Candle Holder Flashlight

I think these are so clever! Candle Holders that double as a flashlight! By David Weeks (who made those fun "ulterior votives") also for Kikkerland

It's delightful, it's delicious, it's delovely...

I have this song stuck in my head. It won't go away.


Really cute commercial though. (Although, to be honest, I seriously thought it was a commercial for Target at first...)

Virtual Gingerbread House

I have/had this master plan... I was going to try to work it so that I could tie up all my current projects earlier this year so that I could actually enjoy an extended "holiday vacation." Yet as each day goes by, I'm finding that something inevitably comes in and tries to foil my plan... The sad thing is, instead of working and trying to get the things done that I need to do, I find myself dilly dally-ing in mindless holliday fun. I found via Craftzine, this fantastic-ly cute and entertaining Virtual Gingerbread House that artist Jenny Harris created. Check it out here and see if you get as sucked in as I did (just don't get caught if you're at work, hehe) This is mine so far...Are any of you making gingerbread houses this year? Is it a tradition for anyone?

New Marimekko wrapping paper at Crate & Barrel

Gorgeous wrapping paper from Marimekko at Crate & Barrel. I love the grey/silver watercolor-y one. I think I may need to buy a roll and frame part of it.

The spray paint bandits have attacked!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. One of the things I appreciate most about the holiday season is that I finally get some opportunity (or motivation?) to tackle some of those long put-off, procrastinated projects. I generally try to have some friends come over, which is always the best way to get your house in order isn't it?!

Awhile back I posted about my "dipped" branch deal-y, and it sparked a whole series of attacks from the white spray paint bandits! First up- remember back in October, I got the metal skull candle holder from Target. BAM! the spray paint bandits attacked and now I have a less... "spooky"? candle holder... and then I had picked up one of those Roost antler-knock off candle holders- also from Target this past fall(that were on major clearance- woo hoo!), and BAM! the spray paint bandits jumped in again, and transformed it to a something more porcelain like... (ok, not really, but I do like the end result...) Will the spray paint bandits return?... I have a feeling they might... and I'll be prepared...

Verdigris Mini taper Holder at Viva Terra

How gorgeous are these Verdigris Mini taper holders at Viva Terra- (I posted them today on AT:LA) They're so delicate, and... magical- I love the clear glass base. Keeps it modern. (It's also made out of recycled glass!)

Gray pumpkins!

Nobody told me there were gray pumpkins!! I saw these over the weekend in a shop in Laguna. Apparently they are called Jarrahdale Pumpkins. (If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know my obsession with gray.) Soooo cool!!! ... I must go find one!

Sharin' my Cairn

You know when you're out by a lake, or sometimes by the beach or just in the "great outdoors", you see those little piles of rocks that someone made? I've always found something really soothing about them. Not sure why. Apparently, it's called a "cairn", which "a heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument, etc..." Over at Viva Terra, they have these cool stone vases and cairns. I love the idea of using a cairn as a modern sculpture accent somewhere in your home. Now, $55 for a set of 3 cairns is a bit too much for me, and I figured they'd be easy enough to make. So, I was inspired to make a little pile of my own. (Surprisingly, it took a little while to get them to balance right- don't put me on your team to play Jenga.) Since they're meant to be commemorative markers, I'm going to keep it as a reminder to slow down for a sec and smell the roses... (or look at the little pile of rocks, hehe)

Blue Munday: World Paperback Design

Continuing on with my book bonanza...this past summer, Abby over at Hi+Lo posted this book and was kind enough to share with me the ISBN number (which is ISBN 4-89444-518-2 c3070 published by PIE books) So, I ordered it from my Kinokuniya and it came a few weeks ago! Yay! It's such a great collection of fantastical paperback book covers from the 60's and 70's. I made another little video preview so you can get the flava-


You'll probably need to go to a japanese bookstore to order it, although I did see that it was listed on the japanese PIE books page (can anyone translate?).

Laser cut cupcake wrappers

oooh.... pretty cupcakes... How great are these über fancy cupcake wrappers spotted by AT:Kitchen. For some reason , this screams great DIY project, but I just haven't wrapped my head around how you would do it yet. So, in the meantime, you can oogle or purchase some here.

Friday video break.

Ugh. I can't believe it's friday- and then at the same time- Thank God it's Friday!! Long long week that seemed like it was never going to end, and then at the same time so swamped that (precious) time came swooping by. That's weird huh? Anyway- sorry for my lack of posts this week. I have so much to catch up on here. While I work on getting those posts up- here's a quick frivolous friday video break. Some random videos that have sparked my fancy:

the new Gwen in all her glamorous (and just a tad over dramatic but hey, who can blame her for wanting to roll around the floor in a gorgeous theater with a rainfall of beautiful red feathers) glory.


and an artist from Sweden, Robyn, who you may or may not remember from waaaay back in the late 90's as a teen pop artist (pre-Britney) with hits like Show me Love and Do you know. Anyway- she's back with a new album and this video intrigues me. It's very "avant garde" euro-fashion-y and I love it. The box theme is fun and the colors are great too.

Blue munday. Pretty blue fake flowers.

Was looking through the House & Garden website (not sure when they'll take it down)- Love this image of the blue fake flowers from the their New York shop guide. This is from Dulken & Derrick. I'm not sure who took the photo, but I know I tore this out from the issue (will have to check)

Whitest Boy Alive - Golden cage video

Directed by Geoff Mcfetridge. (via coolhunting)

Target 2007 Holiday catalog

Woo hoo! I can't hold it in any longer! I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I can't wait for Christmas! I admit it gets kinda obnoxious when the retail world starts showing holiday things before Halloween, but now that Halloween is over- I say, bring it on! I don't know why, but this year in particular, I'm really looking forward to the holidays. Anyways- first up is the new Target 2007 catalog. I'm so excited that Amy Ruppel got selected to do the theme this year. It's totally different from last year's Tord fest, but I love it just the same. What I also love is the cut out in the cover, like an advent catalog. It matches the commercials that have been playing. (D*S had a link to one right here)


Here's a link to the whole catalog. Are you looking forward to the holidays?

Audrey break: Take the picture! Take the Picture!

Thank God it's Friday. Time for a quick Audrey break... Take the Picture! Take the Picture!

I Grobot planter

I totally want one of these. Although the planter base is supposed to be robot, there's something very... Jonathan Adler-esque? about it- Of course my grass would die, so maybe its better I don't, hehe- Cute gift idea to put in an office though... Takes the Chia Pet to a whole new level. Speaking of, I gotta admit, there's something kinda genius about the Chia Pet... still kind of scary, but genius too...

mundane aesthetic: shadow puppets

Just got this in my inbox- this "unusualist" is Raymond Crowe

Wonderful World shadow puppets.

Branching out.

I have this vase vingette by my tv. I've been staring at it for awhile. I guess I just felt like it needed a little... sumthin' sumthin'.
So then I got this crazy idea to do a "dipped" effect, where only half the branch is white (I'm still in this weird "white" kick right now.) Originally I had the idea to have just the top half be white, but in the end, decided to do the bottom half instead. Of course, I couldn't actually "dip" it, since that would have required large amounts of wasted paint and a container big enough, which wasn't going to happen- so we turned to the trusted can-o-spray paint! I think it turned out pretty nice! It complements the ochre stripe I painted on the wall behind the tv, and continues the more linear motif I have going on in the painting behind... I simply taped off where I wanted to line to end. It was a little trickier to do than I thought. One tip with the tape is to mask it with the branches in the vase that you want it to be in. That way it will stay level to the vase, since the position of the branch can shift. Also- make sure you cover the area you don't want painted. Spray paint has a lot of mist, and I had to use a little remover to get rid of a few overspray areas. (you can kind of see some of the overspray in the pic...oops.) Now I think I've been bitten by the spray paint bug! What else can I paint? hm.... ideas.... stay tuned....

Cute party invite

I just received this really cute party invite! It was a mini pinata! You had to open it to get to the actual invitation. I didn't want to kill the little guy, so I wanted to document it here first.
Ok, here's after the carnage: It's for a suprise party-fiesta! so clever!

House & Garden axed

I'm kinda sad- I just read on MediaBistro that House&Garden has apparently been axed and will cease publication after the December 07 issue. (just posted it on AT:LA) I have to admit, there was a time not too long ago that I would never have picked up House & Garden. But recently, I started to notice things were changing. I think it was with the font of the masthead, and then the content started to feel fresher/and more... "hipper"? Anyways- with the recent Gweneth Paltrow cover, it was pretty clear that there was a strong shift in direction. Plus with the website being revamped and with contributions from Design*Sponge and Treehugger, it seemed like things were changing for the better. But alas, I know first hand that the magazine industry is a tough one, and it's demise rarely is because the result of the actual magazine itself and its content. Oh well... H&G, you will be missed by this happy mundane-r. (source)(source)
UPDATE: Design*Sponge sadly confirms the news as well.

Magnetique shelf by Swen Krause

I just love the simple concept of this shelving by Swen Krause. There's a metal panel that can be mounted to the wall, and the actual shelves are boxes that are held on by magnets (I would imagine they would be quite powerful ones!)- I love how you can move them around as needed- and configure them in any way that fits you and your storage needs! Not sure availability- but his website is here, and I found these images here. (spotted via Wallpaper magazine)

Fall Back!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back! Daylight savings ends tonight! Woo hoo! An extra hour of sleep! (unless of course, your area doesn't observe Daylight savings time...)

Pillow talk

Happy Friday! I think everyone should get into PJ's and just toss satin pillows... in Cinemascope...


How awesome is her apartment? and check out the wall mural right before he enters his apartment...

DWR catalog cover

Oy. long long day. Times like these are when I need an escape. The other weekend, I did a marathon of catching up on my recorded episodes of Mad Men, on AMC. When it first started, I was like- ooh- it's visually very nice- pretty- but I wasn't totally sold on it. But being able to watch episode after episode- it has grown on me and now I'm completely hooked. I think I was thrown off by the pacing of it, since it moves a lot slower than your typical drama- but that's a good thing- I love the recent cover of DWR, which was shot about the same time Mad Men takes place- (circa 1960-61) I love that it says "young moderns" too. what a great label. I want to be a "young modern." Those guys look so swank and cool- I'm not saying I want to live in the past- I definitely look forward to the future and want to live in the now- but I do appreciate how everyone wore a suit and was so spiffy. I would never want to wear a suit everyday- but maybe I need to look into "dress-up" fridays... that could be kinda fun...