Cheap Fixes: lampshades that don't look like a craft project

Eddie Ross is a Senior Style Editor at Martha Stewart Living and he writes a blog that's chock full of his hyper creative ideas on how to elevate the everyday. In keeping with my series on cheap fixes from a couple of weeks ago, I'm going to turn Mr. Ross loose on some lampshades.

Lampshades can cost a fortune and I've never figured out why. I'm not one for fussy interiors and I've always looked at lampshades with suspicion. They seem to me the first step down a slippery slope that leads to the land of too too. Lampshades are a stepping stone to the harder stuff, like shirred draperies. Ugh. Even with that said, they're pretty necessary and his posting from 6 November, Eddie had a great idea for them.

Here's a pile of shades Eddie found at a Salvation Army in Hell's Kitchen. These things probably cost him two or three bucks a pop and he pointed out that Target's also a great place to find plain, inexpensive lampshades.

Anyhow, Eddie spray painted a couple of these shades and then embellished them with spike tape. Spike tape is a cotton fabric tape that stagehands use to make temporary marks on a stage. I'm amazed how some spray paint and spike tape transformed these shades. I'm equally amazed by how these three different cheap fixes alter completely the room they're place in.

So here's one he spray painted green and then trimmed in black spike tape. You'd never know that this was a five dollar plus a half hour of your life project. It's interesting and kind of fun. If I saw this in some one's home I'd think they spent real money on it.

This black shade with gray trim is more formal and looks even less home made than the green shade.

Here's my favorite. He didn't even paint this one, he just applied some tape in a kind of modern-ish way. Who would have guessed? What can I say Eddie? I'm impressed. So check out Eddie Ross' blog and if you need some spike tape for a project of your own, you can find it at Good Buy Guys.

America's Cheapest Family. Hmmmm.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Meet the Economides family from Scottsdale, AZ. The Econimdeses are a family of seven who live comfortably on an income of around $44,000 a year. Well, that was their income before their book became a bestseller at any rate. 

From everything I can tell, this family lives firmly in the 21st century. They are not part of some movement to turn their backs on modernity and live off the land. I mean, the Economideses paid off their home in nine years, they buy cars with cash, feed seven mouths every month on $350 and don't have any credit card debt. Impossible? Well, it has to be tough to get used to living that way, but it's hardly impossible.

The Economides family has published a book and a website called America's Cheapest Family, and in both they espouse a philosophy of frugal living that is far from joyless and cold. They appear to approach the whole thing as a game and they certainly look to be a pretty happy bunch in the video above.

Look, it's the day after a day that's become the apogee of American consumerism. This is also a time of tremendous economic uncertainty if you haven't noticed. This message of joyful frugality is exquisitely timed, and the Economides family has a thing or two to show anybody who's willing to look at American life in a different way. For the sake of my own economic security, I hope like crazy that the people who call on me don't become adherents of what this family embodies. Yet as I'm fond of saying, times is hard; and I get it. On a personal level though, I'm intrigued. I didn't go bonkers at Christmas this year the way I usually do, but that's a function of my own concerns about the coming year. Maybe 2009 will be the year I discover the humble coupon. I live within my means though I still think I spend too much money on day-to-day stuff. I plan to spend some time with the Economides gang and see if I can't pick up some pointers.

A mistletoe-y Christmas to you

I won! It's a Christmas miracle!

Tula, over at Whorange, had an essay contest last week and the grand prize was this stunning, signed print by the Portland master, Matte Stephens. The print came originally from Velocity Art and Design and they're another cool source for cool stuff. I love Matte Stephens' work and I love Whorange, and I did so even before I won this contest. Hurray! This is the best Christmas ever!

Read Tula's blog and keep an eye on Matte's too.

The most wonderful time of the year

Christmas Eve is the big day for food in my book. Over the years, I've taken the square peg of my family's Christmas Eve dinner and shoved it into the round hole of a southern Italian Vigilia. The traditional, old-country Vigilia has grown into the Feast of Seven Fishes in the US. Since Christmas is a holiday that lends itself to changing traditions, my version consists of whatever exotic foods I can get my hands on at the specialty grocers in St. Pete in the lead up to Christmas Eve. I'm crazy for cured meats, real cheeses and anchovies in as many forms as I can find. My skill at throwing together a cheese course has led my friends to refer to my Christmas Eve shindig as "What a Friend We Have in Cheeses," and I find that hilarious.

Last week, the delightful women over at Design Boner clued me into a new source for next year's Vigilia victuals. Check this out:

Mostarda d'uva

Snow cone sauce.

From the villages of the Italian Piedmont, where it's been around for centuries, 

mostarda d'uva (grape mustard) is a thick, savory-sweet condiment that's eaten extensively with polenta, boiled meats or cheese. I'd be content to put it on a piece of toast or a grilled cheese sandwich, too. One look at the ingredient list will tell 

you this is special: Barbera wine grapes, freshly cut quince, sugar, cloves, dried pears, orange and lemon peel, and an array of spices, all simmered till it's the texture of chutney. Roberto Santopietro, who makes it, told Ari, "You know, it's excellent with snow." Thinking he'd misunderstood, he said, "You mean with granita?" "No," he responded firmly." With snow." You see, in the mountains they go out and gather freshly fallen snow, then serve up a cup of it topped with a spoonful or two of this.

Man! That sauce sounds incredible and it's right up my alley. The sauce and the illustration come from an online food emporium called Zingerman's. Zingerman's is an actual store in Ann Arbor, MI; but their online catalog will have to hold me over until I find myself in Ann Arbor. Their website is this food-lover's idea of heaven. They have everything from salt-cured capers, salt-packed anchovies (!), and Finocchiona (a fennel and pork cured sausage) to fresh breads of more varieties than I could count. These people carry the sorts of things I'd live on if I could. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I stumbled upon this:

Garum Colatura

Ancient Italian fast food.

This is one of those foods for folks looking for something both old and new – and flavorful. It’s an ancient convenience food that gets deep flavor without much work.

I’d never heard of garum colatura until I visited the Italian coast south of Naples. There I discovered it’s the liquid that’s drained off the barrels of traditionally cured anchovies. Made much the same way it was 2000 years ago, it’s used as a quick way to give great anchovy flavor to a dish without having to fillet, soak and chop the fish. Locals still use it regularly, mostly on pasta.

The best meal of my Neapolitan trip was a bowl of pasta cooked al dente that had been tossed quickly with garum, some very good olive oil, chopped garlic and a touch of dried red pepper. Our accountant, Jim, likes to mix it with olive oil in a 3:1 ratio oil:garum. He uses it as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables. Jim isn't your everyday accountant

Garum is what the Ancient Romans used as an all-purpose seasoning. I suppose it was the Roman equivalent of ketchup. Now that I think of it, American ketchup evolved from garum to begin with, so I think that's a pretty accurate analogy. Whether or not it's accurate is immaterial however because these people sell garum! Amazing! My God, the further into their site I dig the better it gets. They have a section of licorices for die hard fans too. Guilty as charged on that count! Give me real licorice any way you can imagine it and I'll be a happy man. This website is the stuff of my sugarplum visions. Licorice, salami, anchovies, real cheese and crusty bread, life doesn't get much better. Check them out.