min-myinnersoul

The moment you have all been waiting for...the unveiling of E's bedroom. I apologize for the agony you endured over these past few day waiting to see this room...;o) Juuuust Kidding:o) I am very excited to share this room with you. E is completely beside himself; he's so pumped about!  Now this room, as you can tell was inspired by Pottery Barn Kids' Celestial bedroom. It's not completely the same, but there are a few similarities. I'll start with one of the two most difficult projects, the fabric mural over the bed. This puppy took around 6 hours of knee and elbow pain to complete. We have hard wood floors, and I was on my elbows and knees drawing this out on the fabric. I had my lap top next to me, with the pic of PBK's version($99) on the screen, and with a white paint pen, drew everything out. I had some painters plastic underneath the fabric b/c it did bleed thru. I used 2 yards of navy fabric. It was $1.99/yd. at Hobby Lobby. All I had to do to get it read...

On Monday Judge Robert Sweet struck a blow for common sense in that mind boggling area of Patents in the US. He invalidated several patents on two breast cancer risk genes in the human body issued to a bio tech firm. He had a breathtakingly simple logic – you can’t patent a product of nature ! The principle of protecting innovation through patents has been rather stretched in the US. All sorts of stuff gets patented. Many of these are primarily designed to block, or sue, others. The Patent Office uses the criteria of novel, non obvious and useful in determining whether a submission qualifies for a patent. It should also add non trivial, non absurd and non laughable as criteria ! For your reading pleasure here are some actual patents issued in the US -Method of stopping a stolen car without a high-speed chase, utilizing a bar code (well ; the barcode is to identify the vehicle; the method of stopping it is to switch off the engine) - Anti-Eating Mouth Cage (presumably a weight reductio...

Mr Vikram Pandit Chief Executive officer Citigroup Inc. New York United States of America Dear Mr Pandit You are probably used to receiving hate mail, but here’s a letter that you might be very pleased to read. I read in the Wall Street Journal that the United States Government is planning to sell its 27% holding in Citigroup over the next few months. It is heartening to note that US tax payers are expected to make a profit of $ 7bn from their original “bailout” money that they gave to Citigroup. You have not only paid back the entire amount, but also let the taxpayer make a profit of $ 7 bn. Yours was the last bank from which the government is completely recovering the money it lent under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, more popularly called as the bank bailout. The US government invested a total of $165bn in all the banks and in the end it has made a 14% return ; not bad considering that if the tax payer had invested in the S&P index at the same period he would have lost 3% ...

Ok, don't be mad at me:o) I know I said that I would post E's room today, but there just hasn't been enough time. There are some things that I wanted done before I posted it, and those things didn't get done. So on Wednesday, I will post his room. Tomorrow I will be hanging with my mother and taking pics of my babies...can't wait. So Wednesday it is.... So I thought I would post some things I picked up at a local thrift store. Have some great ideas up my sleeves for these goodies:o) I got 2 large drum lamp shades, a galvanized bucket, some doo-hicky that you can hang something on, a cutting board with a ceramic inlay, a punched tin candle holder, and a cup that says Isabella(for a little girl at church). All of this for $17. Can't wait to start transforming these puppies:o)

Such was the title of Khushwant Singh’s column in the Illustrated Weekly of India . Both the gentleman and the magazine are perhaps unfamiliar to the “teenagers”(the list now officially includes ambulisamma and Vishal) who visit this blog. But there was a time when it was the only English magazine in India and Khushwant Singh, as its editor, was the most famous journalist. Despite the title, the column was usually humorous, although he did take pot shots at all sorts of people. This light hearted Sunday post is in similar vein, the writer having woken up today in an impish mood. In every country there are provincial jokes, and China is no exception. This popular tale sent me rambling off. An alien came down to earth and landed in China. It first landed in Beijing. Immediately the people decided that it was a great political victory that must be showcased to the world as proof of the supremacy of the Communist Party and the Han race. The alien then went to Shanghai. Here the people ar...

I told you that I would show some teasers today, so here ya go...can you guess what this one is?  And can you guess what I did to this? Let me just say there is a lot of BLUE in his room and he LOVES it!! He tells me every day "Thank you Mommy." Makes my heart melt:o) I hope to be done with his room for the most part before the weekend is out. There are a few things that can't possibly be done. But it's coming together and it is SA-WEET! Hope that you all have a fab weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

********** Busy working on E's room. Looking forward to sharing the final product on Monday....I'll have a teaser for you tomorrow:o) *********

The bribery mess at Daimler makes sorry reading. Every party involved is showing up in the worst possible manner. Whatever promoted a global corporation of the standing of Daimler to be in this situation ? The case is as follows. Daimler is accused by the US authorities of paying bribes of tens of millions of dollars in over 22 countries over a 10 year period. Daimler, it is reported, has agreed to pay a $185 m fine to settle civil and criminal charges. Daimler, it is alleged, set up shell companies to channelise the bribes, Bribes have included gifting an armoured car to a Turkmenistan official, siphoning of funds to the bank account of the wife of an official in China, 10% kickback to Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein, and so on and so on. It makes sordid reading. First culprit is Daimler , of course. This has been going on systematically over a number of years. A lot of people have turned a blind eye to the goings on. At best, this can be calculated ignorance, and at worst, acti...

Beverage is such a funny word to me...not sure why, but it is. I have been wanting a particular beverage container from Target in a bad sort of way for the longest, but I just have a hard time handing over 30 bucks for something that will get used a handful of times a year:o) Then I saw it...This you say? Yes, this...  We had used this in E's room at the last house when he had the beach themed room . I put all his little stuffed animals in it. I think I paid $4.99 for it from Tuesday Morning. Anyway, it's current location was hiding in one of the closets with baby toys that I planned on getting rid of. You know what's next, don't ya? Off to Wally World for some spray paint. The beverage container at Target had a hammered copper finish, so I used two coats of Rustoleum's version and got this: Hello Gaw-Jus! You can't really see the "hammered" finish in the picture, but it's there and I LURVE it! Now I can't wait to pull it out for the next gathe...

You may have noticed the news item that Maruti announced that it had rolled out its millionth car in a single year ; apparently it joins global giants like Toyota, GM, Ford etc ; a handful of companies to have achieved this. For non Indian readers of this blog, Maruti is a Suzuki controlled Indian car company that’s the market leader in India. Such statistics mean little except dubious PR value. But it certainly set me off to wax nostalgic about when Maruti first came. Readers of this blog are refreshingly young. Teenagers like AJCL, Gils, Deepa, Sandhya, et all, were hardly born when the first Maruti car rolled out on Indian roads :) Being slightly elder to this sprightly young lot, I have some credentials to a “those were the days” kind of post. This is the late seventies; early 80s. India was firmly a socialist country. This was the time we actually amended the preamble to the Constitution to include the words socialist India (it still sits in the preamble). The Taliban would have ...

Today's Inspiration. I fell in love with this mirror and the way this mantle was staged. I bought a mirror from a yard sale last year for $5 and it's been sitting in the attic for who knows how long because I didn't know what to do with it. Finally a purpose. Here's the before: I had already taped it off when I took the picture. It's just a plain(dirty) mirror with a dark finish on the frame. I taped it off and spray painted it with what I thought was going to be SHINY silver paint...It wasn't:o( It will have to do for now. I know that I can get SHINY spray paint from Hobbly Lobbly(as E calls it) but I don't want to pay almost $6 for a small can of spray paint. I'll wait for the 40% off coupon:o) Anywho, here is the after...my after isn't as well lit as the PB version, and there are some very major variations, but I said that the PB version was my inspiration, right:o)  The before version of the mantle is HERE . We are in the process of getting E...

My inspiration for today's project. I have been eyeing these pillow covers for a long time, knowing good and well that I could make these. Pottery Barn always has the cutest stuff, but priced well over what I am able or willing to pay. These pillow covers are "on sale" right now for $79.99 for all four. But that's just the covers there isn't any stuffing...just covers:o) Insane, I know. Here is my version, for FREE: I used the left over fabric from the curtains for the bonus room . I wanted the pillows to be the same size as PB's, so I cut 8 squares at 19" each. I printed and cut out the numbers 1-4 using the "Elephant" font on my computer. The font size was 650. I traced the numbers on the fabric with a black sharpie, and filled in with black fabric paint. After the paint dried, I sewed the fronts to the backs, and filled the pillows with the stuffing of "dead" standard sized pillows. By "dead" I mean, pillows that have seen...

Pepsico will announce today that it will cut levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats in its top-selling products by a quarter during the coming decade amid rising pressure from governments to encourage healthier eating. At the same time it will be increasing whole grain, fruit, vegetable, nut, seed and low-fat dairy content. Other food companies are all doing the same thing, bowing down to a variety of pressure groups – governments, WHO and a sundry assortment of noise makers. All food companies live in mortal terror of getting sued. McDonalds is the one that is most vulnerable – that’s why it is falling over itself to offer “healthy options”. This is to give Joe Public the perverse satisfaction of ordering a Big Mac and a Diet Coke ! Some obese overweight individual is going to win $100m from some food company – its only a matter of time. It’s a question of when, not if. Can my voice be heard in this cacophony please. I do not want a healthy alternative – when I want that I will go ...

Mark’s China Blog is one of the best China blogs around. Mark used to live in Xi’an until late last year when he returned back to his native US. He continues to write on China – his posts are meticulously researched , very interesting and has a very balanced perspective on this fascinating country. He’s currently writing a series called – Chinese cities you’ve never heard of, but should know. It’s a brilliant series and this Sunday post is just a link to his blog. I am willing to bet that non Chinese readers of this blog would not have heard of these cities and this series is a fascinating peep into urban China. For Chinese readers of this blog, it is worth your while to dodge the jindun gongcheng and reach there - you will find a Sinophile’s perspective on your cities interesting. Either way it’s a wonderful read. Happy reading !

  I think that this is the SWEETEST little wreath I have ever seen. Today's feature is the Spring Baby Grass Wreath .  Patty at Capture the Details shows you how to construct this precious wreath.  It is super simple!!! I can't wait to make 4 or 5:o)  ******** I am working on all sorts of projects this weekend. We are starting on E's room, and he is really excited. Have a FAB weekend, and I will see you all back here on Monday!

"To recall , or not to recall; that is the question". With due apologies to Shakespeare, this could very well be the modern day conundrum for businesses. The travails of Toyota , with its recalls, are very well known. What prompted this post is the news of recall of 1.2 million high chairs (the sort you strap your child to), because they could pose a fall hazard to children. Readers of this blog know well that this writer is an opinionated individual, prone to verbal excesses and assumes a god given right to hold a point of view on any subject under the sun. The less he knows about a topic, the more strident is his opinion ! For a change, here is a topic on which he confesses to not being sure about; hence both sides of the coin in this post. The case in question is about high chairs produced by a certain manufacturer in the US. Apparently the risk is that "screws holding the front legs of the high chair can loosen and fall out" and cracking plastic brackets can cau...

I am working on all kinds of projects right now and I can't wait to share them with you all. They are all Pottery Barn inspired. Come back tomorrow to check out Feature Friday. You're going to love how cute and simple this Easter project is!

Murray Hill is running for the US Congress. At first glance, nothing seems to be wrong with that – surely anybody can run for Congress. But then Murray Hill is unique and a first. For its full name is Murray Hill Inc. It’s a company; not a person. An interesting article in the Economist (click here ) examines this quirky issue superbly. This is a consequence of a landmark US Supreme Court judgment in January. In a bitterly divided 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment free speech rights extended to corporations. The biggest impact of this ruling would be that no limits can be placed on political contributions by businesses. The impact of business on politics is bound to increase, and this has generally been considered to be not a good thing. But another consequence of the decision seems to be what Murray Hill is contemplating. It faces huge hurdles for sure – there must be a myriad of other laws that require a candidate to be of flesh and blood. As The Economis...

 I posted on Facebook yesterday that I was feeling some Pottery Barn inspiration, and I am currently working on a project that I can't wait to share with you guys when it's done. Hopefully it will look halfway decent.  I couldn't find the picture for the "inspiration" for today's post, but here is my finished product.  I bought this platter from Goodwill for $1. The platter looked like someone had stuck it in the microwave, and it's not microwavable. There were a few brown marks on it, which was fine because I was covering it with chalkboard paint. I got the paint from Walmart.(Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint) It was on sale so that was a plus:o) I taped the platter off with painters tape and sprayed away.  I love chalkboard paint! I can't wait to find something else to paint:o)

If ever there was a misleading title to a post, this must be it. This is not about cricket at all. Neither is it about Bertie Wooster. Instead it’s a most ungentlemanly rant. Readers may recall that I had railed about the behaviour of US Congressmen towards Akio Toyoda here . Something similar has now happened with British MPs and Kraft. This growing trend of activism by politicians towards business is dangerous. What happened yesterday was this. Kraft was “summoned” to appear before the House of Commons’ business, innovation and skills committee (let us lightly pass over the delicious irony of the words skills and innovation being featured in the same sentence as MPs !) Unlike the brave Toyoda-san, Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman of Kraft ducked this one and sent Marc Firestone Kraft’s head of corporate and legal affairs. Marc Firestone, as far as I know, is a US national. He is not a subject of Her Majesty and British MPs have absolutely no right to behave as they did with him. You can rea...

Amidst all the ruckus caused in the Indian Parliament by the Women’s Reservation Bill, you could be forgiven for having not noticed the stalemate regarding the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010. You would even be forgiven for yawning at the very mention of this “exciting” piece of legislation. Spare a minute to consider how important this is. Anybody even remotely familiar with India will easily relate to the abysmal power situation in the country. That Indians have come to accept power cuts as a way of life is a sad commentary on Indian stoicism. The worst way to solve the power situation is for each building and shop to own a DG set – it’s the most inefficient and polluting solution possible and yet this is exactly what we do. As India grows, its power needs will multiply manifold. Where will this power come from ?? Coal ? Too polluting. Hydel ? Not much scope and in any case the likes of Medha Patkar will make it impossible to implement. Oil ? Will increasingly become un...

I have been inspired recently by Pottery Barn and all their beautifully over-priced merchandise. I love to peruse their magazines, and while perusing, the wheels start turning in the ole noggin. I have several projects lined up (in my head of course), but one that kept standing out was the silhouettes I kept seeing. So of course, I had to do it too:o) I found these picture frames at a local thrift store for around $5 for the both of them. Not too shabby...not too chic though:o) One was missing the glass, so that one was a little cheaper. It looks like someone had the D.I.Y. bug and tried to spray paint these pups, and gave up.  The funny thing is, they used to have a gold finish. And what finish did they get from me?  That's right, GOLD:o) I knew that I would be putting these in the master bedroom, so I wanted the finish to be similar to what was already in there. I had the gold spray paint on hand. I removed the glass from the one, and just sprayed away. I knew that the insid...

So glad to be back in the blogging world. I have missed you all! I took a much needed break to recover from a procedure done on a kidney stone. Feeling great and ready to jump back on the crafting horse:o) During the recovery process, I had bits of energy and wanted to get some spring cleaning done. I thought I would start in my craft room first. I can't seem to find the before pictures, but I do have the after, and I am glad I finally got around to cleaning up.  This is actually supposed to be a walk-in closet, but I made sure that the hubs new when we were building this house that this one was a-a-a-ll mine! I wanted a place where I could just shut the door and leave the creative mess behind and know that it wouldn't be touched by sweet little precious hands:o) This room is 5'9"x7'. It's a small space, a really, really small space, but it is mine...ALL MINE! Because there are no windows in this closet, (why would there be??) I painted a mural on the wall just...

This being Oscar season, it is but natural that some awards float around in the blogging world. But I was completely bowled over to receive an award from le embrouille blogueur . For those of you challenged on the intricacies of French, he is the very opposite of “le embrouille”. Superb blogger, who is however in “prison” these days and hence not blogging very often – but when he does, he produces masterpieces. Thank you THE blogueur. I am much tickled by the “Beautiful Blogger Award”. I have been accused of many things, but beautiful ???? :)!! Whew ! I have been walking around with a silly smile on my face ! Bloggers love to keep chains going. Hence any award or tag comes with conditions. This one says - thou shalt 1) Thank the person who gave you the award 2) Paste the award on your blog 3) Link the person who nominated you for the award 4) Share 7 things you find to be beautiful around you 5) Nominate 7 bloggers or more No 2, I cannot do – thanks to the Net Nanny. Complaints on thi...

I found this magazine rack a few months ago at Goodwill. Mind you, it didn't look a thing like this. Picture it with no legs and an ugly brown finish. I didn't take before pics..sorry, just know that it wasn't cute:o) I found it for $3.50, and had walked away from it a few times before finally deciding to purchase it. I had no clue what I was going to do with it or where it would go, but I thought, "why not?" it's cheap:o) After weeks of it just sitting around, I finally figured out what I needed to do with it. The hubs built the legs with wood we had on hand and attached them, and I had some left over spray paint from the small buffet redo , so no cost there. I love the red, obviously, and I love that it was so stinkin' CHEAP!:o) Side view. The hubs was so proud. I think he did a FAB job! In it's new home...LOVE IT!

Last year I did a Carnival Theme for E.'s birthday, and it turned out great. However, it was way too expensive. We were in the middle of building our house, so we had to find an alternative party spot(which cost $), and I had to bring all the props for the games, and we had prizes for the games...I won't disclose the amount spent...just know that it will never happen again;o) Anyway, the hubs was all over me about keeping the expenses down this time, so I made it my personal goal to keep things cheap...I think I did a good job on the budget this time, but it's a lot easier to plan a girl's party than it is a boy's:o) Here are a few things that kept things cheap... 1. Shopping at the Dollar Tree for anything that I possibly could. I got all the paper products there. They had butterfly themed plates and napkins. They were really cute, thankfully. I got a lot of the party favors and decorations there. I found these cute felt butterflies. I got those right as they were ...

Here are some pics of the party...tell me what you think... A shot of where the lil ones got to sit. We moved our dining room table and chairs to the living room so that we could keep the lil precious rug rats quarantined.    Party favors. The boys got buckets and the girlies got something a little more feminine.     Found these tags  here . The thank you tags came with the little white pails(pictured below).     These were the boys goodies. Most of this stuff came from the Dollar Tree.     The crafts...We had wooden cutouts with magnets on the back that came from Joann's and Dollar Tree. They got to color them.     These were the place card holders. I filled these pails with skittles(of which the children LOVED).  These were in the bridal section at Dollar Tree. 3 for a $.     Our "candy bar."         These bags came from Target in the $ section. These were to put the candy in.     Party...