Oh Brother. In what may be one of the most exciting cross-promotions ever (?) Brother has made two Project Runway edition sewing machines. Meet the Innov-is 40 and the Innov-is 80. These are updates of the PC210 PRW and the PC420 PCW models you may have seen floating about.

These two new models come with the standard ooous and aaahs, like an automatic bobbin winder. Both Innov-is’s are digital, both have the sewing start/stop button (so you don’t have the use the foot pedal), and an automatic needle threader. These all are cool (but, maybe not necessary). I am curious about these machines mostly because they were featured ever so often on the TV show. I wonder if they are the coolest sewing machines ever.

Continue reading Project Runway: At-Home Design Challenge Experience

Filed under: Home | Garden — Pilar @ 10:51 pm

So I guess it happens to the best of us. We wake up one morning, look in the mirror and realize in horror that we have to trim our nose hair!!!!!!

Continue reading Stick WHAT up my nose? Groom Mate Platinum XL trimmer

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Home | Garden, Reviews | Guides — Santi @ 8:14 pm

I saw this Design Can self-portrait mirror at a local design shop last year. Each self-portrait has the same frame outline, but then has different cut-out images in the mirror part itself to give the illusion of various images. The one to the left is “mustachio.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Continue reading Who is that handsome person in the mirror?

Filed under: Home | Garden — Pilar @ 8:08 pm

Yes, you seriously do. There have always been candles, but now, there are candles. Of course, we could discuss how this is some sort of example of our affluenza or something like that. But, for the moment, I’m not going to get into any larger sociological context of expensive candles in a world of $4.00 gasoline.

Continue reading Do I seriously want a Henri Bendel candle for the price?

Filed under: Home | Garden — Pilar @ 8:09 am

By now you’ve probably noticed I love wood, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I gravitated towards these fantastic wall hangings at the CABoom show last weekend. Keep reading for details on how to adopt your own…

Continue reading Comforting Creatures: Spot On Square Wall Animals

Filed under: Art | Design, Home | Garden — Santi @ 9:44 pm

High output LED. Fantastic build quality. Small and Stylish. Need I say more? Well… I’ve got a few more words to say.

Continue reading And then there was light! Victorinox LED Flashlight

Filed under: Gadgets | Technology, Home | Garden — Santi @ 7:50 am

I’m a die-hard procrastinator, just like most of the other humans on this planet. This has cost me many hours of sleep, hours that were spent reading about Vair or watching educational videos on the internet. At the risk of implying that quadraped skateboarding isn’t, shall we say, mission critical, I have to say I’d like to procrastinate less. To see how this relates to the hourglass setup pictured, keep on reading.

Continue reading Quit Procrastinating With Sand

Filed under: Art | Design, Home | Garden — Max @ 9:35 am

I have an unhealthy interest in thermoses. I blame thermodynamics class, and the associated experiments in calorimetry, which is a fancy way to say I stuck a thermometer in a coffee cup and stared at it really hard. Anyway, this piqued an interest in double-wall containers; why, I do not know.

In the intervening years, I’ve had a multitude of insulated vessels pass my way. Mostly, the lids either broke or couldn’t be cleaned properly, and got pretty sketchy after a while. The last casualty was a Starbucks french press mug, earlier this week. To replace it, I got an OXO Good Grips Liquiseal Thermal Beverage Container. They mentioned this thing in Wired a couple months ago, and liked it a lot - and I can see why.

This is a large container, definitely more of a thermos than an insulated mug, with a capacity of 24 ounces. The lid doubles as a cup, but the neat thing about it is really the mug-style sippy top. It’s almost exactly the same as the top on the OXO travel mug - you just press the button to sip, and press it again to seal. Good clicky action, by the way. So if you too drink a pot of coffee at a time, this thermos can become your mug as well! Aside from the spout, it operates as you’d expect: hot things stay hot, and cold things stay cold. Actually doesn’t leak. Easy to clean. All in all, my new favorite.

Coveted since I saw it originally in Wired. Check the link for a look under the lid.
Image from Amazon.

Filed under: Home | Garden — Max @ 10:08 pm

Neat twisted-up, lets-distort-time-and-space wall clock. I think it’s pretty cool, but I’m kinda weird (bookofjoe thinks they are about 40 years too late, but I disagree, because I like it and I didn’t exist in the 60s). My appreciation of this clock however, comes from the fact that it reminds me of my favorite wrist watch of all time, the Cartier Crash Watch. Considering one of those cartier’s will set me back $15k, maybe I’ll give this $35 wall clock a whirl (sorry, i had to).

[source: What on Earth via bookofjoe]

Filed under: Art | Design, Gadgets | Technology, Home | Garden — Santi @ 8:23 am

What’s in the picture above? A broken light bulb? Wrong. Ok, my turn. It’s actually a lamp designed by Sander Mulder. The broken bulb is blown from heat-friendly Pyrex, has no sharp edges and acts as the shade for the actual bulb. I don’t go crazy for lamps, but this is my kind of thing. Be careful, you put too many around your home and it might look like an abandoned warehouse, but some people go for that look.

No price or availability listed on the site, though there is a contact form for those interested in that information. I don’t really see these things being sold at sensible Target prices, though.

Source NOTCOT
Image from Sander Mulder

Filed under: Art | Design, Home | Garden — Roy @ 11:01 pm