TED Talks about Simplicity

Here’s a great talk by John Maeda about simplicity and complexity that I would like to share with you:

Kirigami Winter Decorations

I know it’s almost summer, but I just realized that I forgot to show you another kirigami project for winter.

As I was shopping with my other half, we came across these cute winter window stencils, but were shocked at the price for simple cardboard cut outs. We decided to make our own kirigami stencils and this is what we came up with:

All we did was find cute pictures online, sketch them on a plain piece of paper and cut out the outlines to leave a fairly detailed stencil.

He made this one:

and I made this one:

closer penguin:

Naturally, these kirigami cut outs don’t have to be for winter. All you have to do is choose any image you would like draw or print it out on decorative paper and attach them to your window!

Rice Cooker Bread *^_^*

Hello all!

Been away for a while and I apologize. Just moved to a new apartment and slowly getting settled in and trying to get organized.

Until I can post more projects, please check out this video to make rice cooker bread -it works well!

Here’s one that I made with my little rice cooker:

and here’s the video (it’s in japanese but with english subtitles!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu_sbWQY4KQ

New Articles! Weddings and Parties – Four Part Series

Weddings and parties in general are beautiful events that everyone should enjoy. For those who love DIY project, or are just looking for inexpensive ideas for party decorations -please check out the following articles!

Here are some great decoration ideas for parties featuring Chiyogami.

The second part features Mizuhiki, and the third published article features Furoshiki.

Stay tuned for part four which will talk about Origami ideas!

Ads/Signs in Tokyo

The more in-your-face, the better is the way things are done in this city.

The main components to most ads and signs are 1- lots of colour, 2- lots of writing, 3- lots of signs together in one spot.

Of course, it doesn’t stop there. There must also be very loud yelling and/or music. In some areas (like where I live…..Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku areas) the noise gets so high and so saturated that it’s impossible to understand what anyone is advertising in the first place. There are many young people yelling at the top of their lungs all day, until they get permanent raspy voices.

I personally would love this tradition to stop, since I’ve noticed no one pays attention to all the noise (they’ve “learned to block it out”, as all of my friends tell me).