Geographically Relevant Outlet Covers

Yesterday my sister and I worked on a project for her new condo: decoupaging outlet covers. We decided to use an old (and I do mean old-- we're talking Soviet Union era) atlas to cover her many electrical (light switch, plug and cable) outlet covers. We decided to do each one based on a place she's lived or visited. So now she's got covers featuring maps of Mongolia and France (above), Kenya, Spain, The Philippines, California, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Virginia (some of which are below). We wound up re-doing the black and silver cover because we didn't like it.

The Temporary Metamorphosis of Craft Buff into Mongol Buff

And... we're off! This is my final blog before we head off on our 48 day sojourn to Mongolia via China. I've got tons of work to do while we're there because I'll be collecting data on Mongolian higher education for my PhD dissertation (the proposal defense I blogged about the other day was step #1, the fieldwork is step #2, and then coming back and writing the darn thing is steps #3 through #1,000. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but the writing will take a while!)

Nonetheless, I expect that my husband John and I will have fun adventures back in the place we initially met as Peace Corps Volunteers. We're looking forward to it, for sure. Although I do think I may have a mild form of travel OCD; I've written a 26-point memo for my friend who will be house- and cat-sitting for us! I didn't expect home ownership (or cat ownership, for that matter) to make it so much more difficult to up and leave, but it has. Oh well, the mortgage and utilities are pre-paid, and we're off!

If you'd like to read a little bit of background information on Mongolia, check here or here.

We depart this morning (Saturday) at 11:30 AM, stopping in NYC before boarding a flight to Beijing. We'll arrive in Beijing at 6PM local time on Sunday, Sept. 23 and my dear friend Sandra has graciously agreed to pick us up at the airport and host us for two nights in Beijing. We'll leave on Tuesday, Sept. 25 in the morning, taking the Trans-Siberian railroad up to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The train ride is a looooong one- we'll arrive in Ulaanbaatar (hereafter UB) the next day, Wednesday, Sept. 26, in the mid-afternoon.

So, all of this is to say that it's unlikely that I'll get much of a chance to blog between now and Wednesday, but please check back by mid-week (9/26 or 9/27). Once we get settled in UB, I'll find a little internet cafe and news and pictures of our travels will pour forth, I'm sure!

Sprinkes Versus Tiles: A Home Improvement No-Brainer

Artist Kristi Sword conducts "interventions" with everyday objects in order to alter our perceptions of those things. I like her replacement tiles (i.e., sprinkles) so much that I might have just discovered a new way to fix up our back hallway. Link via CRAFT.

The Biggest Craft Project I've Ever Done

The biggest craft project I've ever undertaken is approximately 4,000 square feet. In July 2004, I bought a two-family Victorian house in Buffalo. I thought I'd share the exterior of the abode where much of my crafting happens... after all, Craft Buff is an oh-so clever double entendre referring to my love of crafting and the City of Good Neighbors.

Built in 1901, the house had much to recommend it: a ridiculously low price (one of the best-- but certainly not the only-- answers to the inevitable "Why Buffalo?" query); lots of original, untouched oak woodwork throughout; beautiful leaded glass windows; a great backyard; the income from a downstairs rental unit to help with the mortgage; and more. It also had/has its share of challenges: wiring that hadn't been updated since the 1960s (fuses instead of circuits- fun times with both a coffeemaker and a computer plugged in); a maze of plumbing to confound the novice; a downstairs unit desperately in need of rehab; and lots of little (and sometimes not-so-little) things constantly breaking. But after 3 years of pretty steady improvement projects, the exterior transformation mirrors the changes within. Isn't it pretty? I haven't given this away per se, but I do like to share its charms with friends, and our spare bedroom has gotten lots of use. Come visit!

And for more information on the heavy-lifting required to revitalize Buffalo, check out Blueprint Buffalo and PUSH Buffalo.