eBay Find of the Day: Midcentury Salt & Pepper Shakers

Jonathan Adler will be jealous.

Current bid: $1.

Cool Stuff: Key Catcher

Never misplace your keys again. (She said, wishfully.)

Adam und Harborth Velcro Clote keyboard and keyrings, 35 pounds sterling (about $70) from Magma.

(Via pan-dan.)

Over and Out

Have a lovely weekend!

(Photo: "Red Leaves Blue Wall," by flickr member traceyj.)

Deal of the Day: Akasha Bedding

The recently launched Akasha online store is offering More Ways to Waste Time readers 30 percent off of its luxe bedding sets (like Surround, above, normally $363 to $512, and Orb, below, normally $313 to $363), pillows (including Baby Fern, bottom, which are normally $145 each), PJs, and other goods.

Handcrafted in India and inspired by nature, Akasha textiles feature vibrant color, graphic pattern, and intricate texture. You can see the entire collection right here.

To take advantage of the savings, enter coupon code “AKSH07” during checkout between now and October 7.

eBay Find of the Day: Pear Dish

I am all about the pear right now: That shape, that yummy yellow-green color, the Scandinavian simplicity of it.

I'm in love with my Marimekko Paarya panel, and I was crushed when Victoria (of the wonderful sfgirlbybay blog) beat me to the awesome pear canister, right, from the new Three Potato Four shop. (I am so going to be haunting Victoria's Petite Flea in case she ever tires of it.)

But maybe I can still nab the great Pfalttzgraf pear dish, top, up for auction on eBay right now.

Current bid: $5.

Etsy Find of the Day: Marymee Vase

Kind of oogie, but in a good way.

This petite, narrow-necked vase, $40, by Nebraska potter Sarah Marymee has a hand-built and highly textured band of greenish gray encircling its pristine white glaze.

It reminds of me of something that might have been dredged up from the ocean years after a shipwreck, when barnacles and other sealife have long since laid their claim to remnants of the lost voyagers' finery.

Check out this and the rest of the lovely hand-thrown pottery in the Marymee Studio Etsy Shop.

Cool Stuff: Timorous Beasties Lights

You knew that the Scottish design duo Timorous Beasties has some of the most kickass wallpaper patterns around. But did you know that the company has some killer lighting, too?

Take a look at a few of Timorous Beasties' lampshade designs:

Digital Toile, 140 pounds sterling (about $280)

Digital Moth, 140 pounds ($280)

Branch Out, 70 pounds ($140)

The shades come in both hand-printed and digital designs, and are made to fit either pendants or table lamps.

To see the full collection, you'll have to visit the Timorous Beasties showrooms in London or Glasgow. Or you can write for more info here.

eBay Find of the Day: Florence Broadhurst Fabric

Definitely a splurge -- but considering that this linen Kabuki fabric from legendary Australian designer Florence Broadhurst normally sells for upwards of $169 a yard from chi-chi stores like Woodson & Rummerfield, it's still a pretty good deal (especially when you factor in that the meter offered here is actually a bit more than a yard).

Plus, wouldn't it make a gorgeous throw pillow or wall hanging? I think so.

Current bid: $70.

Cool Stuff: BluLuxe Home

Ever fantasize about chucking your day job to pursue a dream? Oh, never mind -- of course you do.

But Megan Bluthenthal, Arlene Corsetti, and Loryn Barbeau actually did it. (And get this: Their day jobs were as a designer, Fortune 500 executive, and professional opera singer -- fantasy jobs in and of themselves for many.)

The dream this daughter-mother-niece trio quit to pursue? BluLuxe Home, an online boutique specializing in "storied antiques as well as gorgeous new furniture, decorative pillows, barware, tabletop accessories, scented candles, and so much more."

The ladies behind BluLuxe pride themselves in offering merchandise you don't see everywhere else: Vintage items that have been restored, reupholstered, and reworked, plus their own designs and new items normally available only to designers -- all of it with an old-school glam, Paris Apartment vibe. Many are the sort of thing you have to eat ramen noodles for three months to save up for, but these are "forever" pieces.

Take a look:
Juliette Mirror, $275

Palm Beach Tray Table, $800

James Mont Chair, $1,650

Green Chippendale Chair, $500

Slipper Chair, $950

Blanc de Chine Lamp, $550

Venetian Tole Shade Lamp, $395

Chinoiserie Planter, $198

Blanc de Chine Cachepots, $60 and $80

Jade Striped Bowl, $275

Paisley Needlepoint Pillows, $72 each

Robin's Egg Blue Lacquered Boxes, $58 to $105

Ruby Glass Etched Cocktail Shakers, $42 each

Boudoir Vanity Jar Set, $95

See the entire BluLuxe Home collection right here.

(Thanks for the tip, Amanda!)

Etsy Find of the Day: Freetobe Photos

This is a guest post from my friend Kitty O'Callaghan, a writer, handbag designer, and ace Etsy surfer. Check out Kitty's own Etsy shop right here.

"Shimmering like memories, these haunting images of pear blossoms by Michigan photographer and Etsy seller Freetobe manage to avoid the usual matchy-matchy treacle of flower-print sets.

The digitally enhanced silhouettes and shadows are neither traditional nor modern, and would play nicely with either Louis XVI or Louis Poulsen.

Each print -- Golden Elegance I, II, and III -- is available in four sizes, ranging from $5 to $45. Even better, Freetobe is open to barters for her work."

Thanks, Kitty! (Psst -- I welcome thoughtfully written, unbiased guest posts, so feel free to send 'em in -- or just drop me a note alerting me to your cool finds.)

That's Random: Separated at Birth?

Left: Martha Stewart; right: Siouxsie Sioux

P.S. Isn't it just my luck that my 9-year-old daughter has been inhaling this issue since she begged and pleaded for me to buy it the other day, and has plans to do Every Frickin' 20-Man-Hour Craft Project contained therein?

How does someone with not a single strand of crafty DNA in her entire genetic blueprint give birth to someone who asks for glue guns and sewing machines for her birthday, and who is spurred on to new, impossible, adult-supervision-required craft-project heights by a certain jailbird omnimedia maven?

Curse you, Martha Stewart.

eBay Find of the Day: Pink Lamps

Just because.

Besides, these deliciously over-the-top lamps almost let me fool myself into thinking I could rock a vignette like this:

Current bid: $195 for the pair.* Hurry -- the auction ends Wednesday night.

(*Of course, you could also just pick up a couple of thrift store lamps and a can of hot-pink spray paint for, like, $20.)

Cool Stuff: Danish Bohemia

When Nick, the kids, and I were visiting my amazingly creative friend Catherine and her family in Western Massachusetts last Autumn, Catherine was in the midst of making a felted wool blanket out of Salvation Army sweaters. It sounds kind of weird, but the fuzzy squares that resulted from her throwing the wool sweaters in the washer and dryer were sinfully yummy and soft to the touch -- and I so coveted the blanket that Catherine was assembling from them.

So as Fall starts to fall around here, I'm determined to have a felted wool blanket of my own to snuggle up under. Since I don't have a crafty bone in my entire body and don't even own a sewing machine, I'm resigned to buying rather than making one. Anyway, as I surfed around on the hunt this evening I stumbled upon Danish Bohemia.

The online arm of the St. Paul, Minnesota boutique features some really lovely Danish designs from the likes of En Gry og Sif, Mulle Moth, and Knud Hoi -- including, yes, felted wool (like the blankets above, $159 each).

A few of my favorites:
Embroidered Floor Cushions, $114 each

Lime Basket with Flowers, $55

Felt Bird on a Stick, $20

Round Basket with Pom-Poms, $75

Turquoise Cushion Cover with Flowers, $65

Multi Color Cushion Covers, $55 each

Big Flowers Floor Cushion, $75

Floor Cushions with Diamonds, $75 each

Check out the entire Danish Bohemia selection right here.