Mr. Prof designer home

Craftster recently ran a steampunk swap. Most of the crafts were more costume centric, but I thought these etched glasses might suit your casual dining table.

Created by Craftster user Gnome.

I have three pretty simple "survival tips" for having newborns... and here they are:

(1) Follow a basic routine: I'm not a J on the Myers-Briggs personality scale, and I don't personally do well with rigid scheduling, but a flexible routine has been a HUGE help and blessing for us with babies. It may not be for everyone, but it most definitely is for us. I've written more about it here.

(2) Use gas drops (simethicone) generously. Seriously, use them as often as you please. I've had doctors in three countries tell me that it does not go into the blood stream and therefore you can use them as often as you please. With little ones who often have burps you can't quite get out or air bubbles they've swallowed, gas drops are a life saver! (TIP: Buy the generic ones at Target. They were 80% less per ounce than the Mylicon name brand version in my hometown in Texas, and work every bit as good.) A friend of ours jokingly called it "quiet juice" because of how much he noticed that it helped our daughter to stop fussing when she had an upset tummy.

(3) Don't form unnecessary habits (always sleeping in the same place; always needing x, y, or z to fall asleep; always holding baby at certain times of day, etc.) ... because then you'll be obligated to keep them up, or else! So if you get into a habit that works for you, that's fine, or that you intend to maintain-- GREAT! But particularly in our family (moving around the world 5 times in the last 2 years), not instilling unnecessary habits in babies is a glorious thing.


What tips do you have for not just surviving-- but THRIVING-- through the newborn period?

Every since I posted this kitchen picture almost a year ago, I have been yearning for some wall lamps like the ones shown for my bedside table. At the time, I could only find one similar lamp on an antiques website, and they were described as "concertina arm" lamps. Recently, however, I discovered another name for them -- "scissor arm lamps -- and have since been able to find many other versions that I thought I would share with you.

Most of these are dearly held antiques, like this first from Found Objects of Industry:


The best collection is from RadioGuy:

And if the sconce doesn't do it for you, how about a floor lamp?
Or a desk lamp?

I also just spotted this type of lamp used *exactly* the way I want to use it by designers Nickey Kehoe



The good news with these scissor arm lamps is they are making a comeback, so they are available in moderate prices from at least two sources (mark my words -- I'm betting Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware will have these within a year...).

The first is a slightly more modern interpretation:

I don't care for the shade, but it's only $160 at Lamps Plus. (It looks black, but it's actually a leaded bronze finish.)

The other is from previously mentioned hometown favorites Architects and Heroes. There's no price listed, but I would guess less than $300 based on the prices of their other sconces.


Aren't they fun? And practical? Just imagine how much more space you'll have for books (or a Nixie Tube Clock) on your bedside table when you mount one of these above it. I know I am!

To be a Mother is to be a Keeper of The Nest. Blessings to all on this special day!

Shelley

So many months ago, I was interviewed for a New York Times article on Steampunk in domestic life. After the interview, I never heard another word, and assumed the article was killed. (Crushing my "best Christmas letter update ever" dreams, oh well.)

The reporter, however, thought that the article deserved more attention, so he's put it online (and sent Boing Boing a link, if not me). Boing Boing's pull quotes on it are all about me (a bit disconcerting, since the article mentions a number of other people).

I'll let you read the entire article yourself, but here's the bit about me:

Sara Brumfield, a software designer in Austin, Tex., agrees. “The Victorian home was a haven away from all the industrial changes. So machines would be invited into your home instead of just invading your home,” she explains, before admitting, “Look, I work with software all day. So much of the technology we have is not perfect at all; it’s just good enough to work. So we should stop worshipping it.”

She keeps her home steampunk and heavy on antique styling. Her website, The Steampunk Home, recently gushed over the analog dials on Kenmore’s new PRO Series refrigerators.

Her living room features a chemical flask as a vase, a brass steamship clock (a wedding gift), a three-foot-tall 1930s-era radio she found at a garage sale, an ornate brass lamp with red glass she bought at a bazaar in Istanbul, thick red velvet curtains, dark wood flooring, a dulcimer handmade by her husband’s grandfather and distressed Victorian floorlamps with frosted bowls. For a few dollars a pound, she scrounged a salvage yard for a sack of gears that she is using to replace the knobs on her bedside tables. Her bed itself is lit with a brass swing-arm lamp she bought at a thrift store for $10. Her pride and joy is a self-made sun jar in her kitchen, a shredded $6 solar light she put in a frosted hermetic jar to use as a nightlight (it charges during the day and glows at night).

And there’s a more important reason Ms. Brumfield, 32, is a steampunk fan: her 2-year-old daughter, Josie. “I’m a geek. I’m a mechanic’s daughter,” says the mother. “But, if I want to raise a young engineer, how is she going to learn how things work if they’re all wrapped up in plastic casing?”

The article is pretty spot on, but lest you think I'm a bit too into the idea of steampunk as a subculture -- and as the regular readers of this blog know -- I'm just someone who really likes the Steampunk aesthetic and enjoys finding and sharing projects and ideas with others who do as well.

Another Roger Wood favorite are these "Fowl Dwellings" by artist H. Lynn Peer:

The artist will integrate personal objects, and she will take input into "just how you want it to be." Starting around $300, I think they are a pretty great piece of art for the oft neglected steampunk backyard.

I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts on what I love/live with. I have several collections and seem to keep discovering new ones. While I admire homes that are sparse (especially from the dusting aspect!), I have to live with the fact that I am a "stuff" person. I love my things and I only have what I truly love around me. The first of my many obsessions are shaving mirrors. These can be tough to find and the price can be all over the place. While this collection is not large it is diverse. I hope you will enjoy these as much as I do.

PS~~These collections are my personal ones and so I'm sorry but they aren't for sale.