Go Postal! Decorating With Vintage Postcards

I love the stories that old postcards tell. Recently I came across a stash of these inspiring cast-offs wasting away in a dusty shoebox (pity, I know). If, like me, you are always on the hunt for cost-effective alternatives to high-priced design for your digs, incorporate this recycled craft into your décor. It’s a quick, thrifty fix and a great way to merge the past with the present. Just make sure there is one overriding theme to eliminate visual chaos (I’m partial to retro travel messengers).

Here, ways to adorn with old postcards on the cheap from some of my go-to resources.

1. Invest in low-cost wall art—HomeLife.com shows you how.

2. No headboard? No problem—source chicer slumber from the creative folks at Sunset Magazine.

3. Make a lovely tabletop collage with DIY tips from Dispatch from L.A.

4. Office lacking panache? Hang a postcard holder. I love this one from Apartment Therapy.

Afghanistan Rebuilds; Restoration Works International Recruits

Casualties of global conflicts are myriad. Those in Afghanistan have and continue to be well reported. There is a really interesting story on NPR’s Morning Edition about the restoration of two massive 6th century Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley of central Afghanistan destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. According to NPR’s report, these monuments were erected centuries before Islam came to the region. Listen to the NPR story here.

To learn more about historical and cultural restoration, or to get involved, check out Restoration Works International. Formerly known as the Cultural Restoration Tourism Project, this good will, good works organization recruits volunteers to help restore civic structures in communities through the world while providing them with a unique, cross-cultural immersion experience that has economic and social benefit to the region. Take a peek at the org’s work in the Nepali village of Chhairo and join an upcoming project. Fall trips are filling up!

Thornton Editorial Link Love for Apartment Therapy

I have followed Apartment Therapy for years, but with more frequency since I purchased my 1940s-era cottage bungalow last summer—a "project" that reawakened my slumbering interest in interiors and architecture. Many homes featured on AT's daily "Hot House Tour" are period, so naturally, I’m a fan. Currently, I’m loving "Jeremy & Joe's Collections with History" nest—a historic Providence pad filled with a well-curated collection of objects and inheritables.

Take the tour! And, check out AT's Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan's essential decorating tips in the latest issue of House Beautiful.

Happy adorning…

First Look at The Iron Lady Online!

The supernaturally talented, and Oscar’s favorite frontrunner, Meryl Streep, is at it again (thank the cinematic gods), this time taking on the role of steely Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.  It’s Streep and it’s a biopic so consider the key nuances—mannerisms, accent—in the bag.

My only concern is director Phyllida Lloyd at the helm. Although a capable auteur, the last time Lloyd teamed with Streep, she managed to crush all my fantasies of curling up next to Pierce Bronson when she allowed sexy 007 to croon (badly) in Mamma Mia! Not even a pokerfaced Meryl could have saved that particularly horrific reveal, although damn if the woman didn’t nearly pull it off.

Get a sneak peek of the teaser trailer on The Guardian and let me know what you think!

The Iron Lady Trailer

Countdown to Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest!

The 4th of July is here and I’m insatiable for the return of Nathan's 2011 International Hot Dog Eating Contest, broadcasted live on ESPN. What can I say, sparklers and the Boston Pops used to captivate me too, now its one of the more bizarre feats in human history—competitive eating. Go figure.

This 4th of July juggernaut is about as American as it gets. Tons of food, gross over-consumption, and controversy—it’s got it all.  Funny, I can’t stomach watching any other form of competitive eating, but there’s just something about Nathan’s fairly disgusting throwdown—a singular sense of the absurd, perhaps—that is impossible to turn away from. Consider the ridiculousness of it all: Everyday people from all walks of life who pay taxes and join the PTA actually do this for a living, and survive. They also enjoy quirky celebrity of a sort and, as members of Major League Eating, tour their very own circuit. Only in America.

For me the fascination begins and ends with the sport’s larger-than-life personalities.  Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas and reigning champ Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who last year downed 54 beefy links in 10 minutes to take the crown, are heroes of the sport. The nemesis role belongs to six-time Nathan’s titleholder, Takeru Kobayashi, who hoovers food with samurai-like attack and actually bested a 1,089-pound Kodiak bear in a head-to-head eating duel. Plus, the monikers are gold.

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has taken place every year since its inaugural chow-down in 1916, except, oddly enough, when it was cancelled to accommodate that other American pastime, protesting; first in 1941, when an objection to the war in Europe was staged, and again in 1971, when the dog days of summer halted for a stand against “free love” and civil unrest.

I’m proud to say that this year is free and clear and that I’m pulling for The Black Widow. How about you? Send me your reply on Facebook or on Twitter @ThorntonEditing!