From 2011's winning film Echotone.

If you made a film in the past three years on a Brokelyn budget, you should totally submit to this year’s Northside DIY Film Festival, part of The L Mag’s huge north Brooklyn arts fest. But know this: you’re likely to be outdone (or at least outspent) by your ultra-indie fellows, because according to the fest, “DIY” means “budget under $100,000.” And while obviously 100k isn’t going to buy you blockbuster production values — for context, last year’s Best Picture winner came in at $15 million — it’s not exactly the man-and-a-camcorder budget “DIY” seems to imply (not-so-DIY studio Paramount, after all, has an under $100k “micro-budget” division). (more…)

Her/His heart won’t say whatever to a book from Emily Books! The recently launched e-venture — a collaboration between Brooklynite bffs Emily Gould and Ruth Curry — is an indie bookstore and book club in e-form. The super-curated stock focuses on under-appreciated, woman-centric titles; so far: Emily Carter’s Glory Goes and Gets Some, Eileen Myles’ Inferno (a poet’s novel), and Ellen Willis’ No More Nice Girls, with one new release each month. Also, it’s not Amazon, and they hold related book events each month too. If this were “Gifts Under $160,” we’d say you should buy the annual subscription, which would get you the latest installment automatically delivered every month (a CSA for books!), but for now, we’ll go with the $15 book-of-your-recipient’s-choosing gift certificate.

$15, Emily Books online.

Keep your happy white family happy

When I first read about Toygaroo — the “Netfilx of toys” — I was really hoping it was a rental library of like, German tile games. It’s not, which is unfortunate for me, BUT if you’re a Brooklynite with kids, Toygaroo may be just the ticket to a fat wallet and a happy child. Maybe? Certainly, it has the potential to be super space-saving. The premise is Netflix-simple: you subscribe to a plan (4 toys, 6 toys or 8 toys, to be delivered in bundles either every month or every other month). When your kids get bored with their haul, you FedEx ‘em back using the pre-paid label, and the elves at Toygaroo send off the next batch in your queue. (more…)

Estrada supports CHIPS.

In late September, a huge fire left beloved Park Slope soup kitchen/women’s shelter/transitional living facility CHIPS with major structural damages, damages significant enough they were force to shutter the doors. For now, the women and children who were living in CHIPS’ residences are staying in temporary shelters, and the soup kitchen’s hot meals have been replaced with bagged lunches. That’s no way to spend Thanksgiving! Help CHIPS get back on its feet (and back in its building) this Saturday, when Brooklyn Potters and Ozzie’s team up to sponsor Empty Bowls for CHIPS in Brooklyn. There, $25 gets you an arty handmade bowl (filled with soup!) donated by a Brooklyn Potter, and an afternoon of homegrown poetry, music and storytelling, with 100 percent of proceeds going to rebuild CHIPS. (more…)

That's a ceramic Walt Whitman TV. Can you do better?

For you, “Pottery Barn” means rural clay studio, and “throwing pots” has nothing to do with domestic violence. Get your big break (ha?) and a shot at ceramics stardom with UncommonGoods’ ceramics design challenge, the latest installment of their periodic contest series. You can submit up to five of your favorite clay pieces, and the Uncommon folks will choose a spread of top picks before turning final decisions over to their customers (via community voting) and a panel of guest judges. Winner gets $500 plus a vendor contract to hawk their wares on UncommonGoods.com. There’s not much time left — contest closes 10/31 — so get your entries in to ceramics@uncommongoods.com ASAP.

Nuit Blanche in Paris.

Ah, Brooklyn: City of Romance, City of Light. Or at least, it will be this weekend (The second part. The first part totally depends how excited about contemporary art you are). For NYC’s contribution to the Nuit Blanche project — which started as an art all-nighter in Paris 10 years ago and now takes places in cities across the world — our little Greenpoint will be transformed into a free nighttime marathon of public art set against the Manhattan skyline. From 6pm Saturday through 1am Sunday, “Bring to Light” will feature a menagerie of site-specific installations by emerging and established artists. The 50+ participants will “re-imagine public space and civic life” through light, sound, performance, and projection, giving you a glimpse at the city like you haven’t seen it before. Bonus: the festival’s arranged to keep the East River Ferry running every 15 minutes ‘till around midnight for a much-appreciated alternative to the G. Have you taken that thing yet? Do it! Waterways are the future.

Your old clothes can carry on and on.

Oh, hey, you love The Strand? Us too! While it’s hard to argue with the merits of reusable tote bags — something about the environment, I think? — the folks at Williamsburg craft resource SPACECRAFT invite you to put down your Strand/Park Slope Food Coop/n+1 portable advertisement and pick up a needle and thread. This Saturday from 2-5pm, anti-plastic crusaders from Bags for the People will be on hand to lead Brooklynites through the basics of making reusable shopping bags with personal flair. Just BYO fabric scraps — an old shirt works, too — and for a $7 suggested donation, they’ll have stitching your way to sustainability in no time.

SPACECRAFT, is at 355 Bedford Ave. between S. 3rd and S. 4th Streets.

In retrospect, the all-spam survival kit may not have guaranteed survival

Facing the apocalypse, Chef Boyardee seemed like a good idea. Now that it turns out we’re mostly going to make it after all, that $200 hoard of canned spaghetti is looking like a poor use of shelf space. You could sit around eating it for the next year, or you could consider donating those extra Irene supplies to any of the New York City charities that are always in need of help. Here’s a quick rundown of where you can pass on your stockpiles: (more…)