Straight from the dumpster? Yep. Tammy Roy, dumpster-diver par excellence can make scrap look good like it’s nobody’s business. Thankfully, One Eighty is her re-use design business.

Tammy trained in graphic design but went on a tangent after she realized that she couldn’t shake the dumpster-diving bug she inherited from her mom, also a recycle-based artist. She learned how to weld the reclaimed metal treasures that she found (metal disks, rebar and machinery parts from salvage yard and various waste from steel manufacturers) to design these wonderful and functional objects.

I’m seriously eyeing her Steel Pebble Holder to use indoors or out. I love the multiple possible uses for this piece: as a carrier for drinking glasses, vases for centerpiece arrangements, to place silverware for a buffet style gathering or to hold votive candles.

And, who’s not infatuated with that very modern birdhouse and bowl and door entry

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Yesterday, in a cruelly teasing mood, Mother Nature rose the temps into the 60’s in the Chicago area. So, we all divested our heavy winter layers but still, there was a chill in the air. That’s what spring is all about… warm, cold, hot, warm, cold, hot…

Perfect solution to one -up the Mam Nature: The Shoul. It’s a simple yet brilliant variation of the shawl, or wrap, except much smarter. Why is it such a great accessory? As opposed to large bulky wraps, this one stays on your shoulders. You know, as opposed to the points of a normal wrap sliding off, getting caught in the wheels of your desk chair among other things… Ha, you know what I mean!

I often get cold so I keep my Shoul (cashmere blend in Camel, thankyouverymuch) on the back of my desk chair, but it’s traveled a lot too. It’s not bulky in the slightest, so  it tags along in my purse and has been to the cinema, in the plane, to the theater and has substituted as a scarf. You can see the website to show different ways of wearing it, but in addition to that, it’s really cute belted. The fine gauge knit makes it look chic with almost anything. Put a fancy brooch and you could slip it on top of a cocktail dress.

So, I’m mentioning this item now, because it’s the perfect season to let you know about this great product, but you will also want to bookmark this page as an idea for Mother’s Day gifts. It comes beautifully packaged, ready for gift-giving.

Oh, great for nursing moms too. Almost forgot to mention that!

Available in two fabric and plenty of colors, right here.

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

One of my favorite toys growing up was my dollhouse. I spent many hours playing make-believe with it. It was a very basic square construction made of wood, with no stain or paint finish. My doll furniture was a mix of mismatched plastic pieces with a few wooden handmade ones my father had lovingly crafted for me. My dolls were a variety of stuffed animals, Barbies and an assortment of different figurines.

On a search to recreate my own childhood memories for my daughters, I came across a sophisticated and oh-so-stylish version of my own basic dollhouse. The Emerson Dollhouse, a vision of modernist architecture, has six rooms including a living room, kitchen, library/office, master bedroom, bathroom and child’s bedroom. It has a large, open floor plan with floor-to-ceiling windows. This DOLL house has features that I want in my own house! Like mitered-glass corners, two fireplaces, sliding glass doors, solar panels on the roof and LED recessed lights…Crazy. Parents will also like to know that the house uses only non-toxic and lead-free wood stains and paints.

Fabricated by BrincaDada, a uniquely new toy company based in New York, the dollhouse

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Yes, I know, I know, nothing beats the hand-written note and greeting card to show someone that you – really – care about them. In our electronic age, affixing a stamp to an envelope and popping it in the mailbox is the ultimate demonstration of love. But, let’s get real. I don’t always have the perfect card on hand, or the person’s address, or… And neither do you. So, sometimes, there has been room for wishes-via-email. I adopted ecards some years ago and then abandoned them. I couldn’t cope with all the “free” ecard sites that were either really spammy or incredibly cheesy. Then, I fell onto someecards, for the moments “When you care enough to hit Send”. It’s not for everyone, or for every occasion, I admit. But I you have friends, family & colleagues that welcome your acerbic sense of humor mixed with a good dose of politically incorrectness, well, this is the ecard site for you.

I sent this “mild” card to my dad for his birthday just last week. Before you judge me, know that I have a good reason: he lives in the DR Congo where there is actually no mail service. And yes, I want to invite him to be more present on Facebook so that we can stay in touch more efficiently. So, this one was perfect:

And then I love these, for specific occasions or “just because”. Most are perfectly inappropriate and that’s their charm.

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By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

My daughter lost her tooth yesterday. Thea came home from school and was excited to show us all.  After “the showing” Thea proudly took her tooth and put it under her pillow. For the rest of the day we had to hear about “the Tooth Fairy coming tonight”.

I wrote an article just before Christmas which featured the I Caught Santa website and knew that they had different characters at the Catch a Character website, specifically the Tooth Fairy for this very occasion. So, last night I tiptoed into Thea’s room and took a picture of her sleeping. I then downloaded the photo did my thing on the I Caught the Tooth Fairy website (It’s all the same company).   She was soooo excited when she woke up this morning and saw the photo of her holding the teeny Tooth Fairy in her hand.  She took the photo to school and showed it to her kindergarten class.  What a hit! The children (and even the teacher) in Thea’s class where mesmerized and will be going home with a magical story to tell their parents.  I wonder how many phone calls I will be getting about this.

Luckily I will be able to tell them that the great peeps at Catch a Character have given us another giveaway for 4 more photos. All you need to do to register your entry for this giveaway is to visit the Catch a Character website and let us know which character (Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Santa…) you would pick and post that in a comment below. We will be picking 4 winners. This giveaway is open until March 26 @ 11:59am CST.

As usual, the giveaway rules are: One entry per person. The winner will be chosen at random using a random integer generator. Your information is confidential and used for this giveaway only. Multiple entries will be deleted. Valid in USA and Canada.  If you win we will give you a code that you can keep until you are ready to use it. You will be able to pick any character you want.  There is no expiration date.

I looooooooooooove this video. If you remember (you should, it was one of last decades most viral videos), OK Go is the band that made the Treadmill video.

The “Machine” in this video was invented and created by 20 (yes 20!) engineers. The construction of the Machine – using 10,ooo sq. ft. of space over two floors – must have been a daunting though thrilling task. I don’t even want to guess how many trials they had to go through to make this work. And how many pianos, TVs, mannequins and other items had to be smashed to get to that perfect take. Imagine having to pick up all those ping pong balls between each take…

You can see the “making of” videos on YouTube as well. My favorite clip is the Making of TTSP #3. I’m super stoked that they are mentioning the awesome Trash for Teaching organization which I featured just last week for their Castaway Kits.

Gotta love these geeks. Brilliance is sexy.

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

I first discovered Audrey Heller’s photographs at the One Of A Kind show in Chicago and have “run” into her art work since.   Although Audrey calls San Francisco home, she travels much of the year showing her photographs. With a background as a lighting designer for theater and a great sense of humor, Audrey was able to use her unique abilities to create distinct and playful photos.

As you look at the photos they look like everyday items; a cup of coffee, a martini glass or a bowl of strawberries.  Taking a closer look each photo has a figure or figures in the images.  Audrey uses the figures from model railway sets.

To quote Audrey: “There is something very familiar about the image of being tiny in a giant environment, and something inspiring, as well as humorous, about seeing such serious and industrious workers and explorers take on the daunting tasks that they face.”

One of my favorite prints is “Never be lonely again!” where a women with a broom figure is sweeping up

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