Darn it, Design*Sponge. Every time I click over there, I find more treasures to wish for. First it was the d-i-y nesting spice shakers (which I am going to take a crack at soon), and now it's these amazing Mudpuppy creations. The ones on the right, featured on Design*Sponge, are exquisite--the nets are knotless and done from one piece of waxed Irish linen thread. They look like well-used artifacts. 
I like these grey felt bowls as a textural centerpiece for a recovered wood dining table (oh, yearn, yearn). The one on the left is coiled and posh; the one on the right is industrial wool felt from factory excess. I love it when style makes use of recycled materials. Also, the eggflat can be "joined laterally to form a landscape"--I think it would make an interesting table runner, all full of glossy bright fruit.
I have a crush on this cow, who is a mid-century toy just posted on the ebay shop of Genevieve (who runs excellent blog Tell You (Today)). This cow is wooden with a little leather switch for his tail. Seriously, were Mouse's pockets less depleted from the holidays, this cow would already be on his way to my house.
It is effing cold in Chicago, so the entire city is having a trapper hat trend. I approve, in part because they're warm and in part because, if you're going to wear a hat, then why not go all-out? So Boyfriend and I both asked for trapper hats for Christmas, and I got that jazzy red one from family and picked out that wool one for him. Mouse's ears are warm now, are yours?
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Is there anything nicer than the smell of tomato plants? I like the tomato plant smell much more than actually eating the tomatoes, although tomatoes are also excellent. Lovely Saipua pointed out that Tomato Bob is having a killer January sale on heirloom tomatoes--many seed packets are going for 1945 prices (25 cents each). Mouse might stock up on tomato seeds in anticipation of lovely summertime tomato plant smell (and tomatoes themselves, hopefully less devastated by whiteflies this time around).
Mouse is over the moon! My sister periodically lives in Tanzania, and after her first trip she brought me these earrings. They are perfect, weird, and somehow sit on the edge between retro-eighties style and simple organic shapes. They also are made sustainably out of cow horn. COW HORN! I wore them with everything for about a year before tragically losing one of them in a Chicago taxi. But this year my sister went back to Tanzania, and brought me back some new ones. Hooray!
A Christmas gift/"take-this-out-of-my-too-full-house" from Mouse's mom. This beaded hat belonged to my grandmother, who liked to wear fanciful things. It's rumply because I need to buy it a hatstand (where does one get a nice hatstand for cheap?). I like the idea of wearing a cloche and beads. It makes me want to invest in red lipstick.
I found a whole bunch of these hand-stitched, geometrically patterned molas on a trip to the comarca Kuna Yala in Panama a few years ago. They're done in reverse-applique cotton. They come in a wildly interesting variety of colors and designs, and cost between $1 and $10 when you buy them (in a pair) directly from the artisan. It's another excellent reason to support the Kuna Yala with your tourist dollars, besides their incredibly gorgeous and deserted beaches. (You can also find molas on etsy and ebay.) Mouse finally got around to turning some of them into pillows, cheep cheep cheep.
Boyfriend and I had my favorite New Year's Eve ever, despite having nasty colds and no open-mouthed kisses (boo). We played Scrabble in front of the roaring candles, looked at the lovely holiday cheer everyone sent our way, and made resolutions. I made these yummy orangettes--a new tradition--and we munched on these and popcorn while we watched the ball drop and hugged a lot. We also sipped a lovely cava with a funny name. It was cozy, calm, and exactly what I wanted to be doing.
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