Design*Sponge

diy project: leather lunch tote

Matt — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:51 +0000

I don’t bring my lunch to work as often as I should. And by that, I mean never. What if I had a cool lunch tote? It might not help, but at the very least, it’s a fun project to practice your hand sewing and to make something interesting. Whether you need a lunch tote or not, this is a project you can modify for your own totable needs. Enjoy! — Matt

See the full how-to after the jump!

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DIY Best Of: Cozy Textiles

Kate Pruitt — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:55 +0000

Brrrr . . . it’s been beautifully sunny in Brooklyn lately, but still a bit too chilly for my West Coast sensibilities. I’ve scoured our archives and pulled our best cozy textile DIY projects this morning in the hopes that they will warm me up. One thing I love about winter is the prevalence of thick wools, felts, yarns and other plush, textural fabrics. If you have a scrap of felt, a loose skein of yarn or an old sweater or blanket lying around, you’re halfway to making some of these projects already. Enjoy, and stay warm! — Kate

Image above: Shelly’s plaid ottoman is made from a salvaged spool and found mid-century legs.

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tiffin lunch kit

Grace Bonney — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:00:15 +0000

Now that we have a proper office, I’m excited to start bringing my lunch to work. The first week or so, I was enamored with ordering in every day (so many options to try!), but now that reality has set in, bringing something pre-made is clearly the better choice. This beautiful ceramic Tiffin Lunch Kit was designed by Lorea Sinclaire and stacks on top of itself to create both storage and a serving surface (a natural cloth elastic strap keeps it all in place). I love the cork lid and would definitely be more inclined to “brown bag it” if this was my bag. Lorea is now accepting pre-orders for this piece and orders will ship later this month. Click here to check it out in more detail and place an order ($65 per set, custom glaze/colors are available with 3–5 weeks lead time). xo, grace

nailed it

Grace Bonney — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:00:04 +0000

Sometimes, there are no words for something so cute that it surpasses the limits of conventional language. Example? These crazy-adorable flower nails from Japan.* I’m not sure why, but half of the “OMG so cute!” things I see these days seem to come from Japan. They’ve got “cute” on lock-down. These nails come in a set of six and have a sweet little flower design on top. They beg to be used in a Tord Boontje-style pattern and make me wonder why more designers haven’t made decorative nail heads like this before. I’d be all over some geometric nail heads or — please tell me these exist but I’m just not aware of them — alphabet nail heads. Oh man, how fun would that be? Until then, I’ll be coveting these and wanting to put them in everything. Click here to check them out and join my digital shrieking over their cuteness. xo, grace

*It looks like these nails are actually made in Germany (order here), but I’ve only seen them online at Japanese stores.

birds words

Grace Bonney — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:37 +0000

It’s funny — I’ve noticed that some of my favorite bird-themed design comes from Portland, birthplace of Portlandia and the phrase, “Put a Bird on It.” I spotted this beautiful hand-carved ceramic trivet at Alder & Co., one of my favorite shops in PDX. The dark brown glaze is warm and rich, and each trivet comes with a leather cord and hooks for hanging if you’d rather show it off than use it to cool hot pots. Ever since I picked up my first Lee Hanson tile back in 2006, I’ve been a fan of hanging pieces like this — they add dimension and texture to a wall without costing a ton of money. Click here to check out this trivet in detail and shop online ($195 each). xo, grace

50 Bold, Beautiful and Brilliant Package Designs

Kate Pruitt — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:25 +0000

I’m a sucker for good packaging. When every product has a million different versions to choose from, how can we not gravitate toward the one with the best presentation? That doesn’t necessarily mean lots of bells and whistles — I hate having to tear through layers of wrapping or unpack multiple boxes. To me, great package design is its own visual entity; whether it’s witty, beautiful, unexpected or practical, it should speak to the object it’s presenting, be thoughtfully designed and stand out from the rest. I’ve rounded up 50 great package designs on My Life Scoop this week; I hope you’ll head over and check them out. The products seem pretty amazing, as well, but the packaging is pure awesomeness. Click here to read the full post on My Life Scoop. Enjoy! — Kate