The Blue Whale Boat Neck

05-14-2008 | 02:01 PM EST | 0 Comments

I used to love buying t-shirts with sayings or characters on them, but most of them just seem a little too young for me now that I'm in my 30's. I'm a huge t-shirt fan, though, so I've been on the lookout for some cool, girly shirts that I can still wear in my advanced years ;-) I love having nature themes on stuff (in case you haven't noticed yet), and the design on The Blue Whale Boat Neck shirt is great—as the designer points out, there are water reflections on its back, stripes on its belly, and a very cute little spurt of water at the top.

The t-shirt is designed by Circular Accessories, which is based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It's silk screened by hand onto an American Apparel shirt, and because she's doing an open run of the whale, you can request a certain size and even ask her to print it on a different type of shirt (there are no guarantees that she'll be able to do it, but she'll "see what she can do"). The shirt costs $30, which seems reasonable to me...plus, she does have 7 cats, 1 dog, and a goldfish to feed...

Zoe Bird

05-13-2008 | 10:14 AM EST | 0 Comments

I guess that we all need a few cute little dust collectors around the house (I'm still trying to fill some shelves I put up months ago), so why not make them something unique and handmade? I ran across Zoe Bird a few weeks ago, and she's been popping into my head ever since.

Zoe Bird is made by cookoorikoo, and as you know by now, I love to point out when something is made from recycled pieces. Each of the birds that cookoorikoo creates are made from scrap pieces of material (this one is made out of linen and cotton, but there are other birds made out of felt), and they're filled with polyfil, have embroidered eyes, a wool felt beak, and 18 gauge wire legs. They're also hand-stitched, so you're really getting one-of-a-kind pieces with these ones!

Broken Plate Pendant

05-10-2008 | 10:49 AM EST | 0 Comments

We've all broken a plate before, I'm sure, but how many of us have thought to make something out of it? I haven't—I immediately start picking up the pieces to throw them in the trash. But there are some more creative people out there, and in a store called TheBrokenPlate, one designer finds her art in vintage plates. There are probably close to 100 necklaces on her site, and you'd be hard-pressed to find one that isn't great. I like the colors in the green and yellow leaf one here, but there are also some very cute little mushrooms, several floral designs, and even some text-based ones.

Not only is the jewelry itself pretty, it's also environmentally-friendly. The plates are obviously being recycled into a new use and it's surrounded in a black patinaed, lead-free, silver solder. And another cool thing about TheBrokenPlate is that they do custom work, too. So next time you break something, don't be sad—just contact the designer and repurpose it into a piece of jewelry.

Vinila Greeting Cards

05-09-2008 | 02:50 PM EST | 0 Comments

Whenever it's time to send a card these days, it seems like I'm spending more and more time searching for just the right one—something fun (but not over-the-top) and a little different. I'm not interested in the common themes of shopping or shoes for women or a beer and TV remote for men, and it seems like those are everywhere. Just this morning, though, I ran across this set of greeting cards and I seriously think that they might have been designed just for me.

The set has six cards in it, each featuring a distinct little creature from the Vinila collection. Among the six are 'D' (who says "a little bit of bad is good"), Bella ("a gentle creature with a brilliant imagination"), and Puff (who "only eats organic and is a passionate activist. His mission is the propagation of everything cute and you're going to hear about it!"). Part of the fun with these cards, though, is that they come with little speech bubbles that you can fill in yourself to make the card say whatever you want. Very useful!

Zakka Wooden Box

05-07-2008 | 09:12 PM EST | 0 Comments

I love having little things to put little things in (it somehow makes me feel more organized...), and when I saw this wooden box, I thought it would be perfect for those buttons that inexplicably fall off when you get a new shirt. Why they can't sew buttons on is another issue all together, but until I have a chance to sew them back on, a little box like this one seems like the perfect place to keep them safe.

The Zakka Wooden Box is made by craftpudding, and it's available on Etsy. The listing says that you can choose from several designs (including a rabbit or a cup of coffee or a tree), but I liked the little girl and birdie the best. The box is only 1 5/8" by 2 1/4", but don't let its size fool you—it has a big personality to make up for it.

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