Poketo Bike Bells, as seen on Rena Tom. The Poketo blog has a fair amount about bikes + biking. I’m adding it to my Reader… now!

Remember Blu Dot’s Real Good Chair experiment? They’ve teamed up with Mono again with another real good idea: a Blu Dot Swap Meet. The basic premise is, if you love great design, but don’t have a real good money supply, Blu Dot will consider your offer of talents/treasures/etc. for a single piece from their collection. You won’t be getting a set of chairs: you can only ask for one of anything. But, you might just get the couch of your dreams or a new dining table. The project has been going all week, and I’ve been thinking about it since the very earliest announcements came from Blu Dot on Twitter and Facebook.

Tom suggested we offer Blu Dot a picnic and a leisurely ride through the city of Minneapolis upon our folding tandem (seen here), given that Blu Dot is a Minneapolis-based company. He left it to me to choose the piece of furniture we’d ask for in return. I thought and I thought and I thought and I thought.

Heading into the Walker Tuesday night to see Michael Hart speak as a part of the Insights 2011 Design Lecture Series, I couldn’t help but mention the Swap Meet to Julia as we walked past the Shop with several new Blu Dot pieces on display. And, what do you know, one of the projects Hart shared that evening was the Swap Meet itself.

Today, thinking the project was over at noon… I was delighted to see it’s actually on until midnight. And, I have finally decided on the Strut Square Coffee Table in watermelon. Those of you who know of our recent jigsaw puzzling adventures are already aware of our need for a larger table space in our place to further develop our jigsaw puzzling abilities. At 40 by 40 inches, this table is surely up to the task.

So, we’ve offered up a picnic for 2–6 Blu Dotters preceded by a bike ride on a sunny Minneapolis day in June. You know we are no strangers to winter picnics, but we thought for everyone involved it would be best to hold off hosting the picnic until early summer.

Here’s hoping our friends at Blu Dot deem this a reasonable, and desirable, trade. If you agree, vote for our swap at the Blu Dot Swap Meet!

Interested in proposing a swap of your own? You have until midnight to make an offer. Get the details from Har Mar Superstar and get swapping! Wondering where such a phenomenal idea came from? See Michael Hart of Minneapolis’ Mono discuss the Swap Meet and other recent projects from the firm on the Walker Channel.

Top photo: Kate Sommers Photography … who is trying to swap eggs for a new sectional.

At the end of November, Remodelista featured the Filigrantrae, a Danish wooden Christmas tree that can be used year after year. I was taken, but the marthaandtom production budget didn’t exactly have $275 floating around with which to fulfill all our Scandinavian holiday fantasies.

Almost immediately after seeing the images on Remodelista and then Design Public, a little idea floated into my head… I could make this myself. A typical I-could-make-that feeling turns into “I could make it, I just didn’t” …but not this time.

With the aid of a math problem made Facebook status, I developed a plan, helped along by Emma’s Designblogg‘s sharing of a series of photographs originally from Bolig Magazine of a Danish family’s home with one of these babies in every room (at $275, you bet they come in multiple colors: rødt, lime, sort, hvidt, and lilla). This was the final inspiration I needed.

With only hours left before snow would seal us in our apartment for the foreseeable future, we made a mad dash for Home Depot on Friday night. While everyone else was stocking up on snowblowers and shovels, Tom and I were shopping lumber. At $26.86 before tax — power-sawing included — we were off to a good start.

As of yesterday evening, we now have a fully-decorated tree that can be used again and again.

Before you head to your local lumberyard to buy out their dowel supply, I would share that this wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I have a renewed understanding of what it means to have the right tools for the job and a steadier hand with a drill. With all of the mistakes that went into this one, I was very tempted yesterday to throw out the central pole and begin again (I bought different drill bits midway through the project almost doubling the total cost. But at less than $50, I’m still not complaining).

While it’s not perfect, I’m taking the suggestion of my father (who I must thank for his willing participation in a video-chat planning session on Saturday) and living with all the character of this first attempt. With no further work in store, I finished just in time for my self-imposed deadline of December 15, the night before my family’s tradition of reading the Novena de Aguinaldo is to begin.

The Ingredients:

four  ½” round pine dowels, each 48″ in length cut into twelve sections in varying sizes (my plan called for 4″x1, 6″x3, 10″x2, 16″x2, 20″x3, 18″x1, 26″x1 but I was only estimating based on pictures of the original)

one 5′ pine closet pole (the original design has an angled cut at the top… I forgot to request this of the staff at Home Depot)

one tapped 1/4-20 wood insert and accompanying bolt to fit (mine was about 2.5″ long) these should cost about $.30/ea. at your local hardware store

one pine 1×4 cut to lengths of 16.5″ (2 pieces) and 4″ (two pieces)

Wood Glue (you’ll need screws and/or wood clamps to get a tight seal)

Sandpaper

Drill with the following drill bits: ½” wood specific* bit (for drilling into the center pole), a smaller but not too small bit for creating pilot holes before using the ½” bit, ¼” bit (to create holes in the base and central pole for the bolt, ⅜” bit (to create a hole in the central pole for the wood insert)

Don’t forget wood scraps for practice if you’re less-than-handy with your drill. I bought a 1′ section of a closet pole in addition to the 5′ central pole of the tree to practice making ½” holes and kept the extras from the 1×4 to prevent my drill from going through our living room floor.

All measurements included are approximations based on studying pictures and descriptions of the original Danish design. If you plan to make your own, don’t worry about sticking too carefully to the exact specifications listed here. Note also that the original design uses birch, which is no doubt much easier to obtain in northern Europe than in a big box wood retailer in the midwestern United States, where pine is widely available for a very low cost.

*Using drill bits not made specifically for wood working may result in much less than perfect drilling. For best results, DO NOT use a flat bit, even if it is specified for use on wood. I used this brand and was able to buy a single ½” bit at the hardware store. For help getting to know your drill, click over to Design*Sponge’s new feature on building your toolbox.

Very tempting… these, while a little silly at best and perhaps unnecessary on the far end of the things, would be a fun reminder of our wedding festivities.

Pig Picks (set of six), hecho en España, $6.95 at Crate&Barrel

Image: Crate&Barrel

Le Petit Dej Breakfast Tray by Peter White, $92 at A+R Store

image: A+R Store