Dekalb Market in Brooklyn, NY

Dekalb Market has a motto "eat.shop.drink.play."  That sounded like something that approaches a lifestyle similar to our Make Shop Live community.  Located relatively near the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, NY this outdoor vendor market has a unique and upcycled design.  All the retail shops are in freight containers!

The bright colors really caught our eye from the street.  We grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and walked around the market on Memorial Day.  Unfortunately, it was generally sparse for the holiday, but we still each found a store we loved.

The community garden is arranged at the entrance and is full of life! 

This is Kevin's favorite.  Check out the vintage toys!  Nice clean display too.  Tron action figure from the 80's!!

The shipping containers are stacked so you can see the sides uniquely colored and numbered with each market stalls for easy visibility and maneuverability around the marketplace. Plus, it looks really great too!

If you are ever in Brooklyn, and want a nice place to shop outdoors that would entertain a whole family, go to there!

Dekalb Market info:


Beer + Wine
Sun - Thurs // 12pm - 10pm
Fri - Sat // 12pm - 12am

Food

Sun - Thurs // 8am - 6pm
Fri - Sat // 8am - 8pm

Retail
Tues - Sun // 11am- 6pm

MAP

Open 7 Days A Week

138 Willoughby Street (@Flatbush Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11201

B, Q, R to Dekalb Ave

A, C, F & R to Jay St. Metrotech

View Larger Map 

How-To's Day: Mercury Glass Wedding Votives

Alessandra really liked the look of Mercury Glass which can be quite pricey.  Wanting votive glasses and candles filling the two-stories of the historic Montauk Club would be a challenge if not for this easy DIY project.

For this project you need Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint and a spray solution of equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

Solution = 1 part Vinegar to 1 part Water

After pooling loose votives from various sources we came up ~300 short from our target so Alessandra ordered some votive holders to complete the project.  This project is WONDERFUL for upcycling (Making  use of recycled items as materials while saving energy and resources that would be used in recycling) and is a great way to refresh new life into old jars and other glass items.

Spray the votives or item you are working on with a light layer of the silver paint.

Here Alessandra is showing off her technique rolling the paint around in the glass to make sure there wasn't a big glob. Set aside to dry.  After around 3 minutes you can spray a light amount of the vinegar and water solution inside the painted area and lightly dab the paint with a paper towel creating the variation in the paint making it look "cracked".

As the layers of paint build up you can control the opacity more, just make sure the beginning layers you have a light touch with the vinegar solution because it strips the paint creating the technique.  It is super helpful that this paint reacts to vinegar because clean-up is a breeze with non-diluted vinegar unlike regular spray paint.

Layer #1 down! As you can see it is very light and you will need several layers to create a wonderful effect.

Ale` finishing up a votive

We worked on this project in sections which is helpful to not get burned out mid-project. It also helped the enjoyment level by being in beautiful Prospect Park where we could sit out and work in the grass.

Now for some examples from the big day :)

Along side the mercury glass votives and flower centerpieces, we used vintage number cards from Etsy seller 30one for the table numbers shown above.

Here the candles around the cake shows off the hint of pink this Brooklyn Bride highlighted in her Navy & Pink celebration. The bow theme (which will be highlighted in a soon-to-come post) is continued on the two -tiers of their cake which was two of my favorites: red velvet and carrot cake. As a wedding gift and added touch they received the Kate Spade New York "Grace Avenue" Dessert Serving Set which was the perfect addition to the fabulous cake table.

We had a wonderful time working on these votives and we hope you enjoy making some for yourself too.
Happy Making!
XOXO, KC

Brooklyn Weddings Gifs!

 

 Alessandra and Paul Womack's wedding in Brooklyn, May 26, 2012.

The newlyweds had a barbecue the next day in Prospect Park.  It was picturesque.  Take the jump to see the fun times!  

Back to Business

We are back from our Brooklyn adventure!!!

We hit the town running and took the city by storm! We took a TON of pictures and I am going to be compiling them for some fun posts that I think are more realistic to come out in posts next week.  Until then, here are some pictures to tide you over.

I love the views from where we were staying below.

I love being high up and looking down on the city....

Well, back to uploading pictures and unpacking! Hope you have a wonderful day :)

XOXO, KC & Kevin

Taking a bite outta the big apple

One of my favorite things about New York City is the fantastic views! There is part of me that likes feeling so small beneath the large buildings- even from a high up view like this!!! But, I think the main part of being in the city that makes everything seem possible.  When you look around at massive buildings and endless neon it inspires a person to dream big.

DIY Business Association Conference June 26th

I am so excited to be leaving tonight on a red-eye to NYC :)  I haven't found an opportunity to get back to the Big Apple in over 3 years! I never thought when moving to LA that I wouldn't be able to get back more.  When I saw the opportunity to go to the DIY Business Association Conference this Sunday, I had to organize a trip out!!   If you are in Brooklyn, you should totally sign up for this amazing opportunity, here.

I am so excited about finally getting back that I can't even stand it!!! I have a decent list of highlights that are a must when I get into town, but for the most part I am just excited to see my friends :)

I got super lucky with the timing of the conference because this Friday (June 24th) our Team EcoEtsy is meeting up at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn! I am super excited to finally meet my teammates after chatting via e-mail feeds for months.  If you can't make it to the meet-up you can watch it on Etsy's Livestream channel here at 7PM EST.

Hope to see everyone this weekend!!!

XOXO,

KC

BOOK MARC

What is on my wish list for Winter 2010... 

I wish I  could take a trip to NYC the new Marc Jacobs book store, Book Marc when it opens.  It is going to be located at 400 Bleecker Street- (details)  so I could get a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery (Which funny enough is in LA now!) and check it out.  It will be interesting to see how the New Yorkers take to the concept. I don't feel like Marc Jacobs is in the league of Starbucks and Wal-mart, but there is an interesting buzz about the opening.  

Who knows if it is the nostalgia stirring up the neighborhood now that this once favorite neighborhood bookstore is keeping the hard-core dwellers cynical or if they can't conceptualize how awesome it is going to be.  This "battle war of corporate takeover" using art literature and fun school supplies hopefully will win the people of the West Village over.

Personally, I feel like even though I am not a Marc Jacobs customer in a clothing/ accessories market for myself I had misconceptions with where I could fit in as a customer.  The first time I was able to go to the Marc by Marc store in Savannah, GA I was really surprised about the range in pricing for some of the more impulse gifts- and I think there is a conscious effort within the and the company to promote good things to their community (the workers, their customers, and the style/ reference knowledge).  I remember all those years in Fashion school where I was glued to what Marc Jacobs was up to and I liked every minute of it.  If you step into a Marc by Marc and leaf threw their book selection as an artist, as a pop-culture enthusiast, or a fashionista you feel like "books you'd select, but didn't know it" are all there to stimulate YOU.  Its like how Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie have an amazing book selection- at some point be glad that people still want to read books and are not only on Amazon all day!

MY MAIN POINT, sorry for the rant...

You can see some of the fun impulse items to come at their Marc by Marc Jacobs Accessories store on Bleecker Street in the West Village.  People are going nuts about the BOOKMARC colored pencils, and I can include myself in with them ;)

I guess I can count myself one of the lucky few to see these great recycled paper pencils in 12 great colors, a hilarious sharpie and a fun bag to keep my supplies in!

Brooklyn Storefronts- Paul Lacy

Got some of my Books from Amazon already!!! Super excited and pumped up for New Projects!  Best part of buying things second hand is that they text the extra time to make the experience a little more personal :)   

The biggest surprise so far was on/ in the book Brooklyn Storefronts.  Paul Lacy's photos in Brooklyn take me back to my time in Crown Heights and all the sights of the neighborhood...

Then to my surprise, my daily unique joy of my neighborhood is featured on the back cover as well as inside.  We lived on the 400 block of Maple Street and this was on the corner on route to the subway from our apartment.

This impulse buy is making me so nostalgic-