Happy Birthday to Our Saint

Today is the 35th birthday of design boner's beloved patron saint, Christian Bale. We wish him many more happy years (of watching over us).

Further proof that we are ethereally connected: I have those same "perfect amount" drinking glasses!

Photo credit: Fans of Christian Bale

Bonus Bone: Balloons by Juliane Eirich

Balloons by Juliane Eirich, at 20x200

It's been a really tough week, economically and mentally. More and more friends are losing their jobs and and we don't know where the rabbit hole will end. I'm normally an optimist and like to see my glass as half-full, but it's been hard to stay chipper lately.

When I get like this I like to look at images that put a smile on my face. What's happier than a ton of colorful balloons?!?! So here's hoping this puts a smile on a few other faces as well!!

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

A Bread Box Full o' Love

Typhoon Bread Bin, at Target

Porcelain and I are knee-deep in Amish Friendship Bread. We like the tradition, not to mention the sugary delicious taste of it. Yet with baking two loaves every ten days, the love is starting to stack up.

Too bad we don't have a cute lil' bread box, like the one above, to contain our heart warming bounty. The Typhoon Bin might look out of place in an Amish kitchen but...oh wait...the bread might not have anything to do with the Amish?

Well, then, I just like this bin. Now where is that bread knife...?

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Weekend Flings

• Design Boner Looks Like Picasso's Candy Factory (seen above)

• Night Riders
• Fitness Trivia
• I'm, Like, Thinking of You...I Guess
• Cardboard is Excited; Porcelain Will Probably Pass
• The Fuggers Get It Hilariously Right
• Colicchio Saves!

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

Bonus Bone: Wood Lamp at Delia's

Wood Lamp, at Delia's

I'm always slightly shocked when I find something Delia's that isn't full of glitter or girlish indifference but this little lamp is, like, grown-up. The Wood Lamp, with its simple shape and chic palette, would never give away the fact that it came from a teeny-bopper catalog. There's only one part of the description that makes me nervous: "forest scene on shade interior." Like...um...?

~Whatever~

Lamp shades are easy to switch out. And seeing as how this lamp is selling for the low price of $39, you can buy a new shade and still have allowance left over to grab those hot seats to the Jonas Brothers.

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

INSTANT DISCOUNT! Enter code XTRA20 at checkout at get 20% off your Delia's order! This deal is only good through Monday 1/26 so hurry it up.

Yes, They Did

Red Room

It's hard to get red, white, and blue to cooperate and not look like a big patriotic mess. The Brugge Bed & Breakfast in Belgium, however, has done a stand-up job! I owe it to the addition of wood and angles.

But I'm not fooling anyone: Happy New Administration, everyone!

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Weekend Flings

• Sexy Time Starts at :46 (seen above)

• Funny Teenage Boys...No, Seriously
• Bamboo Better Slow Down!
• More Shoe Fetish

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

Bonus Bone: Knitted hot water bottle

Knitted hot water bottle, at Wrapables

Weather.com tells me that it is -6° right now in Chicago. -6°!!!!!!!! I'd like to give everyone in Chicago one of these adorable, but useful knitted hot water bottles.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.

Snuggle Your Pipes

I just received a considerate warning from my building's management company about how to avoid frozen and/or burst pipes. Here are some tips:

• Thermostats should be set to at least 66 degrees.
  
• Open any cabinet doors below kitchen/bathroom sinks.
  
• Open your dishwasher door.
  
• Keep your faucets dripping.

Since Chicago is seeing some insanely low temperatures this week, these tactics will come in handy. Are we missing anything? What else can we do to prevent this disaster?

And what (Oh, Sweet Watery Neptune) should one do if it's discovered to be too late...

Photo credit: Southwest Florida Water Management District

Zigzag rug

Zigzag rug, at West Elm

I'm digging this black and white zigzag rug with just a little pop of red at the edges. It's also available in ivory/espresso/flax, but I feel the black/white/red one is the superior specimen.

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain: right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Happy Birthday (+1) Cardboard!!

Cardboard top modeling it for Alison Rose earlier this summer!

A very, very Happy Birthday to my girl Cardboard!! Here's to a great year!

Much love,
Porcelain

Weekend Flings

• Good Shoe Photo (seen above)

• The Most Accurate Movie Trailer
• An Argument Against Romance
• Toying with Trucks
• "Move To Top of Queue"
• You, in Letters
• Ski Bum!

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

Bonus Bone: Tank Vase (with a Side of Peace)

Tank Vase, at Up To You

With Obama's inauguration just around the corner, I'm seeing that election day hope spring back up. Personally, I'm excited to see what happens next.

I know we won't get there overnight and Obama might not even be the one to get us there at all. But wouldn't it be great if, one day, symbols of war and destruction could be relegated to our homes: elegant reminders of inelegant history that now merely sit to hold bloom.

For these reasons, I, Cardboard, declare this a Design Boner.

Ambidextrous Artwork

REPRESENT! I work at a library so I see a large amount of art books by known and unknown artists and photographers. Very rarely, however, do I see an exact replica of something from my own home in these obscure books.

His

Imagine my surprise(!) when, as I was flipping through a marvelous collection of photography by Aaron Ruell, I spotted the very same cheesy motel-esque piece of artwork within its pages (see above). Ruell captures fleeting moments of Americana with a taste and feel similar to the dingy/bright work of (my favorite) Nan Goldin. The mass-produced subject of this post is equally at home in a grimy motel room and near the sewer grate, outside my back door (see below).

Hers

To see more of Ruell's work, check out Some Photos from your local library.

Teddy Lovin'

Teddy Bear Lamp, at MCA Store

Continuing to carry the 2008 torch (pun!) of my lighting obsession, I have to admit that I love this lamp. Its price tag of $130 is NOT ATTRACTIVE but I do appreciate the drunk Fozzie Bear implication.

Tagged: Cardboard

Is Me, Cardboard

I've seen these getting-to-know-your favorite blogger chain-letter type things but have never been asked to play along...until now! Ms. Briggles picked me out of the web, saving me from the hungry spider of virtual anonymity, and put me right on said spot. Here's how this game works:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

So here's a list (to be filed away for Trivial Pursuit: Blogger Edition) of more than you ever wanted to know about me, Cardboard:

1. I am thick waisted...but I'm workin' on it!

2. Having grown up in a state with no (one?) toll road, I never really knew how they worked. So, when I left for college in Massachusetts, home of the revered Mass Pike, I first thought that the amount of toll you paid depended on the amount of time you spent on the toll road. Meaning, the faster you drove, the less you paid. Oh, the autobahn anarchy!

3. I hate getting my hair cut but I LOVE how it feels to walk outside with freshly cut hair.

4. The first and only time I felt an earthquake, I was visiting my cousin in Palo Alto, CA. I was in...6th grade? I didn't realize it was an earthquake until my cousin (7th grade) started crying. I just thought it was her parents (my aunt & uncle) running through the house.

5. I have owned only one cell phone.

6. I had a hamster when I was in elementary/middle school. His name was Stud Muffin and he was my first sole responsibility. I wasn't the best at taking care of him (although he did live way beyond the average hamster life expectancy). Once, when cleaning his cage, I noticed that there were bugs (deplorable, I know) in his pooh corner. This is my earliest memory of doubting my abilities at motherhood.

7. I have invented one of the best (and easiest) vegetarian sandwiches ever: nutty bread (which MUST be toasted), raw spinach, mashed up avocado (with salt & lemon juice, of course), red onion, and Swiss cheese. You're welcome.

I pass the torch to...

1. Porcelain, because, well, because I love her and I constantly want to learn something new...
2. Frugal Fag, because he achieves the perfect balance between rambling and HI-larious...
3. Nicole, because she tells us a lot about herself already but I want the dirt...
4. Elizabeth, because she hasn't been posting regularly and I want to offer her an easy post...
5. Nicholas, because he bought me socks for Xmas so he's obviously got a whole closet full of skeletons...
6. M. Patrizio, because her site is so cute, plush, and pastel that I have a hard time believing she's real...
7. Fritz, because he's an excellent "vocabularist" who doesn't believe in paragraphs...

6 & 7

Here are our weekend photos. Visit flickr to see the entire 6 & 7 collection.

Cardboard: left, Porcelain, right

Original inspiration by Stephanie & Mav at 3191

Weekend Flings

• Luda = Joy (seen above)

• If We Still Were (or Had) Little Girls
• Stanky Leg: Mr. Sketch Tells Us About the New Rage
• The Best New Idea for Old Doodles

If you're new around here and have no idea what this list means, click HERE for a brief and witty explanation.

Bonus Bone: Norden dining table

Norden dining table, at IKEA

The Norden table was probably one of the best purchases I've made all year. It hosted Thanksgiving, a birthday party, an impromptu dinner party, and I also had plenty of space on which to spread out and wrap Christmas gifts. When it isn't pulled out in the middle of my studio for meals and get-togethers, it's pushed up against a wall and makes a great surface for various art projects.

The table is solid, solid wood (no particle board in this IKEA piece). It is also so heavy that, after I put it together, I couldn't flip it right side up! If you're looking for a simple, affordable and well-made table, I totally recommend the Norden.

For these reasons, I, Porcelain, declare this a Design Boner.