Diminutive Designs in Cork

The Annual Champagne Chair Contest by Design Within Reach poses the challenge to create an original miniature chair using only the foil, label, cage and cork from no more than two Champagne bottles. The contest rolls around just before New Year's when you might be planning to enjoy a little bubbly. If you are not big on Champagne, they will also accept the recycled cork and foil set-up from any sparkling wine.
Three top winners were selected from the 2009 entries. The Kub Armchair (top) by Jesse Menayan was named as the Judges’ Pick. The Grape Divine Chair (just above) by Tony Nemyer was selected as the DWR Staff Pick, and Spring 2009 (below) by Gavri Slasky won the Popular Vote.
For more information on the contest and where to view a traveling exhibit of the top 50 winning designs, click over to DWR.

Images courtesy of Design Within Reach

George Washington Sat Here

Great Presidents are remembered for their brilliant leadership and their unconditional loyalty and service to this country. Their papers are studied and preserved for their wisdom and successes. They are copied and reproduced for libraries and textbooks. Great Presidents are also remembered for their everyday domestic objects. These objects are sometimes copied or reproduced, too.

This handsome late 18th century easy chair belonged to George Washington. We are told that Washington sat in this armchair in his bedchamber at Mount Vernon shortly before he died in 1799. Of course, he probably sat in it many times before that.

Photograph of Chair from George Washington's bedroom at Mount Vernon, 1760s-90s, courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Washington, DC


Photograph of George Washington's Camp Chest courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Washington, DC

Of course, George Washington is not the only President so honored:


Abraham Lincoln's Top Hat is one of the most treasured objects at the Smithsonian Institution. The hat includes a black silk mourning band Lincoln had added in memory of his son Willie. Lincoln was wearing this hat when he went to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. After his assassination, the War Department preserved his hat and other material left at Ford’s Theatre. Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Washington, DC.

My Valentine

My Valentine's Day surprise.

British Design Classics by Mail

Royal Mail of Britain has introduced a set of stamps celebrating ten British Design Classics. We weren't surprised to see the English things we love as the Mini, the Routemaster and the red telephone kiosk, K2, among the juried selections. And we were glad to learn our fashion staple, the Mini Skirt, was invented by our fab fave, the very mod designer Mary Quant, who named the skirt after her favorite car. It's a set of stamps we could easily rename Our English Favorites.

We were gratified to see the Concorde, whose design was an English/French collaboration; the Underground map by Harry Beck which resembles beautiful circuitry; the Polypropylene chair we've all sat upon; the Anglepoise lamp which inspired the task lights that illuminate our worktable; and the easily identifiable orange book jacket from Penguin Books.

For more information on this collection of British Design Classics and other philatelic matters click over to Royal Mail.

All images courtesy of RoyalMail.com.

A Gift: Homemade Marshmallows

Once or twice a year I pull out my marshmallow recipe and make up a batch to give as gifts. I am always pleasantly surprised to remember that it takes only a few ingredients and is relatively straightforward, albeit sticky. The result is so delicious and remarkably light and fluffy. If you've never tasted a homemade marshmallow you must try it. This confection is probably closer to its mid-nineteenth century French origins than the more commonly known genus that comes in a cello bag.

There are plenty of recipes available to make your own marshmallows. Some call for corn syrup, which I use, others don't. I also like to add the vanilla flavoring early on for a mellower effect. Rather than waiting to add it at the end, I add it to the pan when I dissolve the sugar and salt into the corn syrup and water.

It's just a matter of taste. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

Quilling for Love

Valentine's Day is a holiday opportunity you won't want to miss to bring out the crafting supplies and make your own card. No more excuses: not enough time, never exchanged cards before, not your style, out of doilies, and on and on.

A homemade card with an expression of love (or like) is a lovely gift in itself. With a little daring inspiration and nimble fingers you can create an amazingly beautiful card just in time for Valentine's Day. The quilled cards above and below are from the archives of Martha Stewart's website, where you will find an excellent tutorial on quilling and many more inspirations for your Valentine's Day expressions.

Using a paper cutter, I trimmed colored paper stock for quilling paper and substituted a round toothpick for a quilling tool. Hearts are easy to start with. Your card design doesn't have to be elaborate or overly decorative to get your message across. A simple heart looks very elegant on a pink or white card.

Make somebody happy with a gift of a card on Valentine's Day!

Photos courtesy of marthastewart.com

When Art Sparkles & Spins

Unquestionably, Paul Rand (1914-1996) was one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century. Among his most famous works are the corporate identities he created for ABC, IBM, UPS and Westinghouse.

But I am also fond of some of his lesser known design projects. Rand worked his graphic magic for young audiences on four children's books elegantly written by his wife, Ann Rand, an architect, and published between 1956 and 1970.

In Sparkle and Spin, his cut-and-paste style art leads the readers around a newspaper trifold hat, up a perch of letters to a bird spouting punctuation, across a chalkboard, past a strip of candy dots and a lollipop man eating a lollipop, under a mound of sand, near an elevated train, behind a chair, through a sampler of borders and fonts, across a breakfast table and onto the dial of a phone (circa 1957). Sparkle and Spin and Little 1 have been republished by Chronicle Books.

Green Under Sunny Skies

On a trip last month to a beautiful resort in sunny Florida I was delighted with the vision of palm trees in groves, luscious landscaping and exotic flowers in bloom. But I was especially impressed to see an established recycling program in full view.

Fortunately, they weren't boasting about being green or self-pronouncing it as an eco-hotel, it was done quite simply as part of their operations. Out-of-doors and around the three or four pools, the free-standing climbing wall, the lawns and the marina there were pairs of teak receptacles. One designated for glass and plastic only while the second was for trash.

A discreet card in the bathroom reminded one of the hotel's laundry conservation program. The hotel will replace bath towels daily upon request, but in an effort to conserve water, energy and reduce pollution they otherwise replace towels and linens every 3rd day for guests in residence. But the most endearing effort was the inclusion of a recycling basket in addition to a trash basket in every guest room. I enjoyed the freedom to recycle in my own room while away from home.

Photographs taken at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida.

The Design Matters

Clean, clear designs are appealing whether they were made in the early part of the century or just last year. We are drawn to a brand new retro looking design as if it were an old book unearthed in a antiquarian bookshop. The graphics, lettering and design affect our emotions before we may even have time to read the title and digest the subject. Our highly developed sense of aesthetics guide us to pick up that book with the beautiful cover or that product with the striking label. Great design makes the identity of a product enticing.

The work of Louise Fili, whose cover art appears above, takes her viewers into a world of exquisite design with references to typography and layout evoking a different place and time while creating a strikingly clean, clear and modern identity. She makes her products so appealing, it's hard to imagine living without them.

Here are a few inspiring examples from her recent work.









Images courtesy of Louise Fili Ltd.

Seal of Approval

One hundred years ago, the Good Housekeeping magazine first published research on approved products for the modern homemaker. They went on to create an Experiment Station in 1900 to study food and household products against false advertising claims. The approved products were listed on an honor role. In 1909 a new testing facility with a model kitchen and domestic science laboratory was built as the Good Housekeeping Institute. The list of tested and approved products and machinery was published in December 1909 with the first seal of approval.
A version of the first seal design was in use until 1941, when the magazine added the guarantee that if a product was not as advertised, a replacement or a refund would be provided to the consumer. The appearance of the seal changed several times over the next six decades of consumer protection as the wording of the promise evolved.

To celebrate the big anniversary and the 1911 purchase by the Hearst Company, Louise Fili, the very talented and prolific graphic artist, book cover designer, food product designer and restaurant and logo designer, was brought in to update the Good Housekeeping seal.

A recent New York Times article quoted the designer on this project. "The thing about doing any kind of redesign of something that well known,” Ms. Fili said, “is that you have to keep at least one element so people can make the leap. In this case it was the oval and the star, so not just the baby boomers would be able to recognize it.”

Her redesign was so convincingly timeless that there was a little confusion on the Today show where the blue and red 1990s seal was mixed up as the newer one and her design referred to as the old design. Fortunately, she took it as a compliment.

Images courtesy of Good Housekeeping and the New York Times.

London's Red Bus Goes Green

The iconic image of the Routemaster double-decker bus of London has been preserved and reinvented for the 21st century. The Mayor of London announced the winners of a design competition, A New Bus for London, sponsored by Transport for London. The competition, open to all interested parties, was seeking stylish (as good looking as the old favorites) and imaginative (green and greener) designs for a new and better bus for the city of London.

Well-known British automaker Aston Martin worked together with architects Foster+Partners on their winning entry pictured above. They share the top prize with the entry from Capoco Design Ltd., pictured below.

Upon its introduction as a prototype in 1954, the Routemaster was considered the most modern double-decker bus in the world. The Routemaster remained in regular service throughout the city until 2005. Vintage Routemasters can still be found on at least one heritage route in London. Of course, the beloved design image can easily be found on souvenirs all over the city.

Photos courtesy of Transport for London

The Twelfth Night Brings One More Chance to Give

The holiday season isn’t over just yet. On the Twelfth Night of Christmas in cities and towns throughout Italy, children leave stockings and shoes out in hopes of a gift on January 6th from la Befana, the old beneficent witch, who flies through the sky on her broom. She leaves gifts of toys and sweets for good children. And for those naughty ones? You guessed it: Coal.

On this last night of a more-than-a-little-uneven holiday season, why not pick out that one rotter on your list and let them know how you really feel? Remember, it’s 354 days ‘til Christmas comes around!

Carbone dolce (sweet coal) is a black candy that looks awful, but tastes sugary sweet. It turns your tongue black. It’s widely available in Italy in the weeks leading up to the Feast of the Epiphany. Most candy shops here sell Santa’s coal, or something like it. Your recipient will get the hint.

A Green Christmas Tree

It's difficult to think about Christmas without the Tree. The lights, the ornaments, the tree skirt, the gifts neatly wrapped and stashed beneath all bring us joy. Whether you are organized enough to get your tree the weekend after Thanksgiving or too busy until the week before Christmas, it's a ritual with warm and happy memories.

In spite of those joyful emotions it is increasingly difficult, maybe Scrooge-like, not to consider what a greener kind of Christmas tree would be. Greener might mean a live tree transported with its roots intact or a pesticide-free tree. Greener might mean strung with solar powered LED lights or being reduced to mulch for park trails.

Perhaps you are even more inventive in your approach to the New Green Tree? Suppose you want to use the 3 Rs and do it with style. Here are some artistic inspirations above and below that reduce, re-use, and recycle!

Paul Deakin, a student at the University of Southampton in England, created this tree with 1,050 beer bottles.

The ladder tree via Apartment Therapy via MetaFilter via MeCha.

More details on the 2-D Christmas tree appear in the The Style Files, a daily blog by Danielle de Lange, based in the Netherlands.

Vintage Christmas Box

'Twas once upon a Christmas time someone thoughtful, and with a keen eye for design, selected this holiday box. It had been filled with Eaton-Hurleut writing paper. The beautiful box was saved for many years and changed keepers several times. I'm not sure if I knew exactly what it contained when I first saw it. But, it didn't matter. It was the box itself as a decorated object that captured my fancy as a young admirer.

Several years ago, this treasured box was given to me in a casual cleaning of basement shelves. I don't think anyone else in the family had any interest in it or appreciated the pretty botanical print adhered to its top and sides. By then, it's contents had probably changed several times before storing a handful of small brass bells, jingling loosely.

I was delighted to hear the jingly box among the Christmas things unpacked this year. I still marvel at the beautifully rendered holly leaves and berries thoughtfully laid out and wrapped with delicate bows. It is a simple pleasure for me to behold the vintage box and a joyful reminder of the power of beautiful things in our lives, no matter how small.

With very best wishes for a joyous and beautiful holiday season.

Forcing Paperwhites

After a busy week away from this address, it's good to be back and getting ready for the holiday season. The first week of December I started forcing several narcissus bulbs. In a re-purposed glass ice bucket, partly filled with black polished stones, three bulbs were nestled snugly to fit. The bucket was filled with water to the top of the stones and the very bottom of the bulbs. The bucket was stashed in the unheated storage room. A small amount of water was added every day to keep the water level just reaching the bottom of the bulbs.

Within four days of cool, dark isolation, roots started to appear. The stalks started to grow and by day six the ice bucket, now, holiday planter was brought upstairs into the natural light. Each day the bulbs have grown above and below the water line. It's a fascinating process, and one I have marveled over each year at this time.

With luck, the fragrant flowers will open by Christmas, adding their beautiful simplicity to this address. When they start growing taller and seem ready to tip, I'll add a small stake and tie them together with a ribbon. A gardening friend recommends adding vodka to the water to slow the growth in height and keep them standing straighter. Vodka apparently affects plants and mammals differently.

Try forcing paperwhites as a gift to yourself or a friend. Bulbs make good gifts too, if you're still looking for a perfect gift for the perfect friend who has everything!

Paper Ornaments

Creating quick and simple ornaments is a rewarding process in a hectic season. Imagine a paper ball you can transform from two-dimensional paper into a delightful object in the round. This beautiful and clever idea comes from Design Sponge on their DIY column. Using materials you have on hand, this fun green project can be completed in less than ten minutes, maybe five, if you catch on quickly!

You can use any kind of paper. I made my first one with recycled paper. I clipped pages with colorful images on both sides from catalogs to recycle. Next, I'm going to try one with origami paper. The D*S crafters, Lauren and Derek, used wrapping paper. Here are their instructions:

paper
pencil
scissors
a stapler
something round to trace
glue (or crafter’s glue dots)

1. trace and cut out 9 circles from your paper (or papers) of choice.
2. fold each circle in half, then place them in a stack. staple them together at the top, center and bottom of the fold.
3. one by one, glue the outer edges of each piece together alternating top and bottom. the glue should be placed about a third of the way from either side. when you’re done gluing, your stack of paper will be in the shape of a sphere, ready for hanging on your xmas tree or decorating your holiday table.

Enjoy!

Photo and instructions are courtesy of Design Sponge, a great daily blog by Grace Bonney on home and product design. The DIY column appears each Wednesday.

A Groovy Green

For the simplest of outdoor holiday decorations, try a stack of the exotic looking, yellow-green, fruits of the Maclura pomifera tree. These inedible orbs, vaguely resembling brain models, are commonly known as osage oranges. The trees were originally grown on the plains as hedge-like boundaries. They are also known as hedgeapple trees. The fruit of the tree is said to help repel insects and spiders. Far from the plains, yet near this address, many people with these female trees find the droppings a nuisance. If, on the other hand, you see the green oranges on the ground and find them a delightful curiosity, offer to help scoop them up. They will last several weeks in outdoor decorations. With their beautiful shape and color, they look great in a bowl, flower pot or urn for an easy and elegant arrangement. Easy and green!

You may recall the pumpkin colorfully poised on this urn earlier this season. The pumpkin lasted long past Halloween, and offered a lite snacking spot for the local squirrel(s). They snacked so voraciously, that over a period of a few days before Thanksgiving, they ate through the shell and made an opening about 5 inches in diameter, close to the top. I mentioned the pumpkin may be ready for the compost heap to the resident composter. I was grateful it had lasted so long and offered a splash of color to the increasingly monochromatic early winter landscape. A day later the handsome composter told me of finding the pumpkin on the urn with a surprised squirrel snacking inside it.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,
Had a squirrel and couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

In this story, the squirrel ran away and the pumpkin was cut up and composted, very well. A happy green ending, after all!

Thanksgiving Greetings

Enjoy these vintage Thanksgiving Day cards. Best wishes from this address to yours for a wonderful holiday.





These vintage cards and many others may found at vintageholidaycrafts.com.

Gifting in Green and Red

Homemade gifts are always welcome, and perhaps even more so this year. Here's a beautiful and easy gift idea for everyone on your list. Who wouldn't smile for a delicious peppermint treat dipped in white chocolate?

All you need are peppermint sticks (candy canes would work, too), a bag of white chocolate chips and a jar of white nonpareils. Dip the sticks in the melted chocolate. Let the sticks partially set for 5 minutes on a sheet of parchment. Then, roll the dipped ends in the nonpareils and allow to fully set at room temperature.

Package your gift in a decorated box or bag. Giving green with a red ribbon!

Photograph by Frances Janisch courtesy of Country Living

Wrapped in Green

Its not the countdown to the holiday season, or the colder weather that motivates me to think about baking gifts for my family and friends - it's the temptation of seasonal cookie recipes and images of beautiful looking party food.

Having already made mental lists of the special people I want to bake gifts for, I am skipping ahead to the search for great ideas to package and present them. Sure, there are recipes to be tried, ingredients to be tracked done, time set aside to frantically do all the baking, but for now I just want to think about packaging with a clever touch of green.

Cookies being delivered across the street or across town would look great in a glass tumbler covered with a piece of wax paper and tied with a colorful ribbon or twine. A vintage tin lined with wax paper and topped with a ribbon would be a fun surprise on a colleague's desk or under the tree.

This season, give a gift wrapped in green! It's two gifts in one.

Photograph courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

Japanese After Dinner Chews

After a fishy dinner of miso soup, seaweed salad, a combination platter of sushi rolls and sashimi, you're satiated and grateful the meal has come to a close. Your credit card is returned with the receipt to be signed and one for your records. But that is not all, a little gift from Japan accompanies the padded vinyl folder. Each guest at your table is given a tiny box.

This would not be easily confused with the peppermint starlight mint that always upon a time appeared on the table when the check was returned. This is an entirely different token of appreciation for your patronage.

Each diminutive box is boldly decorated with a large scaled image of a familar fruit and clearly marked BUBBLE GUM. After carefully unwrapping the clear cellophane that seals the gift, one can open a flap to reveal 4 spherical balls.

The gum is made by the Marukawa Confectionery Company, Ltd in Nagoya, Japan and is available, hence popular, with children (and select sushi restaurant patrons) all over the world. The company was founded in 1888 and started making gum in 1948.

The fruit flavors -- strawberry, orange, grape and melon -- are convincing and the texture is delightful. It is easy to blow a bubble with only one piece, although you may not be able to resist adding a second gumball or more from your box.

Still, the packaging is so charming and distinctive that it's tempting to just keep the whole gift intact -- a little reminder of our fascination with things small and beautiful.

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