What’s small, bright, and makes all of our picnic dreams come true? Indeed, a tiny grill from Bodum. We’ve been hunting a round, portable, lidded grill for a while now and this just might be the one. Tom and I have narrowed it down to yellow, but the FYRKAT Picnic Charcoal Grill also comes in green, blue, orange, white, and black.
Ever since, oh, January 2nd I’ve been on an organization and cleaning binge. Perhaps the rest of you find yourself in this new-year-cleaning mode as well? If you don’t have the itch to clean, don’t feel bad—I don’t mean to say our place is in perfect order. Given the de-decoration that occurred on January 6 and the distance and darkness of our storage area where holiday décor is stored year round, I’ve yet to deal with a certain number of boxes of ornaments and lights. As they say, no one is perfect. On the other hand, our linen closet is pristine, as is the office area and every surface including windowsills and (!) kitchen cabinets. With all this in mind, I’ve been thinking back to some organization aids found on our visit to one of the fall craft fairs at the Midtown Global Market. There we found St. Paul-based online retailers Olive and Myrtle who carry, among other things, Beehive SoftBowls by MIO. Exploring MIO’s own web site today, I found some other fun treasures. Here are a couple of highlights, including the bowls themselves, which are definitely on my wish list.
Incidentally, Olive and Myrtle also carries one of my favorite gifts from Tom, a game called Pandabo made entirely of bamboo. It’s a bit like Jenga, a bit like Pick up Sticks, and a lot of fun. Tom picked up the game here in Linden Hills at Wonderment, but it’s good to know it’s also available online.
Images: MIOculture.com, Olive and Myrtle
Seven local designers, two great calendars. See below for details on how to get yours.
For the fourth year running, happify brings a 2010 calendar in the form of 12 postcards, offset printed in a rich chocolate brown on an extra-thick (110#) recycled cream 5″x7″ cardstock. On the reverse side there’s space for writing a note and sending them off as postcards to friends and family. These may be oversized according to USPS standards, but they’re well worth the 44¢ stamp. Calendars are shipping now at happify.etsy.com.
$12, plus shipping ($2 in the U.S., $3 to Canada, and $5 to anywhere else). Free shipping when ordering 2 or more calendars.
Through December 31, 2009, Martha and Tom readers will receive complimentary shipping on all happify orders (by including M-AND-T in the space labeled Message to the seller, optional) and get $2 off additional calendars when ordering more than one calendar. Please note that the discount may not be reflected immediately. Happify will refund any shipping charges through paypal.
Redblackbrown‘s second annual calendar is the work of six Minneapolis designers. Each month is based on a different fortune cookie fortune from local Asian restaurants. The redblackbrown calendar is screenprinted on cover weight kraft paper in white and brown cut to 4.65″x5.4″ sheets. See all twelve months here.
$20, plus shipping ($4 in the U.S.).
Order soon: redblackbrown printed this year’s calendar in a limited run of 100. Find your calendar at redblackbrown’s Big Cartel shop.
Note that Minneapolis locals can place orders for pickup by emailing hello (at) redblackbrown (dot) com.
Images :: happify and redblackbrown
I just found out about littlefactory.com via a post on Shelterrific, a blog I read pretty regularly. What caught my eye on their site were these number placemats.
Order soon if you like the look, with shipping from Hong Kong orders should have been in by the 5th to arrive by the 25th. I may just take my chances…
No Coast Craft-o-ramaThe No Coast Craft-o-rama features a variety of designers, artists, crafters and other talented creators of unique handmade goods. Last year Tom and I were able to find a lot of great gifts at No Coast. I hope the same is true this year! A complete list of vendors is available at the Crafter’s Local 612 website.
Learn how to make authentic savory and sweet tamales (!) in Ascension’s cafeteria on Saturday. Or, enjoy the tamales during hospitality after the Basilica’s Sunday afternoon Mass (4:30pm) in the cafeteria, located in the southwest corner of the parking lot between the church and school. All are welcome. For more on this weekend’s festivities, see the Basilica’s calendar for Saturday and Sunday.
Shop Linden Hills for special sales and enjoy these events throughout the morning and afternoon: Live Reindeer (free!) at 43rd and Upton from 10:30 to 1:30; Reindeer drawn sleigh rides (free!) outside Great Harvest from 10:30 to 1:30; Horse-drawn wagon rides at the Famous Dave’s parking lot from 10:30 to 1:30; Reindeer run starting at the Lake Harriet Band Shell at 9:00; Four Seasons barbershop quartet will be caroling from 11:00 to 1:00; Santa will be visiting from 11:00 to 1:00
For more information, visit the Linden Hills Business Assocation’s site.
British Television Advertising AwardsThis weekend the Walker kicks off The British Television Advertising Awards, an event that been selling out quickly for 21 years. According to the Walker’s website, the program this year includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston hawking products to UK audiences. 2009, video, 80 minutes. Friday and Sunday’s shows are already sold out, but there are still tickets available on Saturday for the 4pm and 9pm showings. More on the Walker calendar and on the film & video events page.
Members save 20% on all purchases this weekend at the Walker—it’s a perfect time to get your shopping out of the way! In addition to the offerings in the museum shop, The Walker will be hosting a Local Artist Gift Mart from 11 noon to 4pm daily. B.T. McElrath will also be back for another chocolate tasting on Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm. Details at walkerart.org.
Do It Green! Minnesota’s Green Gifts Fair takes place this Saturday, conveniently before the crazed post-Thanksgiving shopping. Organizers envision the event as an introduction to green giving and low impact ideas to celebrate the holidays with over 70 vendors to explore. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags and coffee mugs. If you plan to eat at Midtown while you shop, consider bringing silverware and a reusable napkin as well. Those who bike, bus, or carpool will receive a free gift at the event. More information doitgreen.org.
Beer, food, and music! What more could you want? Northern Brewer will start the night with a Lambic tasting and chef Landon Schoenfeld will present three sample courses as the night goes on. The beer guest for the night is 21st Amendment Brewery. Music by Falcon Crest, Arctic Universe, School of Rock, Cadillac Kolstad, Cornbread Harris, and The Annandale Cardinals. As before, Clancey’s Meat and Fish will provide meat door prizes as only they can. More info at Gastro Non Grata’s blog.
Midtown Farmers’ Market‘s Thanksgiving MarketMeat, vegetables, apples, bread, chocolates, and canned goods will all be available. Weather permitting there may be crafts as well. Real Bread bread will be available by advanced order: contact Brett at brettlaidlaw (at) eckmeier (dot) com for options. Hilltop Pastures will be at the market as well. According to the market website, they have a waiting list for turkeys, but they’ll be dropping off orders and selling other products on Wednesday. Thanks to midtownfarmersmarket.org for the details!
No exclamation points were harmed in the writing of this post!
Happy Friday, friends!
Checking out sales this morning I found Emmo Home has NexTime’s flip clock on sale, and I thought I’d share, though it’s still a bit $$$. No longer $200, it’s now $138. In the meantime, a cheaper [read:free] flip clock can be found here. Besides the flipping sound’s general appeal, flip clocks remind me of being in Italy. Check out Andy Lepki’s photography to see what I mean (this picture and this other one specifically).
Enjoy your weekend!
Pure Modern is a site that I’ve browsed but never bought from. Given these items on (pretty excellent) sale at the moment… that may change. While the other three objects might be outside of what could be defined as needs, we have been in the market for a camping shovel as it is. Besides the shovel, I’m eyeing these two radios, more so the Tykho, and the low-low price on Reistenthal’s Mini-Maxi Shopper. I wonder if others remember when the Tykho rubber radio was first released in the year 2000? I was 15 and remember it pretty clearly; it graced the cover of our copy of TIME that spring. Nine years later, if you’ve ever thought of getting one, jump on this. Now a part of the MoMA design collection, the Tykho hasn’t really dropped in price since its introduction in 2000. Other sites price the rubber radio from 50 to 100 dollars. I don’t know about you, but of the choice between pink or grey (unless you’re willing to pay the big bucks), I’d opt for the latter.
I may just have to pick up multiple Mini Maxi’s in order to be able to gift them to you all come December. Get ready to kick your plastic habit.
Lime Plug-in FM Radio, $21.50; Tykho AM-FM Radio, $33.50; Camping Multi-Tool, $13.25; Reisenthal Mini Maxi Shopper, $2.75. Images, puremodern.com
After following a link in a tweet from SimpleScott to the Post Family’s home page, I found a link to the website of Kennedy Prints, self titled “A Letterpress Printery.” Here are a few of my favorites. In explanation of the first which bears the quotation, “It is the duty of children to wait on elders, and not the elders on children,” Kennedy says, “…by know you should know that we have a thing for proverbs.” I like. As for the third pictured below, I might just have to try and buy one as a means of motivation.
The following series is best seen all at once. I’m missing the last two (they were on a different page) that say “Buy Art,” appropriately with black text on a green square, and “Art Saves Lives!”
If you’re interested in buying, see the note about purchases on their site. Happy browsing!
My mom has loved Clairefontaine papers and journals ever since my oldest sister lived in Montclair, NJ (we’re talking 1998-ish) where there is (was?) a small stationery shop that carried the brand. So, to help my parents remember a hiking vacation to Hawaii a couple of Christmases ago, I gifted her one of these travel journals found on Vickerey.com. The pages alternate colors as you flip through the book—solid black for images and white for text (or photos, I suppose). I’m glad to see they’re still for sale!
Obviously, this would be a bit big to actually take on a trip, but it does make for a great way to review any vacation or special event after the fact. Rest assured, though: in addition to the standard Moleskine, Vickerey has a lot of options for carrying in your pocket, which works especially well for those of us who like to have a pen and notebook on hand at all times:
Even though I haven’t bought anything from their site in a while, I’ve kept Vickerey in my bookmarks as a great source for gifts. Besides paper goods, their inventory ranges from yoga gear to uniquely packaged soaps and lotions and includes a fair amount of casual men’s and women’s clothing. Take a look. You might find something you like.
