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Fiesta Sun Catchers! • April 30th, 2014

April 28

vaquera_caliente

This Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Fiesta Suncatchers 
$2 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Special: “The Lyla” •  Inexpensive. And Built to Stay That Way.
EXCITING MUSTACHE GIVEAWAYS and SALSA MUSIC ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

When you live in a city that was named by Spaniards, was a part of Mexico for 27 years and is today host to huge Mexican American and Central American populations… it’s time to Cinco de MAYOOOOOOO!!! And it’s time for CraftNight to make fiesta sun catchers! Plop painty blobs of color into plastic frames of maracas, piñatas, cactuses and sombreros! You can also get a stick-on mustache, or a grape-flavored wax one while supplies last!

If you want to know why your Mexican friends aren’t into Cinco de Mayo or think it’s weird that you’re celebrating, odds are that they aren’t from Puebla, Mexico, but from practically anywhere ELSE in Mexico celebrates Mexican Independence Day on September 16th.

We’re celebrating instead the very specific and incredible victory of The Battle of Puebla by Mexico over French forces in 1862. In a very unlikely scenario, 4,500 Mexican soldiers fought back 6,500 well-armed French militia, which was, believe me, after all the crap Mexico had been through in the last few years, A BIG DEAL.  It was kind of that situation where France was supposed to be Godzilla, and Mexico was supposed to be Bambi and it was the opposite, at least that one time it was pretty awesome for Mexico. Naturally, this holiday is still a BIG DEAL in the city of Puebla, Mexico, where all of this went down. But other than that, Cinco de Mayo is pretty much a north of the border thing. Cinco de Mayo has been called “The Mexican St. Patrick’s Day” which is more about celebrating and enjoying the Mexican way of life, not necessarily recalling that one specific battle.

And it’s true, north of the border we tend to do things differently. Maybe you’ve noticed that brands like Tobasco, Jose Cuervo, Wholly Guacamole and HERDEZ have been more available for your Cinco de Mayo needs in recent years? They would like to give you the opportunity to enhance shared meaning with your community. These commercially produced products are hoping that you’ll purchase them liberally to help shape identities and traditions for yourself and your family. Are you going to disappoint them? In any case, do you actually NEED a reason to party? Whether it’s yes or no, be advised: there is a lime shortage, so if you’re getting all up in your margarita shopping list, keep that in mind.

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com
www.crafthead.com

 

Posted by on April 28, 2014 in Uncategorized

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Sassy Spring Sand Art • April 23rd, 2014

April 23

unirainabutterkitty

TONIGHT! Wednesday, April 32rd, 2014 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Sassy Spring Sand Art! 
$2 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Special: “The Lyla” Where Hospitality Meets Your Face!

Sand art oh sand art, how do I love thee, your colorific dilemma of granules so chaotic yet glorious! All vacuums bow down to your grainy dotty sparkly wonderment! Sand art is SO EASY. All of CraftNight’s crafts are traditionally undemanding, but this one really takes the cake, you just peel back to expose the surface you want covered with sand, and then pour sand on it, keep doing that… and pretty soon you have a full-on pretty picture!

Come on over and experience the joy of sand art!

FYI, Bill Cole’s Bday party starts at 7pm tonight, just sayin…

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com
www.crafthead.com

 

Posted by on April 23, 2014 in Uncategorized

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Easter Eggs • April 16th, 2014

April 15

gnome_llamas

This Wednesday, April 16th, 2014 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Easter Eggs, A BIG DEAL! 
$2 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Special: “The Lyla” Double your joy and disappear your sorrows!

Remember the PAAS Easter Egg coloring kit? It never went away. It’s still here with it’s funny “magic crayon” and the cardboard box where you punch out the holes for your newly dyed eggs to sit in, the weird wire egg holder that kind of works and kind of doesn’t… it’s waiting for you.

They’ve added stickers. They’ve added themes. But even with all that new mumbo jumbo, it’s still the same PAAS kit of yesteryear. We’ve got the vinegar-water-tablet cups you plop your egg into and wait for the shell to take on a hue of brilliance. Other things available will be some of the staples from the craft smorgasbord to which you are accustomed, as well as a few other interesting bits suitable for accoutrement.

If you’re a stranger to all of this, you might as well start now, because it’s worthwhile, I must say, you get to craft something that you will EAT, and the last time we dyed eggs was 2010!

I’m kind of hoping that someone makes a “Passover brisket” egg.

I will be boiling many eggs in preparation for your arrival, so please humor me, help me get rid of all of these eggs! I’ll have fry boat baskets and plastic grass for you to put them in so that you may take home and care for them until you wish to make an egg salad sandwich.

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com
www.crafthead.com

 

Posted by on April 15, 2014 in Uncategorized

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Alligator Stick Puppet • April 9th, 2014

April 07

gold_starfro

 

This Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Alligator Puppets
$2 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Special: “The Lyla” The Cocktail for People Who Can’t Brush After Every Meal! 

Alligator Puppets?!? That’s a croc! No really! We’re making stick puppets of a “living fossil” favorite. Alligators have been around a looooong time, these cold blooded creatures deserve some respect for their evolutionary excellence, so we’re deeming them CraftNight’s spirit reptile for this week.

You can only find alligators in the US and China, and aptly enough, these little foam-piece puppets were manufactured in China, just like real gators! If you take care of your alligator puppet, it might last even longer than a real alligator. An average alligator has a lifespan of somewhere between 30 – 50 years. Your alligator puppet will also weigh considerably less than a real alligator, about a 1,000 lb. and 10 foot difference, much more manageable and convenient for supper parties and long plane trips.

But real bona fide alligators are more fragile than you may have thought: Airlines in the US habitually run over at least one alligator a year on runways! And an alligator must raise it’s head to swallow and an alligator can’t move its tongue, (another reason alligators are not known for being especially loquacious.) If you really want to be freaked out about an animal in the wild that kills, read about mosquitos… but I’m getting off topic.

Did you spend part of your childhood curled up with “animal fact” books and fantasize how to escape sharks, bears and alligators? I did, and I JUST FOUND OUT after feeling really smug after all these years that running in a zig-zag formation to escape an alligator on land is total bunk. Alligators don’t really care about you or I as a food source or much anything else, so even if an alligator had a LOT of coffee and changed its mind and got off its lazy ass to chase you, it would max out at 10 mph, as far as land-chasing options.

Alligators are FAST in the water though, we’re talking 20 mph fast, and while you are still a very unappealing option for an alligator meal, it’s always best to be cautious in gator territory. If alligator PUPPETS are nearby, however, I can’t guarantee safety,  you’re on your own, there’s no hope. Alligator puppets have been known to dress up in home made outfits, behave aggressively and tell horrible jokes. The only way to know if I’m telling the truth, however, is to come on into Akbar and make an alligator puppet and make it snappy. Hahahaaaa….

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com
www.crafthead.com

 

 

 

Posted by on April 7, 2014 in Uncategorized

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Cozy Coloring: Black Velvet Style! • April 2nd, 2014

April 02

some_cake

This Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Black Velvet Posters
$2 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Special: “The Lyla” You’re in a Beauty Contest Every Day of Your Life

April showers indeed, it’s a fine time to come visit our lovely neighborhood oasis, get yourself a glass of warmth, sit down, get cozy, and color a captivating black velvet poster of a LOT of butterflies, or some sea life, an armada of happy faces exploding toward you in apparent benevolence…

I have four sizes of posters and an abundance of themes. I’ve spent some time with them, and they’re all a little bit weird. But they won’t ask much of you at all, it’s virtually impossible for you to color outside the lines with black velvet posters. In fact, to make things more interesting, you might want to try coloring one blind-folded. You see, I’m not sure if it’s going to rain or not, but it’s cold and cloudy, so it’s an opportunity to do an activity that feels like a rainy day. Curl up with your coloring poster and have some “you time.”

While you’re coloring, you may overhear an interesting conversation and end up learning something futuristic, or you’ll hear something unbearable or banal that possibly fortifies your impression of the deplorable, vapid musings of the human race. But then the smell of the wet ground outside will drift in for a moment, or someone will burst into the room shaking raindrops off their coat. Flowers are drinking water, things are being made brighter and clearer for tomorrow. Your city is being made new!

You can walk in between all those raindrops that can’t fall anywhere but down, or you can get drenched. However you want to do it, we’ll be here to welcome you, black velvet style.

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com
www.crafthead.com

 

Posted by on April 2, 2014 in Uncategorized

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