Hilarious retro book titles

I admittedly have a fascination with most things considered retro. The ideal timeframe stretches from the 1920's till the mid-60's. A lover of the 70's I am not. I still have nightmares about the hideous tri-tone shag carpet in our family room which is precisely why this book caught my attention: Interior Desecrations, Hideous Homes from the Horrible 70's. 

The other title is The Gallery of Regrettable Food which takes a look at some of the more, um, creative recipes from days gone by. Chapters entitled "Glop in a Pot!" and "Horrors from the Briny Deep" are simply too intriguing to ignore.

Both books are by James Lileks and if you want more of him, head over to his website where you'll find a comprehensive gathering of his creative endeavours.

Love the package design for Pacifica

Sometimes I'm a sucker for pretty packing and I admit the first product I ever purchased from Pacifica was a bar of soap simply because the design was so beautiful. I can truly say their products match the promise of the design. Lush, lovely and bursting with delicious scents that instantly lift your mood. They now have fragrances in a compact rollerball vial that is airplane carryon-friendly. Hooray! I travel a lot and not being able to bring fragrance has been a challenge. The scents I selected were Tuscan Blood Orange, California Star Jasmine and Brazilian Mango Grapefruit. I truly can't decide which I prefer.

Upcycled Coca-Cola bottle bracelet

This bracelet has been in my accessory box for several years now and it's such a good example of upcycling an existing material into a new use that I can't believe I didn't think of sharing it before. It's a Coke bottle. I mean how cool is that?! It's simple, stylish and always gets a second look. I bought this piece from a store in Soho, New York called the Enchated Forest which is sadly closed. This place didn't sell any mass-produced crap. All the toys (and accessories) were hand-crafted, unique and utterly charming. There was even a tree filling the store making you feel as if you had landed in the middle of some storybook tale. 

Carry that camera in style

Ooooo. I want this bag! All of my camera bags are very useful, but lack any kind of style. I love this bag by jill•e designs. It's big and style and has plenty of compartments for cables and batteries.

Drafting table lust

I really, really want to add a drafting table in my new office space as I'm spending more time painting and designing away from the computer. I'm torn between these two styles which are roughly comparable in price. Should I go old school with the classic drafting table design with storage beneath the tabletop or go new fangled with the modern version that keeps art tools within easy reach. Comment and help me out here. ;-)

Micro Cars

We had the opportunity when vacationing in Munich to visit the outstanding Deutsches Museum. Among the thousands of artifacts in their collection was this Heinkel Kabine micro car. This particular model was designed by Ernst Heinkel who primarily designed aircraft. In the late 1950's and early 1960's scores of micro cars were produced by various companies and were wildly popular in Europe. There are only 20 known surving models of the original 5,537.

Perfect peony necklace

Aren't peonies wonderful? So lush and frilly and here's a pendant peony you can wear from Nest Pretty Things. Check out all the other pretties in her Etsy shop.