The case of the hidden room

Using a sliding bookshelf to create a secret room is a brilliant idea, one that I’m determined to copy someday. Our apartment even has a couple of large walk-in closets with appropriately-located doors, so doing this might actually be feasible. I love ikea hacker.

This little piggie went to market

The Alameda Flea Market, that is. From frequent mentions by everyone from sfgirlbybay to apartment therapy: san francisco, I became aware of this supposed treasure-hunter’s paradise. Since this month was the last time in the original location, and I had been wanting to go for several months, I talked my friends Megan and Julian into driving out there Sunday morning.

In some ways, it lived up to the hype. Located on a former Naval base, it certainly was huge–we didn’t even make it to the whole thing, and I think we were there for at least four hours. I took pictures to try to capture the giant scale, but I totally failed.

The location was also kind of picturesque, in an industrial wasteland sort of way.

I like how the world looks like it’s tipping here, simply because I need more practice at taking good photos.

It was nice to escape the overcast city and get a little bit of sunlight, even though I sunburned the part in my hair. Living in San Francisco, sometimes it’s easy to forget what season it’s supposed to be, so this was a good reminder.

On the other hand, they charge $5 admission (unless you’re an early bird, in which case it’s $15!), and the prices seemed quite inflated. Plus, it seemed like there was a lot of repetition–I can’t count how many booths I saw selling white coral and wire shabby-chic antique furniture.

I did find a few things worth bringing home, though.

A black mid-century magazine rack (marked $10, but got it for $5 at the end of the day).

Delicious must inspect all new items that enter the apartment.

An old (How old? There’s one listed on eBay that says its from the 1970s, so it’s not as old as I thought) Dr. Pepper tray that I got for $2 from the same vendor as the magazine rack, who had it marked at $5. I’m a loyal diet Dr. Pepper drinker, and I can assure you that it provides me with vim, vigor, and vitality.

Again, I hope it meets with the approval of Delicious. She really insisted on being in these photos and my attempts to shoo her away were more trouble than they were worth.

Two little black netted hats/hairpieces, $5 for both, but I haven’t taken photos yet. I love hats with netting–there’s just something so alluring about a bit of net over the hair and eyes. These are perfect to add to my vintage hat collection, and they seem like they’ll be very wearable and versatile. Speaking of which, I need a better way to store/display my hats, any suggestions?

Lastly, a giant bag of kettlecorn, mmmmmm. Yeah, not so giant anymore, but I prefer to think of the bag as a third full, not two-thirds empty.

Overall, a mildly successful trip, and I’m glad I checked it out, but I probably won’t be going back for quite awhile. I’ll stick to the closer and cheaper Alemany Flea Market, held every Sunday within city limits.

Capsule Design Festival

Last weekend I attended the Capsule Design Festival in Hayes Valley, just a few blocks from where I live. I’ve been to the previous two incarnations of the event, and enjoyed them both, but I think that this one was the best yet. Though the weather didn’t really cooperate–it was chilly!

I bought a few fabulous things, including a feather choker/headband/wristband:

A print by a local artist, Hannah Stouffer, called “Animal Kingdom.”

(Photo from her site, where you can buy this print and a few others.)

And new glasses! They were kind of an impulse buy, but I’ve had the same glasses for about four years now, so I figured a change was due. Plus, I just thought they were really cool. No photos yet, as I’m getting my prescription put in them.

I also had my picture taken by a local street fashion blogger, Fashionist, which you can see here. I wouldn’t normally have a good answer to the “What inspired this outfit” question, but for once I actually did.

Pillowry

Good grief. I spend way too much time just looking at the internet-offerings and not nearly enough time contributing. Because, as we all know, the internet is starting to lack in content, and my posts could make all the difference. But seriously, I have been meaning to post for forever, it’s just a matter of taking pictures of my projects, uploading them, and writing some frothy blather (what a disgusting and delightful phrase).

I’ve finished several things, including my Duro-esque dress, a reconstructed shirt, a refinished coffee table, and some throw pillows. Right now, however, I’m only prepared to show off the pillows. They were made to complement the lovely new couch that we bought recently, our very first non-thrifted, non-Ikea piece of furniture. Don’t worry thriftstores, I won’t be forsaking you anytime soon.

We bought the nubby blue silk at a local fabric warehouse, and originally intended to use a different contrasting fabric for the back, but halfway through I changed my mind and dug out this vintage upholstery fabric I’ve literally had for years. I really love how they turned out, and I’m inordinately impressed with my pillow-making skills. It was my very first time making my own bias tape and I never could’ve done it without this continuous bias tape tutorial. My Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing also came in extremely handy for both cording instructions and general pillow-making tips. Oh, and also, when he wasn’t busy sleeping and making sandwiches, Steven’s help was essential for measuring and pinning.

With no further ado, my pillows!

(Psst–I also made the one in the middle, from a Thai silk panel someone once gave me. It needs some fixin’, though, as the panel wasn’t meant to hold up to anything more than ornamental use.)

Yeah, that’s a zipper-pull, but I bet you can’t see the zipper to which it is attached. Why? BECAUSE IT IS INVISIBLE, duh.

Project Progress

From the looks of this blog, you wouldn’t think that I’ve been doing much craft-wise, but I really have. The projects, which I’ll try to photograph soon:

1. Last night I finally cut out the pieces for the Duro dress I mentioned in my very first post. When I’m using one-of-a-kind vintage fabric, cutting is kind of a traumatic step for me because it’s the point of no return. I put it off until the urge to create is overwhelming, and then just dive in.

When I was cutting last night though, the foremost concern in my mind was how to stop my pesky cats from crawling all over the fabric and under the pattern. They LOVE the crinkly sound of the pattern paper and insist on playing with it, so while cutting I had to work around Delicious (smaller pest) and Adventurous (I’ve never met a ruder pest). Their only redeeming quality is their collective cuteness. And sometimes I’ll end up with a funny picture of them. (I promise that this won’t degenerate into one of those “cute pictures of my cats” blogs, though I will admit to a large weakness for cute overload)

2. I combined a thrifted red and black men’s flannel with a long-sleeved black tee to create a cute fall top. I haven’t taken pictures of it yet, though.

3. Steven and I re-finished our coffee table. A leftover from our old roommate, it was a large beat-up wooden desk from which the legs had been removed. We took off the old finish, put on a new one (white), added short silver legs, and replaced the handles on the drawers with industrial silver ones. It turned out pretty good for our first furniture project, although there are some flaws that kind of bother me. It’s a great improvement, however, and I think that it’ll look cool with the new couch and chair we purchased last weekend (our first non-Ikea or thriftstore furniture!). Stay tuned for pictures.

4. Until we get our new furniture in about six weeks, almost everything in our living room is either thrifted or left by our former roommates. This includes a large, very comfy, but atrociously ugly denim sofa (old roommates’) and a thrifted office chair. Extremely unfashionable, but then so is our budget. The only reason the office chair is still in our apartment is that it used to be Steven’s desk chair, but he replaced it for something more comfortable and upon moving it to the main room discovered that our cats love to scratch and climb all over it. We figured that this was a much better outlet for their destructive tendencies than other furniture, so we kept it, but its days are now numbered. Knowing that removing a scratching device without replacing it with an enjoyable alternative was a bad idea, we built the cats a scratching post this weekend.

We scrounged wood of the perfect dimensions from the apartment’s parking garage (free), bought some nails and 200 feet of sisal rope (~$10), and built a structure that the cats couldn’t even wait until we were finished with to begin using. It’s always nice to get such enthusiastic and unequivocal reviews.