This November, designer and artist Frances has challenged herself to a little project to note her gratitude and celebrate all the things for which she's thankful.
The project is a combo of these amazing hand lettered pieces, in an addition to photos by Frances and quotes from readers, family, and friends.
Follow along and see more pieces at her site: Thanksful.FrancesMacCleod.com [via DesignWorkLife]
If there was ever a time for opening a champagne bottle with a sword, the holidays is that time. You don't actually need a sword - a chef's knife will do - but I figure this is just one of those things a man should know how to do. And since this is also the season of fizzy, corked bottles of sparkling cider and grape juice, you can snag a few more affordable bottles to practice without having to waste any bubbly.
The team at Bon Appetit share all the details: There is no way to open a bottle of Champagne that’s more fun or dramatic than sabering, the act of taking a large blade (or, you know, a chef’s knife) and, though the magic of physics, popping off the cork with one smooth motion. No one sabers more bottles than Patrick Cappiello, the Wine Director and Managing Partner at Pearl & Ash in New York City....The guy makes it look effortless. As it turns out, it’s so easy to do that anyone can pull it off—even at home. Watch our video for Cappiello’s step-by-step sabering tutorial and, of course, a ton of slow motion Champagne sabering porn.
This is about to become a staple at all my Christmas celebrations. And New Years. And Thanksgivings. And...oh, Tuesdays.
How to Saber a Champagne Bottle [BonAppetit.com]
The holiday season always brings a bit of extra style uncertainty: our gathering and get together potential goes way up, and we're never quite sure how dressy an event might be. We bounce around from work to drinks with friends to Christmas light watching to office party to holiday shopping... all with a variety of co-soireers. Plus, your inside and outside and hot and cold and everywhere in between.
The solution: a sweater. In this case, a V-neck that can go from a casual cold weather day to under a suit for New Year's Eve.
Beau Hayhoe has assembled five scenarios in which a v-neck sweater is just the thing to stay warm and look sharp. He addresses the issues of material and fabric, as well as fit and care, then offers some go-to ways to rock this staple.
Check out Beau's ideas on Effortless Gent - Five Ways to Wear One: The V-Neck Sweater
For more on sweater care, check out ManMade's
Whether you're actually looking to buy a kitchen gadget or piece of gear for a man, or just fulfilling your mom's wish to "send her a list," here are my (Gabriel's) ten picks for some serious food-oriented holiday gifts. I found some not-so-common gifts (other than cooking books), cause honestly, those who love to spend time in the kitchen probably already have all the staples. Take a look!
1. Range Smart Thermometer (starts at $54) High tech FTW! This smart thermometer can send push notifications when your food achieves the desired temperature or you can set it to alert you at several stages of the cooking process. There are a few different kinds that range from candy thermometers to meat and barbecued items. Mind you, you'll have to pre-order this late in the game, but hey, better late than never!
2. Herb drying rack - $39. Every kitchen aficionado out there knows that the meal is as good as the quality of the ingredients used in the recipe. So obviously, getting something like this to dry herbs from your garden or the market makes perfect sense. It's simple and clean. Also, quite affordable and could double as a kitchen towel rack. Or DIY your own!
3. Natural cork coasters - $15. With the holidays in full gear, all sorts of cocktails and fancy concoctions will be served, which means you need a set of grown-up coasters - that also happen to look quite rugged and awesome. And hey, you can always DIY it and take this model as inspiration.
4. Oversized copper mug - $28. Speaking of cocktails, what about this cooper mug to make some might Moscow Mules? Or...you know, any other cocktail. This mug has a camping-in-the-woods feel to it which we all love. Oh! And if you want to make it extra especial, pack a few goodies in the mug: a few cocktail tools or even some recipes.
5. Coffee drip pot - $40. Nothing beats a good cup of coffee! Any devoted foodie will tell you that generic coffee machines make coffee taste like crap, and that the simpler the better. This manual drip pot will surely make your morning, and the experience the making a cup of coffee using one of these bad boys is almost as exciting as opening presents all over again.
5. Kitchen towels - $18. There's no such thing as have too many kitchen towels, and honestly, the more unique, the better. These are cool, masculine, and just a bit food nerdy! That's a lot of checkmarks on your list.
6. Kitchen medicine poster - $13. For the geeky and curious, this poster full of herbs and their health benefits is perfect. Food people know what most of those plants are, it looks great! Just add a black frame and you're done. You can get an affordable frame from IKEA or the craft store.
7. Portable humidifier - $25 Ok, even though you may not use one in the kitchen, this humidifier is plain cool. But you food-gifted friends and family can whip up their own scented oils with common ingredients, then make the whole house smell like 'em any time they want.
8. Victorinox Knife Block - $51. Even thought a lot of us still buy printed cook books we gotta admit that we takes tons of notes from cooking blogs and other online publications. This stand will allow your foodie friend to browse through recipes online in his tablet, while he gets his knives ready to rock.
9, Pure black knife set - $314. Beautiful and durable...hence the price tag, but hey, these are an investment.
10. Mater bartender set - $198. All this shopping is making us thirsty, so why don't we chill out while sipping some master cocktails? What's that? You don't have set? Oh, well then try this one. This master set has a bit of a bigger budget, but its the only one you need. The feel is timeless and the looks super dapper. Done.
The 1942 version of the Boy Scout Handbook featured these amazing illustrated guides to basic firemaking skills, as well as the various styles and applications of campcraft. The originals seem to appear as long sidebars (see below) so I had to do a bit of collaging to get the image above to appear on our homepage, but I'm amazed by how much these simple line drawings still communicate. Photography = completely unnecessary.
Not yet...NOW!
See them both in full resolution at Newhouse Design's Tumblr: I and II [via Jeremy Pruitt on Pinterest]
This holiday season, I wanted to come up with rustic, outdoor-themed ornaments. I love combining real, organic materials with modern tools and technology, and this project marries those perfectly: a natural tree branch slice is printed with a photograph that's been digitally edited and enhanced for just the right look. To pull it off, I teamed up with Adobe to use their new Photoshop Elements 12 application to process the image and get it ready to live in the physical world. It's super easy to use, but still full of all kinds of features that are perfect for doing art and craft projects.
Tools and Materials:
1. Since I wasn't sure about the next time I might cross paths with a moose and have my camera on me, I began with a stock photo I found online. But you should feel free to choose personal snapshots, favorites art or images, or anything you'd like to display on your tree. I happen to really like moose. Whatever image you choose, just make sure you use a rather high resolution file, since you'll be printing at 300 DPI and want to be able to zoom in and edit the details.
Open up your image in Photoshop Elements 12 and select "Expert" along the top to give yourself full access to all the editing tools.
2. First up, you want to isolate your image from its background. There are a few ways to do this, but here we're going to use the Selection tools. Begin by selecting the Magic Wand tool, and start clicking on various components of the background to select it. Make sure that you have your select mode in "Add to Selection" so you can add all the elements to your current selection.
3. Once the majority of the background is selected, zoom in on the image [⌘/Crtl +] and then choose the Selection Brush tool and choose a brush size. Make sure you still have "Add to Selection" chosen, then use the Selection Brush to bring in any small areas near the borders.
4. Once you've got the entire background selected, it's helpful to smooth out the selection to avoid any pixelation. This is particularly helpful when dealing with a fuzzy and wispy line such as moose fur. So, go to Select ---> Feather, and select a small number of pixels (usually between 2-5 depending on your image size) to feather the selection. Press delete to reveal your isolation. If there's too much or too little softness around the edges, undo the delete and adjust the number of pixels in your feather until it's just right.
Save your work, then press delete to eliminate the background.
5. Okay, now that the background is eliminated, that little swatch of green on the moose's snout doesn't make much sense, so we're going to remove it with the Clone Stamp tool. Cloning is great way to remove any imperfections or mistakes in your photos that drive you crazy; you basically use another part of the image to paint over whatever you'd like to see disappear - blemishes, spray paint drips, etc.
To use it, select the Clone Stamp Tool under the Enhance section of the tool bar, and place your cursor the "good" area of the image, in this case the brown moose fur. Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) click on the source, then move your cursor over to the area you want to cover. Then click and drag to paint the source onto the problem area. Continue to experiment and grab different sources until you're happy with the results.
6. Lastly, it's time to prepare the image for printing and transfer. Here's what I did:
7. Before you print, don't forget one of the cardinal rules in printmaking and image transfers: you've got to reverse your image! This is easily done in Photoshop Elements by going to Image--> Rotate--> Flip Layer Horizontal.
Then, you can print your image to a laser printer, or take it to a print shop and make a toner copy. Be sure to make several, and play with the light/dark settings until you're happy with the results. In case this needs to be said again - the image transfer technique must use toner-based inks, and will not work with an inkjet printed image.
8. Locate a your wood slice, and cut to thickness. Look outside, raid your firewood pile, ask your neighbors...there are tree branches everywhere. If not, you can buy natural wood slices at craft stores and some nurseries, especially this time of year. I used a birch log that was about 3 5/8" in diameter, and I cut it with a hand saw.
9. Place your wood slice on your image copy, and trace the outline lightly with a pencil, and the cut away the excess paper.
10. Because we're dealing with the end grain of wood here, it'll soak up whatever liquid is placed on it much more readily than side grain (like a square of plywood). So to seal up all that xylum and phloem, brush on a base coat or two of acrylic medium and let dry for an hour or so. This will guarantee that the acrylic used to transfer the image won't get sucked into the wood.
11. Brush on one more coat of acrylic medium - just a nice, even layer, neither thick nor thin - then place your image face down on the acrylic. Use a credit card or bone folder to smooth out any air bubbles, then turn it over (paper side down) and allow to dry for at least two hours, or as long as overnight.
12. Once dry, lightly dampen the surface with water, then begin to rub off the paper. Use only your fingers (not a towel or rag) and use a circular motion to rub away the fibers of the paper. Add more water as needed, and rub until you can't see any white paper. Once it's dried a little, you'll likely see a little paper residue is left, so add a bit more water and then remove.
Then, just drill a small hole in the top, and thread through some string. It's pretty cool when you realize what's going on here - the toner image in not on the wood surface, but lives in the acrylic, which is clear and allows the woodgrain to show through. Due to the transfer process, each image is different, and will have a slightly worn look that looks great on a rustic design like this.
Remember, you can do this technique on lots of surfaces, such as wood blocks or colorful paper, and it works with both color and black and white images. Have a great time, and if you try the project, post your results in the comments below.
Season's Greetings!
This post was sponsored by Adobe. All opinions are mine alone. Learn more about Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 here.
Each Wednesday, I post some of my favorite can't-miss links, images, and otherwise mindblowing goodies from across the web.
Food artists Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves created this stunning mini-architectural models of some of the world's most famous art museums...using only gingerbread and candy. 
See the full collection and some behind the scenes photos at Colossal.
"For the New York Times Magazine Movie Issue, 11 of the year’s best big-screen performers...deliver one line in 11 original very short films directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski." See them all at If It's Hip, It's Here.
A solid introduction: How to Buy a Good, Versatile Suit for Any Occasion
This portrait of Morgan Freeman was painting by fingers...on an iPad. Seriously. Watch this video to watch it come together.
Designer Brittany Klontz created an interactive infographic for ConcertHotels.com that maps 100 years of popular music styles, from the earliest pre-1900 folk music to the super subgenres you probably didn't even know existed. The mapping itself is cool, but the "most excellent" bit? Each of the entries are clickable, allowing you to listen to a sample song from the genre to get a better idea of how it came to be.
Brittany says, "When you think about it, it's pretty incredible what's happened with music in just the past 50 years and how genres like 'German Electronic Metal' and 'Ska Punk' have developed from common roots...To truly acknowledge the influence of each genre, we felt the need to tell the story not just graphically, but also musically."
Learn more about the piece at FastcoDesign, and see - and hear - it in full at ConcertHotels.com
This tutorial from Matt Pierce for A Continuous Lean walks you through the process of using stiff leather to create a stylish and protective case for small items and kits. Here, Matt designs his for a compass and some other wayfinding goodies, but you could scale and adapt the project to fit your needs.
I especially like the use of rivets to create a belt strap on the back for attaching to your hips or pack. 
A great peek into what goes into high-quality leather craft, and a perfect introduction for getting started yourself.
See the full tutorial at A Continuous Lean - Putting It All On The Table: A Wood&Faulk DIY
The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been polished off, the bombardment of black cyber deals are (hopefully) over, and it's time to settle in to the real grooves of the holiday season, and use it as a special occasion to spend time with the people you like best. This year, ManMade is excited to team up with mike's hard lemonade to share a guy's guide to holiday entertaining. We'll be providing tips for everything from decor and entertaining ideas to food and, of course, drinks. The goal is to keep things as simple yet festive as possible, and we'll be making that happen with the mike's hard party kit - straightforward, easy, and with enough variety to keep things interesting.
We'll be sharing all our tips next week and you're invited. So grab your candy canes and join us!
See you there.
This post was sponsored by mike's hard lemonade. All opinions are mine alone.
I love the festivity of string lights and paper lanterns for the holidays, and they're so easy to come by cheaply at the discount store. Except that, well, they look like cheap paper lanterns from the discount store. So, I came up with a way to put an arty spin on this classic - the perfect way to add a touch of modern to your holiday decor. This DIY project combines the best of both worlds: it's affordable AND handmade. The use of black adds a little moodiness and masculinity to the season, reflecting the natural, outdoor components of the holiday season, rather than the glitter. So, gather your materials and make some with us!
DIY Marbled Christmas Lights
Materials:
The lanterns cost around $8 bucks per pack and I already had some christmas lights at home. The nail polish was bought on sale at my local drug store (1.99 each) and you can use an empty container as your bucket (yogurt container?). See? Affordable!
Make it:
1. Prepare materials: It's important to have everything ready prior to dipping your lanterns. First, assemble the lanterns (insert the plastic or metal thingy to expand them), get water in the bucket, prepare your drying tray, swirl stick, AND unscrew the nail polish so that is ready to be poured.
2. Get ready to dip: Now that everything's in place...YOU GOTTA ACT FAST! Start by pouring the white polish, then the black (I find that lighter to darker works best), swirl a bit, and then dip the top part of the lantern FIRST. (nail polish dries super fast and gets crusty)
Now there are two ways to go about this:
TIP: The more you swirl, the thinner the lines will appear in your design. For a chunkier look don't swirl at all and simply splash the polish in the water.
TIP TIP: use cold water to marble! If you use warm or hot water the polish will dry as soon as it hits it.
TIP TIP TIP: Make sure to do this in a well-ventilated area or you'll end up losing a few brain cells.
3. Set to dry and repeat: once you're happy with the coating, place the freshly marbled lantern on the tray and allow it to dry, while that's happening, repeat the same process for the rest of the lanterns (as many as you need for the Christmas lights).
4. Assemble: Once all of the lanterns are completely dry, carefully take out the plastic/wire frame and attach it to the Christmas lights. Why are we doing this? It's just easier! If you try to attach the whole lamp it'll take forever and you could wreck them. Below you can see how they look prior to adding the lamp:
5. Put a lamp on it: attach the lanterns to the fixed frames and voila! Get your tickets to the light show!
I am actually pleasantly surprised by how these turned out. They kind of look like birch bark with the black and white, but the color combos you can create for this project are endless. If you want to do this project with kids and don't want to use nail polish, try the marbling effect with acrylic paints or ink.
Have fun!
Project and photos:Gabriel Cabrera
For many years, it was no longer about finding Waldo, but about turning the pages and pointing out where I knew he was, and trying to make it to the end of the book as fast as possible. Cause - between the ages of eight and ten - I had those suckers memorized.
But, that was decades ago, and my visual cues are all gone.And so it's back to the original question: Where's Waldo? Turns out, almost never in the corners. and most of the time, he ends up in one of a few key spots.
As Slate's Ben Blatt determined, true randomness is difficult to achieve, and armed with a little knowledge, you can figure out the patterns. More than 50% of the time, Waldo can be located in one of two 1.5" bands. It boils down to this:
Handford generally shies away from putting Waldo near the bottom or top of a page, which leads me to theorize that Waldo placement is largely a function of two factors: aversion from extremes and aversion from the middle. While we would expect Waldo to be hidden within an inch-and-a-half of the spread’s top or bottom borders almost 25 percent of the time if Handford were placing him randomly, in practice he is there only in 12 percent of all pages. More surprising is the fact that Waldo is also unlikely to be in the middle of the page, as you can see from the map above...I think it’s... likely that Handford was trying to avoid locations that might be construed as too obvious—i.e. the centers or the corners, where children and adults alike might begin their search. But while this might make Waldo harder to find for the reader whose eyes immediately dart to the center or edge of the page, once you know your quarry is unlikely to be in those places, it actually makes him much easier to find.
I still have all my original copies. Off to go put this to the test.
Sometimes we forget that our bedroom is one of the key areas of our living space - if not the most important. If you're still sporting an 1998 edition IKEA duvet and mismatched pillows that were hand-me-downs from your previous roommates, then it's time to upgrade.
An easy way to this is by choosing one of the most versatile, masculine, modern palettes out there: gray.
Gray is one of the best colors you can choose to build the foundation for new decor. It's neutral enough and cool grays are calming and relaxing (important for sleep). And, you can always add pops of color here and there to
Regardless of the hues of grey you choose, remember to always keep it clean and minimal...which also translates to less cleaning.
To get you started on the new look:
Oh, and if you dig that headboard, check out this DIY version
Dude. Seriously, you'll feel so much better once you invest a little time in your own sanctuary, you'll sleep better and you won't have to close the door because you're embarrassed to show your friends your Spiderman sheets.
Have fun!
Image VIA
_large.jpg?1386224646 "Triple chocolate peanut butter cups")
This year, I'm forgoing all my traditional holiday cookie recipes, and making nothing these: Triple Layer Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cups. Try saying that three times fast.
Half Baked Harvest has nailed it this season. How come? Well, A: Chocolate makes people happy, B: Peanut butter makes people full, C: Cookie dough releases endorphins - so basically, all the check marks you need to have an awesome party.
Best of all, you can make a bunch of these in advance and keep them in the freezer. Just make sure to place them in an airtight bag, and you'll be good to go all month long
Oh and since they're quite filling, you can plan to make one per friend (and if someone wants more, you make them feel ashamed!) which will save you time.
For me, the holidays are all about ending the evening with a touch of sweet, and if your guests are too full to eat them, let them take it as a snack for the road. Win!
For the full recipe and ingredients, visit Half Baked Harvest
We've all got our personal goals. That collection of things where we won't feel like we've tried to give our best selves adequate space. Career goals, family goals, fitness goals, travel goals...all those things that go into feeling like we've accomplished what we were made to do. But what about those experiences that might not speak to the essence of your soul, but are valuable for just having done them? That are meaningful for having perfected, or seen, or driven through...the stuff that makes memories?
Tom Chiarella of Esquire offers his collection of seventy-five of those very things. "All the escapism a man might resolve to experience while living on this planet. And then some." The topics range from adventures (scuba diving, driving across the U.S. from coast to coast) to the character-building (take a vow and keep it, listen to war stories) to the practical...stuff like make the perfect omelet, complete with how-to.
Some will resonate, some will challenge, and some you probably won't even consider, but it's worth a thumbthrough. If only to experience that some dude sat down and wrote it up. It goes very quickly. It's from the August 2008 issue of the magazine, so you might have seen it already, but a refresh never hurt. And of course it's not perfect...that's kinda the point, right?
No space (or patience) for an actual Christmas tree? This DIY idea looks plenty festive, plus it leaves no mess at all. Bu-bye pine needles!
The classics are great, but I love "outside the box" holiday project that really create something unique.
I'm especially into this idea because you can use photos from trips, parties, and other happy memories of 2013. They'll definitely spark conversations during your holiday gatherings... "hey remember this?! Oh yeaaah"
To make this project you'll need:
- Square photos: same size would look best (Raid you friend's Instagram accounts)
- Double sided tape or poster strips
Arrange them like a tree on the floor, and then attach to the wall. Try to select photos that have similar colours (but different textures). You can even do a little bit of processing or editing beforehand to solidify the theme.
Image credit: HeltenKelt
We're always big fans of Pop Chart Lab's work, but we get especially jazzed when they start talking about a most ManMade of subjects: hand tools.
The team's latest chart is described as such:
"With over 300 meticulously illustrated tools this chart celebrates the tinkerers and the doers: those who build, repair, and create. Breaking down all manner of hand tools by their basic function, this sprawling print covers the most basic, such as the humble yet mighty hammer, to the most highly specialized, such as the 24 types of files depicted here. A hand-crafted compendium of ingenious and essential devices, this chart is a complete cut-list of the tools that empower makers and artisans."
Very cool, as a reference, inspiration, and art. Check it out in full resolution and get your copy at Pop Chart Labs:
The DIY blogosphere is full of inexpensive table projects made from affordable dimensional lumber and galvanized plumbing fixtures....so, we consider that topic still clever, but substantially covered. Now? Now is the time to build on the basic technique, a put some actual design into it. 
Very clever. Get the full how-to at A Beautiful Mess: DIY Honeycomb Table with Industrial Pipe Legs
My Dad was in a Band is a (relatively) new project dedicated to sharing the stories of the children whom, you know, had a dad in a band. Most of the bands experienced only regional success, but a few - Dee Snider of Twisted Sister's son Shane, the son of the drummer in Prince's Revolution, or the drummer of Oingo Boingo's daughter.
Each entry is written by a fresh other, and accompanied by a photo and details about what it was like growing up, hearing their parents music for the first time, or even accompanying them to shows or on tour.
The project is presented in line with the film A Band Called Death, a documentary about the amazing story of this pre-punk band from Detroit who sounded like the Ramones five years before they ever played CBGBs. A cool accompanying piece to a pretty fascinating film.
This season, deck the halls your desktop with a little holiday goodness. Jessica from How About Orange has assembled some of her favorite computer desktop wallpapers, smart phone screen images, etc, to bring some seasonal joy to your digital self.
Find the links at How About Orange: Holiday Wallpaper Downloads
