Not sure why DIY

Duct tape bagpipes

Real moth necklace

Aluminum can centerpiece

Valentine advent calendar

Tissue box cover

Recycled gloves vest

How to tye dye your legs

Turn your used plastic bags into clothing

Making crafts out of cat hair

Tampon arts & crafts

Synchronized Scotties

72 seconds of wiggly-waggly, puppy feeding time.

The shape of that food dish lifts that doggy-dinner-dance to a whole new level.

What a breath of fresh air.

Take a chance on me: SPCA pet adoption video

An SPCA campaign video encouraging pet adoption. It uses the ABBA song 'Take a Chance on Me'. Love it!

SPCA Pet Adoption Video from Chester McPurrs on Vimeo.

Oddball stumbles

Curious Eggs

The Oddment Emporium

Urban Dictionary

Downton Abbey Redesigns

Gaping Void

Oddity Central

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes

Museum of Endangered Sounds

Duct Tape Fashion

Dooce

A Bad Case of the Dates

1963 homemade Valentine card

When I was in grade 2, I made a Valentine card for my Mom and Dad from scraps around the house. It was saved and resurfaced during the packing up of my Dad's apartment, when he died.

I vaguely remembered secretly making it when I was 7 years old so I could surprise and make them happy. I certainly didn't recall making a 3D, handmade, multimedia card in 1963.

There have been no repairs made to it and, upon careful inspection, I figure this was the method I used:

- The main heart and the 3 small hearts were cut freehand from plain, writing paper that was folded in half.

- I carefully printed my greeting, in pencil, on the each of the hearts.

- Then the small hearts were stapled on to the large heart.

- It was then stapled it to a pleated, taffeta, sewing embellishment, which most likely came from Mom's sewing basket.

- The last staple attached the whole thing in the centre to a round, paper doily.

They must have liked it because it was included with some very important family memorabilia.

Who you are is enough

Brene Brown’s talk from TEDxHouston is Brain Pickings' favorite TEDx talk of all time and absolutely unmissable.



Read Amazon's 'Inside Look' of Brene Brown's book, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.

A sweet interlude

Enjoy!

Valentine Sunday Stumble

A Map of Woman’s Heart: Rare Vintage Gem from the 1800s at Brain Pickings.

Valentine’s Day Mixed Media Art to make personalized art for your sweetheart at Saved By Love Creations.

DIY Valentine's Day treat container at Craft E Corner.

Leather heart coin purse at Fabric Paper Glue.

Paper heart bookmarks by Munchkins and Mayhem.

Ruffly flower pillow from Come on Ilene! A Creative Collection

Downloadable Superman valentine template and instructions from Hotcakes. If you use curved, manicure scissors, you will probably get a smoother cut.

Valentine Oreo cookie pops at Love from the Oven.

A valentine photography idea at Piccsy.

Printable Valentine lollipop holder card by Skip to My Lou. Great card to make for your kids' school mates.

Historic books of love and devotion - vintage, heart shaped books at Letterology.

10 diversion detours

What is It? - Identifying odd or vintage tools.

38 Poutine Dishes That Will Knock Your Canadian Socks Off

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language.

PSFK - Where design happens.

What If? - Answering your hypothetical questions with physics, every Tuesday.

Indexed - Thought provoking charts by Jessica Hagy.

TED Ideas worth spreading. Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.

Rotten Tomatoes - Movie reviews.

The Wirecutter, A list of great technology - Quick articles for researching gadgets.

craftgawker - Craft tutorials.

Bait and switch

Subject: We'll give you until Friday to reply - resending

Resent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 3:36 PM PM

Originally Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 10:12 PM

On September 29, 2012, my husband and I made two purchases totalling $xxx.xx at ABCDEFG, East Mississauga, ON. These purchases were made by cash and we have the receipts.

The reason we made the second purchase that day was to take advantage of the bargain which was offered by the salesperson, HIJKLMNOP. The bargain is listed on Invoice #000000000000 for $x,xxx.xx, which is a 51" 720P 3D Samsung Plasma TV.

This bargain was advertised in store poster and verbally by the salesperson for purchasing a specific dollar value of furniture, which we did. The very large poster near the sales register in the store made no mention of lack of availability of the bargain. We were not advised that the TV was back ordered until after the transaction was completed. At that time, the salesperson told us that it would be available at the end of October 2012.

Today I called ABCDEFG, East Mississauga, ON, was put on hold for 20 minutes, and was told that the TV is back ordered until December 2012. I told HIJKLMNOP that was not the agreement and she put me back on hold. I waited for a long time and then gave up.

This is not acceptable.

According to the Competition Bureau of Canada , The Competition Act prohibits 'bait-and-switch' selling, which occurs when a product is advertised at a bargain price, but is not available for sale in reasonable quantities.

We were advised that we would have this TV at the end of October. If we don't receive it or a reasonable replacement (in quality, size & features) by the end of the week, we will be filling out the complaint form available at the government site at http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/GH%C3%89T-7TDNA5 and ABCDEFG will be investigated.

Please reply.

We received our TV on November 1, 2012...the same one advertised, which previously did not exist in their stock.

Be an explorer

Brain Pickings Weekly email included a review of the book How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum. The cover design lured me to take a peek.

There were quite a few illustrations featured but my eye was drawn immediately to the hand printed list written during late night wakefulness in 2007.

I just HAD to visit the author and illustrator Keri Smith's web site. Her text driven illustrations are thought provoking. The opening page grabbed my attention with its simplicity. The interactive drawing board 'Right in Front of You', beckoned me to submit.

I did, literally and figuratively.

Maybe you should, too.

Dogs

My goal is to someday be the person my dog thinks I am.
Author Unknown, QuoteDB

PBS NOVA: Dogs Decoded How smart are dogs, and what makes them such ideal companions? captured my attention and led me on a pleasant, informational journey. The documentary not only discussed the dog-human connection but many components that intertwine to articulate dog companionship.

One part that fascinated me was the research into the primal similarities and differences between dogs and wolves, with the test group being a different branch of canids.

Another sequence explored the genetic history of dogs, which dovetailed perfectly into an interview with a breed standards protester.

Conclusion quote from the end of the documentary transcript: "Experiments have shown what dog owners have always suspected: after thousands of years of living together, dogs are attuned to us like no other animal."

If you click on the transcript for PBS NOVA: Dogs Decoded, the full text of the documentary drops down for discovery, at your leisure.

Hard to believe he's 66

It's my husband's birthday today and part of his birthday celebration includes playing with his new Protocol FLIX with Gyro RC Helicopter with video & camera, compliments of our daughter.

Our 4-year old grandson thinks it is hilarious that his grandad has a helicopter. I join him in that thought and raise it with incredulity.

Here is a YouTube video review of the same toy:

2013 aspirations

I watched Master Class featuring Jane Fonda last year and was struck by her statement that she no longer wants to be perfect; she wants to be made whole.

After pondering this statement for quite some time, I decided that I would make no resolutions for 2013. Instead, I'll spend 2013 expanding on valued aspirations.

Integrity: the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.

Altruism: unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others.

Flexible: experience and express the full range of emotion appropriately and then leave that emotional expression behind when it is time to move on.

Transparent: revealing your inner self, your true experience.

Unbiased: not biased or prejudiced; fair; impartial.

X-rayography

Hitherto unknown to me, I now have the pleasure of viewing x-rayography for the duration of 2013.

This process was developed by artist and photographer Albert Koetsier. You can see more of his work on his site's gallery page. His Jewels of Nature gallery highlights more examples of the subject of my 2013 calender. Enjoy!