Cheap and cool and would be fun at an outdoor summer party. Available here for only $16.
Cheap and cool and would be fun at an outdoor summer party. Available here for only $16.
Ezra Poundcake has Ina Garten (her highness the Barefoot Contessa) tips for making a beautiful and delicious cheese platter. I'm guessing my port wine ball of cheese smothered in chopped nuts + Wheat Thins pairing is not included.
Barefoot Tip #1: Choose an interesting assortment of
cheeses—hard sharp cheeses, soft creamy ones and pungent blue cheeses.
Look for an interesting mix of flavors, textures and colors.
Barefoot Tip #2: Be sure to have a platter or wooden board
large enough to hold the cheeses without crowding them. Arrange the
cheeses with the cut sides facing out and with several small cheese
knives.
Barefoot Tip #3: To finish the platter, add sliced breads or crackers and green leaves.
Barefoot Tip #4: Overall, the simpler the design, the better the platter looks. Group each kind of cheese together and add one large bunch of green or red grapes in the center to create a visual focal point. Fill in the spaces with lots of crackers or small slices of bread.
Cute metalworks from Beehive - measuring spoons, hooks, and other unique items for the home.
Stumbled upon this hilarious blog called Cake Wrecks: when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong. It's even up for an award for Best New Weblog. Below are some of the hysterical cakes and the funny commentary:
A gorgeous brownstone renovation. Full article in New York Magazine.
Love this idea. Shown are "Stuff Me Silly" ($37.99, comes with 2 little dolls that say "I love you") and the "Art in the Park" ($37.99 with crayons and drawing pad included). For boys there is the "Me and My Band" ($39.99) that comes with all 3 instruments seen in the picture. Other options are "Drag N Race" ($29.99), with cars and the "Scopin the Scene" ($29.99), fully equipped with kaleidoscope, telescope, and sillyscope. Available here or here, if you are diabolically opposed to Ebay.
Love the new nature-inspired and brightly-colored linens at Le Souk right now.
Makool Loves You, a Portland boutique, features independent, handmade fashion, jewels, accessories and housewares.
Bold & Noble is an English design collective set up by Jane Tobitt and David Wardle. Love these hand pulled screen prints.
Barbara Butler's playhouses, forts, and treehouses are so fun to look at. Who knew there were so many different ways to make an outdoor play structure? The prices are definitely steep, but you can tell many hours of design, care, and hand painting go into these. Her philosophy? "...create a great backyard play structure that’s an outdoor playroom. Make it beautiful to look at and strong enough for the whole family to play on. Spark the imagination and encourage kids to turn off the TV and computer, and go outside to play!"
AT's kitchen blog The Kitchn had an intriguing post about open storage kitchens. They are popping up all over the place in magazines, online, etc. They look cool, but you certainly don't see any tupperware, cereal boxes, McCormick spices, or other unsightly kitchen items out in the open. Below are some good examples. By eliminating upper cabinets you can really open up a space, but you better be pretty tidy!
It's hard to top Carmel, California. Gorgeous scenery. Click for here a great article about a cottage garden renovation and enjoy the photos below.
So, I bet you didn't know it was National Chocolate Cake Day on January 27. Not to be confused with National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day (January 3rd) or National Chocolate Mint Day (February 19th). To see more obscure candy/sweets holidays, click here. Below are three delicious chocolate recipes in honor of the big holiday. Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes, Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Individual Chocolate Cakes.
Love this Laurelhurst toy box/bookshelf combo from Via Toy Box. Available in lots of color choices for $343.
Speaking of crazy color, the wild patterns of Marimekko are well-suited for kid wear. Here are some of their past fall and current spring collection offerings...
Ok, this freaked me out for a minute (so.many.colors.) Then I realized any kid in their right mind would LOVE this cake for a birthday party. The Omnomicon shows you how it's done (and it is not hard).
E15 was founded
in 1995 in London by architect Philipp Mainzer and product designer
Florian Asche. Today the company has its headquarters in Germany,
Oberursel near Frankfurt. Love their modern, simple wood furniture.
Unique, handmade pillows made with felt from The Little Stitch store.
This gorgeous modern home in LA was designed by Assembledge and really takes advantage of the nice California weather.
via
Part boutique, part workshop, le Petit Atelier de Paris sells unique, handmade items for "pleasant daily life".
via
Southeast Asian Beef and Rice Noodle Soup from Gourmet - full recipe here.
If you want to get all fancy about it...this is solid wood, lined in leather with a magnetic clasp. From Rainer Spehl.
via
Touchy-Feely, a design studio focusing on haptic design in architecture, created these ceramic beads molded from the negative space on spoons. Kinda cool.
via
Hmmm. Never seen this before. Dean and DeLuca is offering these natural salt plates mined from ancient salt deposits buried beneath the Himalayas for millions of years. I'm guessing these aren't dishwasher safe then. The pink plates are "perfect for serving sushi, appetizers or for cooking wagyu beef or seafood right at the table".
5.05 lbs., 7.5" diam. x 1.5" thick. $35.
This Manhattan Beach project (on bloomacious blog) was designed by Sandy Koepke with Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, who provided the grill, the outdoor refrigeration, outdoor freezer, keg tapper, ice maker, wine chiller, and outdoor cabinetry. Wow. This will have you looking forward to summer!
Tres Chic. "These stylish pet food bowls are perfect for your favorite pampered pet! Raised off the floor, they aid in proper digestion. Made of wood & dishwasher safe ceramic. The bowls are removable."
Small (double):14x7x5H, (bowl size 5.25" square by 2" deep), $55.00
Large (double bowl) 20x10x7H (bowl size 7.75" x 3" deep), $90.00
Single 10x10x7, $55.00
Available here.
on D*S. Pretty flowers.
I love how creative people get with basic Ikea furniture and fabrics. Below is a dog bed made from two Expedit desks and a reupholstered Bastis Flack pet bed. Those are some lucky weiner dogs right there. Very fun.
You might feel a little caveman with this new kitchen tool called the Homo Sapien. Designed by Marie Garnier, this sandstone tool can be used as a grinding stone (pestle), knife sharpener, or...? Use your evolved imagination.
via
Hey - how are those new year's resolutions working out for you? How about some luscious Barefoot Contessa banana sour cream pancakes? No light and fluffy here...we're talking dense, serious, manned-up pancakes for serious weekend breakfasts.
Banana Sour Cream Pancakes From Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa Family Style” Yield: 12 pancakes
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.
for Orla Kiely! The Target collection (including dinnerware, serving pieces, storage, linens, etc.) is set to drop in February. Very exciting.
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You've probably seen the ubiquitous print, "Keep Calm and Carry On". People LOVE this print and it has appeared in all the fun magazines and decor blogs. In response, threadless offers the more realistic, "Now Panic and Freak Out" poster. I think this one speaks to me more than the first, unfortunately.
The shop mudpuppy creates beautiful handcrafted ceramics including planters, moon chimes, terrarium decor, and re-purposed vintage china. All very simple, modern and gorgeous. You can also stop by madebymavis to purchase ready-made terrariums for your mudpuppy mushrooms. I like her mini terrariums made from salt and pepper shakers.
Remember these big, bulky, hard-as-nails train cases? These were abundant (along with steamer trunks) during the romantic era of travel (also known as the era of 'I can bring my liquid/gel lotions and potions with me on the plane and get a hot meal'). I used to have a light blue Samsonite train case when I was a kid, and I thought I was the bomb. The SamariaProject refurbishes these beauties, retrofitting them with cool Ikea fabric so you can travel in vintage style.
Rhode Island artist Ann Smith tinkers with piles of broken electronics and machine parts and creates robot-looking little figurines. Ann's site (see her portfolio). To buy her creations, shop at BurrowBurrow.
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