 times) before printing on the actual fabric.
3. Keep a rag handy and clean the stamp often.

I did a simple repeat of these grey flowers. I plan to buy another color next week (I only had black and white paint at hand today) and introduce the "custom" look.

De-Plastifying

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Dear God, Give us this day our daily doze of plastic, and forgive us our incessant intake!

I feel surrounded! (by plastic)
Its everywhere and lots of places where it need not be. Plastic cup for the morning coffee-to-go, plastic fork and knife for lunch and plastic tray with my frozen dinner! Over packaging, I find is one of the most wasteful packages of this wonder material which pops up every where. Tell me you haven't cut your fingers while trying to extract a set of head phones from the plastic bubble packaging. Even simple benign stuff like potpourri ends up getting encased. Oh why, why why must we be so un-creative and fall pack again and again on plastic?

Fortunately I/You don't have to wait for product designers to wake up. I can take action on my own and today!

Example 1: Potpourri
Just pick some at your next hiking trip instead of the next trip to the department store! Dont want to go out into the wild or worried about substance control? Grow it in your backyard/balcony. Lavender, Rose or go unconventional with died okra pods!
In the pic below I picked some wild flowers and stuck them in a used jam jar... Have fun and dont be plastic vanilla!













VS

IKEA - Hack

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Its hard to be in US and not have an IKEA piece or two in your house. I personally have two words for IKEA- clever and cute! But it could also be - cheap and corny- at times. Yeah yeah you do need to watch out for the $10 side table and $30 desks that would fall apart if a book fell on it. And then there are pieces that you should NOT buy if you are looking for a unique home decor.

Here is what I came up with:

IKEA night stand Rast : $14- this one is a unfinished piece made of solid pine. No worries about this crumbling to bits or getting scratched.
IKEA mirror: $10 (+ some paint to match the rug)- This is a basic piece, trim is very basic and unfinished so it matched the night stand. Also the mirror did not have any distortions (or so I think!)
Marshalls wicker baskets : $3 each
UO Rug : $36 Although UO furniture is usually quite pricy (at-least per my standards), but they have some cool home accessories that can add the zing to other stuff
American Signature Stool: $10

The great American pass time: Home Improvement!

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Old Table from Yard sale: $5
Paints and supplies: $33
Joy of painting: Priceless!