Duct Tape Art

Have your kids gotten into this?

Elli asked for Duct Tape for her birthday. Don and I both thought this was an odd request. Then she came home from a friends with a cool flower she made and we got it. She was not talking about the kind of tape you get at the local hardware store. This is fancy tape. Yes, you could actually use it as tape. But that's not what most kids are doing with it.

It comes in all different colors and patterns. There are actually videos to show kids how to make cool things like flip flops, purses, wallets, dresses, headbands, hats, and shoes with laces. Seriously, why didn't I think of this?  Check out MonkeySee.com for all kinds of ideas.

I guess it's kind of expensive, because Don started acting a bit like the tape Nazi one day when Elli said she was going to make a second pair of flip flops. He settled down and the two of them made a new project. She made a wallet and he made this cool cougar. He is now the duct tape champ.

Maybe they'll make me a castle. Think about it. It would be waterproof and if something broke, you would just tape it back up. Brilliant!!

Here's how you make duct tape flip flops in case you want to get in on the action.

Have fun!

Aquaovo Water Filtration Container. Gorgeous.

Check out this gorgeous water filtration container!! It's made by a brother and sister team in Quebec by a company called Aquaovo.

I wonder if they got the idea from water balloon fights with each other. They kind of resemble water balloons don't you think?

I spotted Aquaovo on TheKitchn blog the other day and just had to share it with everyone.  It says it holds 11 liters total and takes 20-30 minutes to filter the water. (The top tank holds 4 liters.) It requires a cartridge to filter the water which will last for 2,000 liters or approximately four months.

Nothing against my Brita water filter. But these are just gorgeous. It's like having a work of art and water dispenser all-in-one. Love it.

Here's a list of stores where you can buy it in the US. Click here. They're not cheap. They run about $700. But it's art and function all in one. I think it's an excellent investment.

And I wasn't paid to say so.

Happy Sunday. Go Niners!!!

It feels like fall here in Northern California. Yeah!

I finally did something with the very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl. So now we have some nice, warm banana crunch muffins. Ya gotta love the Barefoot Contessa. She has the best recipes. Yum.

This afternoon I'll be making chili and cornbread. I'm trying two new recipes from my Bobby Flay cookbook. He seems like a chili-kind-of-guy to me. So I trust that it will be full of flavor and have some heat to it. Don will probably be glued to the tv all day watching football. So it's going to be a somewhat lazy day here in the Mulkey household.

My mom sent me this picture this morning in the t-shirt we sent her from the Sausalito Arts Festival. She looks awesome doesn't she!

So Mom, hate to to this to you, but.......the 49ers play the Cardinals today. Go niners!!!!!

"I don't know, but I've been told
The Niners rock and the Cardinals are old.
We'll kick your butt, you better watch out.
Game on Cardinals, hear me shout!
Niners.... Rock the house!
Niners... Rock the house!"

Hee hee.  I just made that up!

Art, music, food, fun - this weekend in Sausalito.

The Sausalito Art Festival is this weekend. Yeah!

This is really the only art festival we go to anymore.  It has the most interesting and professional art of any show in the area - in our opinion anyway.  And it's rated the #1 outdoor art festival in America. Not sure who voted them #1. But I completely agree. I've been to a lot of festivals in my lifetime (used to do corporate event sponsorship.) I've seen it all.

They have an interesting mix of art, sculpture, music, food and wine. Here is Elli, in 2007, standing in front of a painting and a sculpture that we saw. 

We didn't buy the Chairman Mao painting, or the horse sculpture, but they definitely got our attention and got us talking. Which is what I think art should do -get your brain churning.

One of the nice things about the festival is that it's close enough to where we live in Mill Valley that we can bike to it. They have V.I.P. bike parking right up front in a secure area. It's free. Super convenient. And you feel good about not driving, especially when you live so close.

And we're not just festival window shoppers either. We always buy something. One year we bought a print. The next year a piece of pottery. And last year a huge painting from Scott Olson. Here's a sample of his style. The Olson painting is my favorite. It also cost the most, but it's something we'll have forever. 

This year I'm going to check out the wine area too.  Now that I'm on my mission to taste California wines this whole month, I should be able to check off a few new wines on my list. Not too much though. I do have to bike home.  

I love the image for this year's t-shirt. (It's the fish image above.) It was done by Tanya Doskova from British Columbia. Very cool. It's on the cover of the program too. For a copy, click here.