And yes, that’s the same Aunt Joan who improves Monet’s paintings with scrapbooking stickers.
Also, if you happen to pass through the center of North America anytime soon, stop by her farm and see my Uncle Gene’s art installation/performance happening all over their property, consisting of: pantyhose stuffed with human hair hanging from trees, electrified metal plates smeared with peanut butter, strobe lights (some on motorized bases), talk radio broadcast over outdoor amplifiers, and nighttime aerial fireworks shells launched horizontally into the surrounding trees. He doesn’t know it’s art but he calls it, “Stay away you damn deer and stop eating my bushes!”

More from North Dakota and beyond  in my Flickr pages.

Bought on ebay, the Hallmark HOLLY PAPER PARTY DRESS “Disposable fashions for: Entertaining - Lounging - Gifts”

The back reads:

Suggested uses for yarn trim:

- Tie in a bow to wear at neckline

- Tie at waist for a fashionable belt

- Use as an empire belt

To “Dress Up” Dresses:

Trim hem and sleeves with fringe, braid or yarn; or scallop hem.

Add Christmas corsage with long streamers to neckline.

Glue sequins and glitter to design, or use colorful jewelry and accessories.

Shorten and use extra paper to make headband, scarf, belt or purse.

We don’t have snow here so people have to cover the yard with something, or, EVERYTHING.

I bought it at prisonart.org where it was described at “Hand crafted Folsom prison cell made with popsicle sticks, craft sticks, felt, glue, etc. and with tools like tweezers, toe nail clippers, and razor blades.” SOLD! It was $46 with shipping, and signed on the back by George Bubier (currently serving at Folsom) as “Made by a Lifer 12/26/06.”

The version pictured on the site had a sliding cell door that could open, I liked that detail, I planned to leave the door open. But my version is sealed, which makes it way creepier (suggesting a new pessimism by the prisoner? He is serving life.). I expected something cute to put on my desk but immediately realized I don’t want to stare at prison walls (real or miniature) all day. And then I wondered if it wasn’t the artist’s way of sharing his sentence with others, “They can stare at the same cramped space I have to.” Or maybe having people like me pay to have a recreation of his space makes living in the original a little less undesirable. Or maybe it’s simply the only thing he could think to make. I’ll see how it goes. Someone may be receiving this as a gift very soon. I’d rather stare at those rainbow roses.

UPDATE: It’s been over a week and I’ve gotten used to it. I guess it stays.

More selections from Junko Terashima’s blog.

Via PingMag, I found Junko Terashima’s blog where she posts photos of the lunch boxes she creates for her kids. I’ve gone through her entire archive and pulled these collections together. There’s other great bento creations in my Crazy Happy Lunch.

Weather it’s equine ejaculators, or salmon-flesh fan-decks, I’m fascinated by items created for incredibly specific jobs. Here in LA, the unique demands of the movie industry have given rise to products no average person would ever need.

For most consumers, getting clean is the goal, but Shmere’s collection of products lets you “get dirty the clean way.� Used mainly by the wardrobe dept., these wax based, deodorant-shaped sticks come in stain colors such as: “Grass Stain,� and “Sweat.� The entire set of aging crayons costs $135 but you can buy a single stick of Schmtzstik, another wardrobe distressing product, for about $8.

Aren’t grocery bags noisy? Many a sound editor seems to think so. Lucky for them, an inventive propmaker, Tim Schultz, has gone into business fabricating “silent bags.� Although they look just like your average grocery bag, they’re made from a secret material that feels like waxy fabric. These $26(!) bags quickly recover their cost by eliminating the work of needing to edit out the dialogue-obscuring crackling a real bag would make. I just like the idea of shopping with them and knowing I’m the only one whose bags are “silent bags,� as if everyone else is being terribly gauche with their “noisy bags.� Also, I love saying “silent bags.�

Expendable Props as Gifts

This past Christmas I gave friends and family the book Prisoner’s Inventions and wrapped it in police evidence bags from the ISS Prophouse. Filling out the “chain of custody� form is a fun alternative to the traditional “To: and From:� gift labels.

I also gave my brothers breakaway glass beer bottles with the idea they could stage a bar fight. It won’t be a cheap show though; a single bottle-smash-over-the-head costs $16. Often called “candy glass,� a reference to the previous fabrication method using sugar, modern breakaway glass is made from a fragile resin. But I’ll warn you – the broken edges cut like the real thing, so be careful when holding the jagged stem to someone’s neck.

Should you need to defend yourself in a fake bar fight, arm yourself with fake mace that sprays only water. (But if your attacker is an A-list celeb, they may request to be sprayed with aerosol Evian instead.)

Finally, if your fake barroom brawl leaves you with a fake bump on the head from the makeup department, the script may dictate you take two fake painkillers and apply a cold compress using fake ice.

This is Last Stand at Big Thunder Mountain, a large-scale model of Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction, on display through February 3 at Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica.

It’s hardly a faithful representation, it lacks the exposed dinosaur bones and western town, but the inclusion of plasma balls in a tinfoil-lined cave is a vast improvement. And frankly, I think the world could use a few more models of Big Thunder Mountain.
Here’s past work I found on his site - also low-end materials - also fabulous.

Watch as my good friend Charles Phoenix shows you how to create the most wonderous of all holiday appetizer displays.

From Art Force One (they’re French, of course).

Related: More Custom Kicks: Nikes from Art Force One

Again, these are from Art Force One, Contact them ( email sabrina at art-force-one) if you want a pair. I don’t yet make or sell shoes.