Archive for December, 2008
Track Star Freebie Winner!
We came. We saw. We witnessed 500+ people go bonkers for this DeWalt TrackSaw.
But really, can we blame you? No way. That’s one purdy piece of powertool.
I should emphasize “one” because, unfortunately, there’s only one person who can take home the prize in our latest giveaway. And that person is someone who came, who saw and who, as one of the many who predicted their win (“I won?”), is apparently a little bit psychic. Yep, our winner is…Elise!
Congrats on your new tool, Elise. We hope you have lots of fun making lots of sawdust (word on the street is that you’ve got a bathroom remodel in your future). And to everyone who entered, thanks so much for your incredible enthusiasm for this giveaway, not to mention the hilarious comments- some of you definitely deserve your own sitcom. This was a pretty cool high note to end on for our 2008 giveaways. And though the bar for 2009 is set intimidatingly high, we can’t wait to dish out more cool prizes next year.
PS: You still want a shot at snagging a free TrackSaw? Enter the giveaway on DeWalt’s site for another shot at the prize. Drawing ends January 7th.
Reader Redesign: Afraid Of The Dark
When Melissa sent us some pretty dramatic before and afters, we just had to share the eye candy. It’s amazing what a can of paint (and some primer in this case) can do. Here’s her letter:
Could these living room colors have been any more dark and pukey?!
Primer, three coats of paint and some wobbly ladder-climbing later, the dark and dreary was gone. Now, fresh, crisp aqua walls flood the space with light! Beechwood laminate floors gave the room a modern, clean feel and were well worth the investment! Then, I was browsing in Cary Street in Richmond (maybe we crossed paths and didn’t even know it!) one weekend and fell in love with EQ3!!! I ordered the sofa, loveseat and fun/funky lounge chair from there. The tables, fan, screen-curtains, art & floating shelves came from Ikea. The rugs, lamp and accessories are from Target. I’ve since updated the pillows with some dupioni silk in neutral shades and added some pops of hot pink that give the room some lively fun. The room has skylights so lots of natural light makes the color on the walls transform throughout the day. It’s a fun room and always gets the wow-factor when friends come over for the first time. We’re always dreaming up new ideas, but maybe our wallets will thank us if we take some money-saving advice and just swap things out from other rooms when we need a quick change!- Melissa
What a difference, eh? We love the lighter and brighter wall color. Bravo Melissa- and thanks so much for sending your before and afters our way!
That’s A Wrap
One way to cut down on curbside garbage come December 26th is to think outside the wrapping paper & gift box. There are plenty of things that are destined for the garbage bin that can be repurposed into cheeky and sweet holiday wrapping paper (their last hurrah, if you will). And some prezzies can even multitask as the packaging themselves. Why not earn a few “you’re so creative” comments and save a few bucks while you’re at it?
Map It Out- Our first instead-of-wrapping-paper idea actually came from the fact that John is a map freak. No matter the region, the color, or the type (geographic, topographic, weird and crusty) John is all over ‘em. So when we decided to buck tradition in the gift wrap category, we immediately thought of John’s heaping pile of mostly free maps from rest stops, state capitols, and cross country road trips of yore. Some tape and scissors are all it takes to turn a map into some worldly (or local) gift wrap in a snap. And it’ll keep your guests entertained (and searching for the capitol) even before they rip it off to reveal the real prize inside.
Wrap Your Wrap- You may have noticed our pashmina-as-gift-wrap idea back in last week’s Gift Guide, but in the interest of being thorough we’ll revisit it for a sec. Gotta love an affordable scarf that’s useful ($3 at Walmart!), one-size-fits-all, and can serve as the “wrapping paper” for any number of other items from cookie tins to games and even navigation systems and other grown up toys. And what other form of gift wrap comes in handy on chilly nights?
Go Paperless- In the vein of other gifts that provide the decorative packaging themselves, anything from a blanket or a cardigan to a sweater or even a stack of dish towels needs nothing more than a simple ribbon and a gift tag to cut down on your wrapping time (and your Christmas Day trash pile).
Brown Bag It- Of course there’s always the classic brown paper bag packaging idea. It may sound strange (and you may lament that all your bags are printed), but if you snip them apart and use them inside out they’re chic little butcher-paper-ish gifts that look jolly with some simple ribbon (we also love the natural look of $1 twine from the craft store).
Leave Your Mark- We also loved this idea (spotted here) since we’re always suckers for personalization (we actually did something similar with Burger just last month). Doesn’t it look like a super fun way for your little ones to make their mark this Christmas? Stamping a few handprints on butcher paper (or even printer paper for smaller gifts) will definitely create something adorable in an instant. And grandma just might cherish it more than the gift inside.
Tote Time- Lastly, there’s always the fabric or woven bag option. From cotton totes to little straw carry-alls, there’s no shortage of cheap and always-useful bags at places like Target to stuff with goodies for the ones you love. Some of them are so deeply discounted that they rival the cost of a one-time-use paper gift bag. And it’s always fun to get a gift that’s useful through and through (and again and again).
We hope you guys have as much fun packaging your gifts as you do opening the ones with your name on ‘em. Happy wrapping… and ribboning… and repurposing!
Be sure to check out more fun and fabulous wrapping ideas on BHG here , MyHomeIdeas here, and on thenest.com here.
Image credits: pashmina from here, blanket from here, handprint gift wrap from here
Joan’s Design Dilemma
Joan’s looking for a multitasking living room with an office area and a TV viewing space. So we put on our thinking caps to create a double duty room plan in no time. Here’s her letter:
We need help sprucing up our living room. Only the couch, the guitars, the meditation pillows and the Jonathan Adler ceramic giraffe must stay. But other than that, it’s a blank slate. We definitely need a desk or some kind of workspace area and a TV- and we’re open to a wall color. Some of the colors that we both like are red, blue, turquoise (we have a red kitchen if that helps to unify the palette in here). The styles that most appeal to us are mid century Danish for its simplicity, the aesthetic of Real Simple magazine and Domino magazine for its quirkiness and eclecticism. Thank you. I’m look forward to your magic! -Joan
The gorgeous wood floors (with those fab inset border details) and a glimpse of that swanky modern red kitchen just beyond the doorway were all the inspiration we needed (and then some). Here’s what we came up with:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
Read the rest of this entry »
That Time Of The Month
I know those kiosks in the mall are tempting and all, but there are better places to pick up a 2009 calendar. For one, we love browsing Etsy (which is where we got our 2008 calendar from seller Smack of Jellyfish, shown below). It’s always an easy way to inject some one-of-a-kind, affordable artwork into your home that, even better, rotates on a monthly basis!
As much as we loved 12-months of kitschy kitchen graphics, we wanted to mix it up for oh-nine. So we went on a hunt for something new. Below are some of our favorite finds, like this calendar that features some simple, punchy graphics to mark each month (from Amy Marcella, $25)
And, since you know we love monograms, this calendar caught our eye immediately. And that was before we found out that it’s customizable – you print out the calendar, cut out each month’s letter and put your own pattern behind it (from ALittleHut, $5). Amazing.
If you yearn for even more pattern and print to keep things fun month to month, this little postcard-sized calendar certainly does the trick (from EveryJotAndTitle, $14).
And speaking of postcards, this calendar actually comes ready-to-mail. So once you’re done enjoying the sweet design each month just flip the card over, add a stamp, a friend’s address and a lil’ note letting them know what you’ve been up to the last 30 days (from SureAsBlue, $12).
And if you’re itching to squeeze some style into your wallet or purse, this business-card-sized calendar sure beats the one that comes in the back of your checkbook (from PictureWindow, $6).
But after mulling over all these great options, what did we end up with? This downloadable calendar that we spotted on How About Orange (from Mibo, free with sign-up).
We can’t quite put our finger on what made this “the one,” but it certainly helped that all the bird designs remind us the distelfink emblem hung on the shed in our backyard (which we inherited from the previous owner and whose weird charm eventually won us over). Oh and you can’t beat the price.
What calendars are you guys digging this year? Do you have any favorite calendar hunting haunts?
