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February 8th, 2012 • Let Your Love Shine

February 08

This Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 from 9pm until midnight at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Valentines for All
$2 Processing fee, please!
$4 Cosmopolitans! The drink of modern romance! 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Do you know the language of the floweret?
Many are the starrs I see,but in my eye no starr like thee.

We’ll be cutting, gluing, snipping, folding and flippin’ out on all the awesome valentines we’re going to make for each other at this Wednesday’s CraftNight! It doesn’t stop at Valentine’s Day, either! These holidays also fall on the 14th of February:
Extraterrestrial Culture Day
Frederick Douglass Day
Ferris Wheel Day
League of Women Voters Day
(World)Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day
National Condom Day
Pet Theft Awareness Day

We have some awesome scraps, you know we do, we’re CRAFTNIGHT. If we’re not about good scraps, what are we even doing?!? Come on in, make something tasty, tawdry, racy or bawdy! And… if you are feeling curmudgeonly about V-Day… just remember that making Valentines is practically so uncool that it actually is cool. And also why eat a frozen lasagna by yourself when we’re all here waiting for you to make up your mind and come have fun with us?
Frozen lasagna = not romantic or interesting
Valentines with friends = Fun, Creative, Weird and Fun. Did I mention fun? Oh yeah, and it could be romantic too! Let me count the ways…

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

PS – Valentine Essay from Last Year

Akbar’s Site

CraftNight’s Site

 

Posted by on February 8, 2012 in Uncategorized

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February 1st, 2012 • Skateboarding Valentine Pig

January 30

This Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 from 9pm until midnight at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Skateboarding Valentine Pig (or Groundhog)
$2 Processing fee, please!
$4 Cosmopolitans! Be in the know with a pink cosmo!

Presenting: The Skateboarding Valentine Pig, that’s right it’s no joke, it’s not a dream this is REAL.
And it doesn’t have to be a skateboarding pig, maybe it can ski or do some other sporty activity. And maybe you can make it NOT be a pig, maybe it can be a really pink bear. But even if it was just to be itself, I would rate this as a highly satisfying craft. The pig comes with sunglasses. The skateboard comes with moving wheels. Moving wheels! Zowie!
February 1st isn’t close to Valentine’s Day, but it is really close to Groundhog Day, which is my birthday.
And it’s not just a regular birthday, it’s my 40th.
That’s a hell of an anniversary!
Turning 40 means that I like hugs, kisses, costumes, cupcakes and presents. If you feel like stopping by the bar with none or all of those things this Wednesday, I’m totally into it. I’m not going to be shy about it, since it seems silly to pretend that I don’t like hugs, kisses, costumes, cupcakes and presents when I totally DO. This is a shameless announcement encouraging all of the above because this is, in effect, the last day of my “Jack Benny Year.” And if you don’t know what “Jack Benny Year” means, it means you’ve most likely not yet made it to 39 yet. Go look it up on the internet and sleuth it out! Sleuth Sleuth!
I also like seeds, tiny paintings, plants, camping, cooking, music, reading, writing, drawing, movies, experiences, and spending time with good friends. Shameless.

See you at the Craft Table!
JP Craft Captain

www.akbarsilverlake.com

www.crafthead.com

 

Posted by on January 30, 2012 in Uncategorized

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January 25th, 2012 • Beaded Flower Clip

January 24


This Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 from 9pm until midnight at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Beaded Flower Clip
$2 Processing fee, please!
$4 Cosmopolitans! Think with a pink drink!

 
If you’re procrastinating on the internet, I’m glad the series of tubes brought you here to the CraftNight site, where we’re going to be REALLY INTO BEADS this week. Bring your procrastinating self over to Akbar, and use our activity as a gentle distraction from whatever ELSE you’re “supposed to be doing.”
CraftNight endorses a bit of vagueness, confusion and fuzzy-mindedness.
Enhanced clarity isn’t everything.
You see, I have news for you: You’re never going to catch up. There will always be more paper, people, pineapples and peanuts to deal with in the course of your lifetime. Levels of efficiency and quality will always be part of the great cyclical whirlwind of stuff that permeates the daily joys of existence. It’s not about cutting out the fun, it’s about balancing the drudgery with the funnery in a way that makes you throw your hat in the air like Mary Tyler Moore on the Mary Tyler Moore show.

I’m not saying “Don’t plan things” since, as we all know, taking 10 t0 12 minutes to plan one’s day saves the average planner 100 to 120 minutes! I’m saying maybe “Don’t plan things ALL THE TIME and HAVE SOME FUN” since, as we all know, sticking to the plan all the time is kind of boring, and routines are meant to be broken.

Besides, I have an important task for you, it’s so important, you’ll have a burning desire to start and finish it, which will kickstart your endorphins into overdrive and get you addicted to starting and finishing other things! It’s called a beaded flower clip, it involves (duh) beads, and you can either string’em together into the awesome shape of a flower, or just get crazy and make whatever you want out of the materials!

Make a necklace make a key fob make a dangling groovy handle for your backpack zipper!
Give it to your friend, give it to your lover, give it to the butcher the baker the candlestick maker!
This flower is going to start you on the road toward ultimate productivity, but ONLY if you STOP productivity NOW to procrastinate on your projects in order to come join us and play with this project.

Taxes can wait.
The cat can wait.
Your boss can wait wait wait.
You’ll have such a positive experience making this flowery thing, you’ll have guaranteed results!
Develop the habits of success! Make a beaded flower clip! Come to CraftNight and be a winner! Wooooooooo!

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

Akbar’s Site

CraftNight’s Site

 

 

Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

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January 18th, 2012 • Chinese New Year Craft!

January 14


This Wednesday,  January 18th, 2012 from 9pm until midnight at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Dragon Noise Makers (Karate Kid Style)
$2 Processing fee, please!
$4 Cosmopolitans! The Akbar Cosmo: Your key to a better tomorrow
Don’t panic, if your new year’s resolutions are already shot, the good news is that January 1st is only one little interpretation of THE NEW YEAR. Luckily, another new year’s celebration is right around the corner, and it’s a whopper! China celebrates the new year for TWO WEEKS! It’s a comprehensive series of days, each with it’s own special meanings and tasks. I can’t even begin to pack it all into this post without becoming Wikipedia, but here are some of the things it entails: Cleaning, Forgiving, Visiting, eating, Writing your name on a mandarin and throwing it in the river, guiding spirits home, making lanterns, firecrackers, dragons, have your fortune told, giving people money in little red envelopes.
So you know, do the new year again, it’s the year of the DRAGON, it’s kind of a big deal. Out with the old and in with the new, expel the negative chi from your life and breathe in energy, vitality and unbridled enthusiasm! To make sure that everyone knows you are enthusiastic, we’re making dragon-themed noisemakers, the kind everyone used to cheer for Ralph Macchio in Karate Kid: Part II. Here’s what I’m talking about, keep in mind, the noisemaker situation doesn’t really present itself until after the dramatic build-up until about 3:40 or so:

This could be YOU (metaphorically speaking, of course). We’re making these… the cheap imitation cardboard version, not the fancy kind made out of wood and animal skin that Mr. Miyagi is using. And no, Mr. Miyagi isn’t Chinese, he’s Japanese, but let’s not turn into Wikipedia again so I can end this post. I’ll bring paints so you can really do it up.
See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

Akbar’s Site

CraftNight’s Site

 

 

Posted by on January 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

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January 11th, 2012 • Teapot Treat Holders

January 08

TONIGHT! January 11th, 2012 from 9pm until midnight at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Teapot Treat Holders with Treats! 
$2 Processing fee, please!
$4 Cosmopolitans! The Akbar Cosmo: Like a Good neighbor, cosmos are there! 

Have you ever gazed longingly at your teapot and thought “Gee, what a drag, I wish this thing was made out of cardboard and full of candy. Guess I’ll have to settle for hot tea in a boring ceramic kettle.” Well have I got news for you! No longer is your reverie stuck in the land of fiction, it is REAL! No longer will you be stuck in the long dark tea time of the soul, you have landed in Clover, it is a charmed life you lead. How can I tell?

This week’s craft kit is not just tea time, but TREAT time!
I’ll hand you your selection of goods that helps you to create a winsome little getup involving a container that LOOKS like a teapot that is ACTUALLY a container for candy, or teabags, or condoms or um… spices, you know, whatever’s around that needs a handy storage spot!
And do not DO NOT DO. NOT…Tell me you’re not going to come in here and make a teapot treat holder because you’re trying to get all streamlined and adult and “done with clutter.” Crafts have everything to do with clutter and nothing to do with creating harmonious feng shui for your minimalistic immaculate home. If you are certain that owning one of these beauties is going to harsh your mellow or make you feel a smidgen of ill-defined disquietude… then make one, fill it with treats and give it away!

I promise it’ll be a hit, I even grabbed some discount candies to give it that authentic feel of when you’d visit a waiting room or a bank in the 70s or 80s (when people in businesses actually kept candy dishes) and get a FREE piece of candy just for visiting! Maybe you can use it at your work, or your swank hi-rise apartment. Bring the “free candy” tradition back! Make it the focal point of a cozy kitchen nook, it’s the pinnacle of hospitality! Just make sure you use up or replace the candies frequently, otherwise you replicate the other residual memory of offices in the 70s and 80s: free CRAPPY and STALE candy that no one ever wants.

It’s our second CraftNight of the year, and if I don’t say so myself, we’re starting with some very strong crafts, don’t miss this one!

See you at the Craft Table!

JP Craft Captain

Akbar’s Site

CraftNight’s Site

 

 

Posted by on January 8, 2012 in Uncategorized

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