Yes, it’s green leather. I covet them. Via the crack that is First Dibs.
You’ve been warned.
More info here.
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Every issue of Selvedge, the magazine dedicated to textiles, is a treat. Beautiful images, profiles, stories — the magazine is full of inspiration. I just got an email announcing new items in their shop and thought these felt slippers were cozy and perfect antidote to this chilly November, post-thanksgiving evening.
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday — we spent the holiday in Boston which was a nice break with lots of family, good food, and many things to be thankful for! I was unexpectedly without internet access, so I took a bit of a blogging break too.
While I don’t usually blog about food here although I’m a major food lover and cook, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes, and one I cooked over thanksgiving. It’s a chocolate pear tart (but crustless!) — easy to make, delicious and my new favorite food. I found it in EveryDay Food, Martha Stewart’s cooking “magazine” where I always find a couple of new recipes to try every month. My two tweaks: I use canned pears (gasp! I know! but there are good organic canned pears out there that taste delicious) and raw almonds (I think it makes the tart taste more “tart” like, whatever that means, but if you cook it, you’ll understand).
And, thank you for your comments in the last couple of weeks! I always appreciate them so much and will respond this week. In a preview of coming attractions, I’ll update you on the necklace stands I ordered (one worked and one didn’t!), the massive lot of matchbook which have just arrived today and I have a mini-gift guide in the works!
This tiny sink….
… and the charming flow of this room
… and wishing this print from Rose + Radish was under the Christmas tree. How sweet is that bear?
The reliably wonderful thing about inspiration is that it is unpredictable. On an uptown bus, while taking out the trash, while coming home from a long day — inspiration sneaks itself into my frame of vision, uninvited, but welcome none the less. The table below caught my eye in Housing Works flickr photo stream and inspires me: a coffee table with a fantastic custom shadow box and many treasures inside. Look at all the treasures someone collected! I’m fascinated by the urge to collect, which I think stems both from a desire to create order out of chaos and a desire to communicate or articulate identity through objects (?). I wonder why the table has wheels and if the owner was Russian (I see Russian characters on a box). I see shells which make me think of a trip to a beautiful place (or maybe they lived on the beach). There are thimbles and needles but also a number of knives? Birds and pocketwatches. Stamps and marbles. Who was this person! Oh the stories I wish I knew.
Have a happy Monday full of inspiration and a few treasures.
Oh, boy. What a week, right? The preholiday hustle got my game this week. But it’s Friday, I might get to see American Gangster and I have lots of blog reading to catch up on.
Gosia over at BlueBellBazaar sent me a nice note earlier in the week announcing new wares for sale in her Etsy shop. What she doesn’t know is that her shop is my *favorite* etsy shop, and a daily browse for me. Her new wares have been all over blog land, so I thought I’d feature a few of the items in her shop I’ve had my eye on from quite some time instead.
So you might be wondering how to display all these matchboxes… I found this image in my files and thought I’d post it along with the news that last night my mother and I won these on ebay! We’re women on the verge I think.
In the course of scouring the web for decorative matchboxes, I stumbled upon the thriving subculture of collectors focused on vintage matchbox labels: I love the graphics, the colors, the passion of these collectors and I’m sure you will too. Here is a selection of my favorites — but this is literally the tip of the iceburg.
Via (Prik, Rocket). I think the lion is somewhere on Ebay. The bike label and lobster are in collections posted online but I can’t seem to find them again! If I find the links I’ll post them.
I love that a matchbook from a fancy hotel or restaurant is saved for 40 years, as a memento, as proof you were there, as a signifier trying to indicate you are of a certain class. Or, an”exotic”label from India might be saved by an boy in England in the 194os, and for him, it represents the world outside his immediate view.
If you are as fascinated by these labels and how people “use” them as I am check out this book from Amazon.
Finally, if you’re interested in making your OWN decorative matches boxes (yes, please!) my mom noticed that the great site ForYourParty.com does custom matches relatively inexpensively. I love these shapes they offer. Note that you don’t need to do monograms — you can do phrases, images (I think!) and really anything you’d want…
Since posting my favorite matchboxes a few weeks ago, I’ve become obsessed with them. Evidently, I’m not alone in coveting beautiful matchboxes — my post garnered lots of comments (and lots of creativity, thanks readers!) and a surprising amount of traffic from folks doing google searches on “decorative matchboxes.” All of which was just enough to prompt another post on the topic. With some serious help from my mom (who is the original design scout! thanks, Mom!), here is a second edition of the decorative matchboxes. For the acquisition minded among these are all for sale (either online or ebay). I especially like the matches from the Pink Giraffe (from the Hong Kong Sheraton Hotel…awesome!) and the “bear claw” (!!) matches used to light fires in fireplaces. NOTE: there is a link to each site embedded in each photo… enjoy.
From my earlier posts, you know that I love creating “deskscapes” — inspirational vignettes that cheer me up when I am sitting nose to the grindstone getting things done. For the past few months I’ve been scouring flea markets, thrift shops and the interwebs for vintage desk delights. This weekend I cracked open the [bursting at the seams] cabinet where I’ve been stashing all these finds and posted a batch for sale at my Etsy shop. Here are a few of my favorites - there are more in the store!
First up, a collection of perfect clip containers — vintage typewriter ribbon tins on the far left and far right and an old-school wooden tray with a carved hunting hound.
I found an amazing collection of white ceramic animals - they are so adorable.
These bird models are super cute and cheerful - they snap right together and even have a little info card so that when someone stops by to check out your cool desk you can wow them with birdie trivia.
And finally, some silly whimsies. The little blue basket on the left contains a never-used plastic rain bonnet - perfect for the girl about town with a do-up she can’t get wet. The little cottage is also a fairy tale viewer - hold it up to the light and click the chimney to see the story of Little Red Riding Hood. And a miniature tea set. For your ceramic animals and birds?
I meant to blog about this the second I heard — Brownstoner.com is launching what will be the largest flea market in Brooklyn next April! The location? A 40,000 square foot schoolyard in Fort Greene. I’ve noticed a lot of the flea markets in Manhattan seem tired — this could be my salvation (and maybe I’ll rent a space and sell some of my vintage finds….).
It’s hard to believe it’s almost holiday time. While watching my Wednesday night guilty pleasure, Gossip Girl, (which was actually filming a Christmas scene just down the street from our apartment tonight; cue throngs of upper east side prep school girl superfans lining Madison Avenue), I caught this Target holiday ad with an advent calendar theme:
Now let’s be clear: I love advent calendars. I love the inexpensive drugstore kind with perforated cardboard doors that you open to find a little chocolate. I love the antique one my mother used to fill with surprises for us. Anyway, a little early holiday spirit for you, courtesy of YouTube and the retail gods.
Joanna from Cup of Jo asked a very good question about that last post: where does a girl get firewood in NYC? I looked around and it seems a girl calls the NYC Firewood Co. at 212.876.3996 and, for around $99, procures enough wood to fill a decorative fireplace…
(Image via Flickr)
Via Decor8, I’m in love with this idea of filling a non-working fireplace to the brim with wood. As the weather gets cooler here in the big city, I’m looking longingly at our own decorative fireplace. Even if we can’t enjoy the heat from a real fire, there is something warm and wonderful from the wood in these. Whether we could procure the required volume of logs, much less carry them up to our third floor perch, is another story!
I poked around the web and found a few other takes on this idea:
(via New England Lifestyle and House to Home)
I have a weakness for floor plans and their black and white simplicity. The saying goes that all conversations in New York end up on the topic of real estate and that is so true. I love the whole New York real estate game — we’re not thinking about buying anything anytime soon, but I still love to look at the listings — the floor plans inspire me, the interiors inspire and educate me and there is always an element of voyeurism+fantasy. (oooh that is how the other half lives).
We stopped by this open house on Sunday after brunch at Veselka with M. (who has a lovely new apartment she is decorating and I hope to blog about soon soon soon). The apartment below (for sale through Brown Harris Stevens) is a gem in a perfect location (5th avenue between 11th and 12th). While it may look small to those of you who don’t live in NY, it is actually a reasonably sized one bedroom, with a nice flow, and proportion. And perfect prewar detail (molding, wooden floors, charm). The kitchen was small and not terribly efficient, but nothing unlivable. Yum!
