Weekly Devotional: 12.9.14

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This is my favorite periodical month b/c gift guides are THE BEST.  So much good sourcing information!  Turning to the web for gift guides can save you some cash by avoiding one-off mag purchases (BTW--anybody read the new Domino?  It was "meh" for me.  When you have an expensive quarterly publication, you kinda need to wow us.) 

Domaine Home--100 Gifts under $200

Savvy Home Blog--Gift Guide for every kid

AD has loads of specific guides

PopSugar likes to let celebrities edit their gift guides--everyone from Robin Wright to Lauren Conrad

Dwell is arranged by theme

Or you can type "Gift Guide" into Pinterest......

I recently found 2 Etsy sellers that are worth mentioning for your gifting and treat yo' self needs:

Jaipur Handloom for Kantha quilts, blankets, pillows, ottomans...at reasonable prices.

and LoveLane for amazeballs kid's dress-up stuff.

Incase you missed it, Rounder Records released an album in 1987 by a band called Pianosaurus.  The band plays only toy instruments (such as a pianosaurus).  They are pretty good--seriously, the reviews on iTunes concur.  This isn't my favorite song off the album, but this video does reveal their crazy toy instruments.  Seriously people--start googling.  This is trivia gold.  And I would be remiss not to mention that I got the tip (via Kevin) from the Judge John Hodgmen podcasts, which begin with an obscure pop culture reference.  

Ever worry that your hobby can't become a full time job?  Check out this TN kid who became really, nerdily, totally-relatable-for-me obsessed with Bonsais when he was 13.  Now, Architectural Digest says he is the new face of Bonsai, and teaches at a Bonsai school in Japan.  You go, kid.  

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This showed up in my pinterest feed.  Are you fucking kidding?  While I won't judge anyone in a Manhattan apartment, for the rest of us I think getting a storage unit to keep your craft supplies in is a sign that your friends and family should stage an intervention.  

The House that Lars Built is did 24 days of Scandinavian Christmas back in 2012.  I'm loving these new-to-me projects.    Those Scandinavians know a thing or two about Christmas and cold.  

I'm not really into theme-y, "done" trees (I can only handle one tree and I can't give up my years of hoarded ornaments and travel tchotkes-turned-ornaments).  The worst are the over-the-top, suburban/I-spend-a-lot-at-Michael's, saccharin confections--which are probably why I justify shunning the display tree for holiday decorating, even though it is really just akin to a giant floral arrangement.  This round-up of modern ornaments is a nice antidote--the tree skirt is amazing.

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Why does this fruit display strike me as excessively wasteful?  I bet from an overall earth impact, my South American grown flowers are worse.  And God knows this would be way easier to source in town at the last minute.  Environmentalists comment.  

I think these new Martha Stewart for FatHead stair decals are an interesting idea, but I'm not sure if I'd really ever want it in my house.  Thoughts?  

A Mimi McMakin project in Palm Beach.

House Beautiful

The 15 most beautiful closets via Domaine Home.

After you've had a chance to click through the above two links and consider how you'd spend your lottery winnings, check out this John Oliver video on the lottery.  I have always been super pro-lottery, hailing from one of 4 states that doesn't have a state lottery, but I know and fully understand the mathematical odds.  And without cable, I haven't seen some of the EGREGIOUS television ads.