I'll take two, please

The Jupiter Bucket, offered at Plastica:

Molded from colored hot glue.
Vase bottom is made of scrap pieces that have been melted down and dyed black.
Water tight. Wipes clean with water. Looks like glass, feels like rubber!
May be used as a planter, a fancy wastebasket, or a decorative container.
Each piece is hand crafted.
9" tall by 7" diameter
Made in New York City.
$165.00

I think the thing that takes it from "pretty" to "cute" is that it feels like rubber.

Artiste de mignon: Made with Love by Hannah

I'm a big fan of Made with Love by Hannah, whose impeccable eye for cute is reflected in her hand-screen-printed clothing (available through her website and her etsy shop), her blog, her house, her miscellaneous projects (like a five-foot-tall papier-mâché replica of her favorite knickknack, Pooky, or the "custom glitter Skee-Ball alley with tufted red vinyl sides and super-jumbo gold ric-rac trim" she just happens to mention in a blog post)—it seems like pretty much everything she touches turns to cute.



The only thing preventing me from buying any of these adorable skirts is that I rarely wear skirts at all these days, as working from home + frequent playing on floor with toddler = jeans.



Well, we're all in luck, because she now makes an apron in her Polish pottery pattern, trimmed with giant red ric rac. At just $28, it's perfectly priced for someone to give me for Christmas, wouldn't you say?


I have to stop myself from just posting photos of every one of the items in her store (did I mention there's a subset of crocheted items called Made by Grandma?) and from linking to all of her blog posts. Go check them out for yourself, and prepare to have your mind blown!

Middle-of-the-road cute

I love etsy and design blogs as much as the next girl, but deep down, I'm a mall shopper at heart. I get overwhelmed by all the exquisite prettiness and hardcore craftiness out there, so for comfort I turn to places where you have to dig to find the cute: big-box stores and junky malls. It must be the thrill of the hunt that calms my mind.

Needless to say, then, I am happy to start looking for some mainstream gift ideas for the grandparents to consider for my daughter. Melissa and Doug toys perfectly fit the bill: You can find them at your local Toys R Us, but they're not as depressing as the plentiful licensed-character stuff you'll find on the shelves next to them.

I can't quite articulate why this Melissa and Doug Deluxe Plus Prance-N-Play Stick Unicorn appeals to me. It's not particularly ironic, it doesn't bring up any memories or longings from my own childhood, and I don't even know if my daughter—who so far has exhibited no signs of having the princess and fairies gene—would like it. I just want one.