Monthly Archives: September 2013

Sunday September 22nd, 2013

Planting with Nikoleta

Nikoleta is a agriculturist. I on the other hand am not, not even one bit of a agriculturist. And since I am not a agriculturist, while Nikoleta is one, I want you to know that this post is hers.

So, in order for you to understand how much of a agriculturist I AM NOT, last year I was given a cactus and I managed to make it die. (OK, I’m not so bad with plants, I mean I do have a whole garden at the terrace, but there is nothing there I planted my self, I just water it)

Anyway, Nikolete, like Santa Claus came to my place with gifts! She brought a bunch of succulents (I hope google translate got succulents right), some cactuses and another thing I don’t remember how it’s called, as well as a big bag of dirt.

We got up to the terrace and started with the dirty work.

φυτά

We gathered a few alternative pots such as a lamp, a decorative watering can, a huge pottery plate and a small wooden crate that used to hold fruit.

νικολετα 1

Here Nikoleta tries to explain to me the name of the plants, I don’t really listen to her and take pictures, getting on her nerves!

So let’s take a closer look on each one.

The lamp (it’s one of these you find in a staircase of a typical Greek home)

λαμπα

λαμπα1

(and now you can find in my kitchen)

The watering can

νικολέτα

ποτιστήρι

On the big pots, Nikoleta said to put rocks in order for the dirt not to be dispersed from wind and all, and also to protect them from my cats. So, all the stones I have gathered from time to time from my island Ikaria (google this) and used them on the alternative pots.

 βοτσαλαβοτσαλα-γλαστρα

γλαστρα_κατοψη

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The wooden crate

καφασι

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TIPS / GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

 

 

  1. Before planting them, we placed them in water for a couple of minutes.
  2. The top surface of the plant’s root, needs to be on the same height with the last dirt you will put on the pot. So, depending on the pot first you put the dirt in, calculate where you want the plant to reach, put the plant and then put the remaining dirt. (I am sure this sentence made no sense, but don’t worry it doesn’t make sense even in Greek)
  3. After you’re done with the dirt and all, it time to water it. For each one you saw above I used half a glass of water. When you water the dirt will settle and now it’s a good time to see if you planted the plant in a right position. At this point you might need to push the plant down if necessary.
  4. In the crate that has openings on the bottom side, you will need to place a plastic bag before the dirt, so it will hold it (and the water of course)
  5. Like all of us love our habits, so do the plants. So they don’t really like to be moved around. Think very well of the final spot you want them at.
  6. These types of plants don’t have particular needs in water. Once a month is OK, while more could give your plant a macabre death by drowning (you get it right? I mean they will get rotten).
  7. The dirt. So, there are many types of dirt you can buy. Depending on the plant/flower/vegetable you want to plant, you need to ask the advice of a plant shop.
  8. Stay wary of the cactuses! They are sneaky sons of b**ches. Put your garden gloves on!

That’s it! Thank you Nikoleta! I hope you enjoyed this 🙂 

PS. I don’t know how this plan is called, but I named it New York. It’s my favorite!

νεα υορκη

Tuesday September 17th, 2013

Cans and spay paint, spray paint and cans!

OK, this project is nothing actually. I was just bored. I had just bought new colors of spray paint and I said to my self…”what to do? What to do?” So I did this!

Take the etiquettes off, wash the cans very well and wipe. Place paper tape on the part you don’t want the paint to get to. Find an open space, lay newspapers and spray paint away!

That’s it!

PS. I have heard that cat bring more likes, so like without fear 😉

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Saturday September 14th, 2013

Give chopper a chance!

Nooooooo! Don’t throw away the chopper that you found in a drawer, that must be the same age as you and doesn’t chop to save it’s life!

Well the truth is I did throw it away, but then, 5 minutes and a creative twist later, I picked it up from the trash. Maybe it’s the Tim Burton influence, or maybe the “we don’t throw stuff away” that my mom taught me. Either way, the chopper’s life was saved.

The idea came automatically: Spray paint + various objects = Love For Ever.

I wrapped the handle with a bag and took it out on the balcony. I laid a couple of newspapers down and gave it 2 coats of spray paint to create an even look. Pay attention to the directions on the bottle, especially if you haven’t used spray paint before.

So now the chopper stands proud over the orange painting my friend Eva made, giving the necessary macabre twist to the decoration.

μπαλτάς

And now, after the chopper, other objects followed. The ladle you see below wasn’t meant to be thrown away, but since I had a couple more, I said “Ok, how many ladles does a kitchen need?” Then, nail, hammer and hanging on the wall.

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(now look, if you are careful not to put the colored part in the chicken soup, you can actually use it as well! )

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That’s it! 😀

Thursday September 12th, 2013

Finally It’s a girl !

In my family so far all new babies are boys. We already gave 3 and 1 is in Afroditi’s (my sister in law) belly! Also, my best friend Andreas has 2 kids, both boys.

BUT ladies and gentlemen, there is one more baby in my sister’s belly…which is A GIRL! Finally we can start buying girly things, dresses and silly pink stuff! But before that, we must see about our girl’s room.

So, from what I hear, a baby’s room must have a good chair for the mom to feed the baby, a diaper change furniture and obviously a crib. Also, you need to be careful about the colors you choose to put in; for example you shouldn’t use an intense red, unless it’s OK with you that your kid turns out a little nervous and chokes you in your sleep 😛

Also, let’s say something else.. Whatever decoration we give in babies rooms, we do it because we like it. It’s obvious the baby doesn’t really care about anything else than eating, no2, and sleep. And now that we admitted this, let me show you some rooms I loved and gave me lots of inspiration.

Enjoy!

babygirlroom1

 Source

babygirlroom2

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babygirlroom3

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babygirlroom4

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babygirlroom6

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babygirlroom7

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babygirlsroom5

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That’s it! <3

Wednesday September 11th, 2013

No budget sad sad story!

My old friend Yorgos that we used to work together at ZOO bar in Athens, that was firstly introduced to me by his friends as “Yorgos, Wolverine”, has been hit by the financial crisis and moved to Frankfurt, Germany. He’s no longer Wolverine and has turned into a corporate clog in some German Big Corporation!

Well, Yorgos is an architect and now lives and works in Germany, with his girl (well to be precise he moved there for her!). Anyway, things haven’t been easy for him away from home, so he decided to make his house a home with zero budget.

So, with great pleasure I give you his projects:

The necessary pot for Greek herbs that was decorated with a gym rope. Yorgos said he’s very proud of this knot! Applause!

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And since he’s good with photoshop and all, the next picture speaks for its self.

φωτογραφία

The next project is a deco one. The chess board. But because my text is nothing compared to Yorgos’ s , I give you his.

“Ah! How nice! I found a chess board in the trash. But I have no pones. I do have a tiny ninja that symbolizes me (I have had various Japanese martial arts in the past) that I wander around, fighting with the Unknown North, without knowing what is in store for me, armed with my knowledge, my readiness, experience through hard times and patience.

I also had a few babushkas, which is a gift to my girl from her old boyfriend, from his trip to Russia, that symbolize the North that comes to choke me, to swallow me (also they symbolize her ex that even though I moved to another country to be with her he wouldn’t stop fighting for her)

The battle begins…”

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“Haha! I got the ex boyfriend! Hopefully I can also conquer the North φωτογραφία-1

(I thought I would express my self with a sloppy photoshop, floor plan and perspective …)”

Last project: The bench

He found the board also in the trash. But since he didn’t find the rest of the furniture, he decided to use books to turn it to a bench/TV stand

I will give you his original text that even though is more wordy, it’s definatelly better than mine.

“You gather as many books as you think are needless to decorate your bookcase and also think no one would want to read them (this is so that you don’t have regret that you don’t give them away to someone or at least recycle) and you make same height piles. If you gather more books every now and then and want to re-adjust the height, you need to be a little patient to get the same height on the piles. Oh come on! Don’t get bored, you spend so much time playing silly games on your smart phone for no reason. You can actually play REAL TETRIS, and there is a reason!”

And here it is!

φωτογραφία 1

So, this is it from Yorgos and Frankfurt. We wish him wholeheartedly to make a lot of money, because with that bench his girlfriend is bound to leave him and find a man with a regular couch!!

Thank you Yorgos!