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Go type ‘mobiles’ into the search bar on Etsy. The results dazzle. And this kind of art takes up zero floor or wall space in an apartment! Matte, metallic, felted, wood, stained glass, sea glass, origami, Calder riffs… Mobiles have it all and Etsy has all the mobiles—good ones start as low as $35. Technically their correct term is “kinetic sculptures,” but I call my own collection my house’s “hanging gardens.”
Apr 8, 2021
Related Recs
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The Etsy community is very friendly. Most Etsy creators will make things custom if you message them with reference images. Linda of FacciDesigns does the most intricate needle-felted animal sculptures. She made me a wedding cake topper with our cats. During the Midsommar campaign, I needed miniature flower garlands made for the Bear In A Cage toy. My Etsy-savvy colleague Gaby found Judy and Melissa who both specialize in dollhouse wreaths and floral arrangements. Together they made over 400 garlands by hand.
Nov 30, 2021
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I’ve collected a lot of shadowboxes off Ebay over the past couple years. It fulfills my tiny furniture obsession. (No, I'm not talking about the Lena Dunham movie) I grew up with a dollhouse my great grandfather made and ended up turning it into sets for shorts and claymations with my twin Ellie. To narrow down the search and find just the right one on Ebay look up; “German Folk Art Shadowboxes”. You’ll find some bangers.
Jan 30, 2024
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I don’t care how old I get, I will always be obsessed with dollhouse miniatures. They’re also a very practical thing to collect if you live in a cramped New York City apartment. One of the few, cool places on the UES is this store that’s been around for thirty years, that sells things like mini cheese balls, boba, a lava lamp, and teeny tiny orange Crocs. Relatedly, I am also fond of those trick fake food sculptures that look like milk spilled that you can get online.
Nov 23, 2021
Top Recs from @carolinecalloway
Ever heard of it?! You need it more than you think you do! Start with spools of 1.5 inch “double-faced” satin (I’ve linked my favorite Amazon brand) in the specific colors of: black, crimson, turquoise, goldenrod/marigold, and sort of a icy, slate-gray, periwinkle blue. A deep, wine-red burgundy in .5 inch velvet and an Easter-y, baby pink (or blue or yellow or lilac!) in .25 inch satin will also come in surprisingly handy. Use for beautifying hairstyles, presents, and bouquets of all kinds. Giving someone a single flower is made a thousand times fancier just by tying a bow on it.
Apr 8, 2021
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I’m saving about $2,000 a year on buying my press-on nails from Etsy instead of getting them professionally done anymore. Let that number sink in. And I’m having so much more fun this way, too! Some women have knitting. Others scrapbook. The hobby that enriches my silly little life with arts and crafts is gluing the most beautifully painted bits of plastic onto my fingertips. I’d suggest you buy two sets in the same sizes so that if one nail falls off, you can replace it. Two sets of the same design will create a manicure that lasts just under a month—I shit you fucking not. And here’s the kicker! After you decide to take them off you can still use them again someday. To sand off the dried glue from previously worn nail sets, you’ll need this $10 electric nail file from Amazon. I also like to organize my nail sets in this clear, $8 bead organizer, also from Amazon, so get that, too. To find great nail sets just type into the search bar on Etsy “press on nails…” and then whatever else you’re looking for. “Press on nails y2k.” “Press on nails French tip.” “Press on nails floral…” Etc.
Jun 22, 2023
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When I finally got on antidepressants and stopped self-medicating my depression with an life-consuming addiction to amphetamines, I bought, like, 200 bottles of perfume. It wasn’t that before I got on proper medication, I couldn’t smell. It was just that when I was in the thick my depression, smelling something lovely just didn’t bring me any joy. It was too slight a pleasure—like listening to rain or baking cakes—to affect me. The only way I was able to afford 200 bottles of perfume was Dossier. They make dupes of iconic scents at price points of $29, $39 and $49. Their candles are great, too! My favorites are the Diptyque Do Son dupe, the Baccarat Rouge 540 dupe, the Love, Don’t Be Shy dupe (it’s Rihanna’s signature scent!) and, since I live in Florida now, I also love the Le Labo Santal 33 dupe because people chase me down the street to ask me what it is. It’s so sweet and heartwarming watching Floridians smell Santal 33 for the first time. But obviously I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that perfume back in New York. Being seen as an offbeat and eccentric weird is too essential my fragile sense of self.
Jun 22, 2023