Seattle artist Rakka specializes in “artstuffs with a sell-by date,” making her celebrity portraits using not paint or pencils but household items like mayonnaise and strawberry shampoo. The name of the subject of each portrait informs her choice of materials, so Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, above, is known as “frodolce de leche.” Likewise, “pamuel clemens” is made from Pam cooking spray with flour, Audrey Hepburn is captured as “funny facial scrub,” and you can probably guess what Ann Curry is made of. Working with such perishable supplies does have a downside — the art doesn’t have much of a shelf life. Luckily, Rakka photographs her works and is now selling them as cards on Etsy. Be sure to check out the Britney Spears made from Cheetos. –Mary T.

I hate my current flatware. I found several boxes of it in the basement of my parents’ house before I went away to college and have lived with it ever since. The spoons have been known to bend in a fresh-from-the-freezer pint of ice cream, and the sharp corners of my forks and knives have never felt right in my hands. I’m not in a place to spend a boatload on a designer set, but I think with all the sales in home stores right now, I might find a great deal on a set of replacements. Currently in the lead is this modern Luna Flatware set from Pottery Barn. I would only need the five-piece place setting. (Just $45!) Does anyone own the Luna set? It’s only sold on the internet, so I’d love to get some insider info before committing to the purchase. –Erica P.

I’ve been searching for thank-you cards on Etsy, and had to share this card by Michelle Bruusegard. “I personally would love to receive this card, and I guess that’s why I made it,” Bruusegard writes. “This card is suitable for several situations — always useful, the ‘i like your hair’ card can save you from embarrassing situations in which you don’t have a card.” And I have the sneaking suspicion that Whorange would like it, too. (She’s always telling me my hair looks fantastic today…) –Mary T.

I hope you can forgive one last holiday gasp, but I had to share this bit of goofiness that we picked up at a resale shop in Ohio during the holidays. (We shipped some stuff home so I just got it today.) An anonymous DIY-er crafted a light-up tabletop Christmas tree using tinsel, a string of lights, and a few wire coat hangers. Not sure about the flammability of that tinsel — we won’t leave this one unattended — but I couldn’t resist the pull of one more piece of Christmas kitsch, especially one that someone, at some point, obviously put some love into. See you next Christmas, little tree. –Mary T.

It’s not often that I look at a cover of Gourmet magazine and think, I can make that. I need to make that. Now. But this spaghetti and meatballs recipe did just that. Mine didn’t turn out quite as stunning as the cover bowl, but hey it was close. What makes this recipe more traditional than others is that it asks for three types of meat — beef, pork and veal. I couldn’t find ground veal — and am not a fan anyhow — so I doubled the beef instead. (I also cut the whole recipe in half — and it still coulda fed six people!). Instead of breadcrumbs, you soak day old bread in milk, squeezing out excess, and then mix that in with the meat along with cheese, eggs, and spices. The meatballs need to be browned in a pan first — then you add them to the sauce to finish cooking. The sauce is extremely basic — just tomatoes, onion and garlic — so the meatballs take center stage. I must admit mine did fall apart a bit, making the sauce a little more of a bolognese than I had intended. Nonetheless, they were scrumptious and amazing as leftovers the next day. Click here for recipe. — Angela M.

I got a good laugh out of this set of Wine Bottle Gift Bags by Bob’s Your Uncle from Greener Grass Design. Each brown bag is stamped with a different made-up wine quote. Of course, you might want to be selective as to who receives a bottle in these tongue-in-cheek bags. Your oenophile friend might not appreciate the humor. Pick up a set of 6 for $12. –Erica P.

Pottery Barn Kids introduced a new line of Dr. Seuss themed bedding and decor items this week. Normally we aren’t fans of plastering ready-made characters around a kid’s room, but this stuff is fun, especially if you look at the pieces individually. Our favorites are in the bathroom — the bright bath wraps and bath matt especially!

There was an article in the New York Times over the weekend, Design Loves a Depression, that has us thinking a little more optimistically about the hard times hitting us all now. It claims that the best design happened during depression — think Eames, Russel Wright and you get their point. And we are the first to admit that design has gotten a little, dare we say frivolous lately (like a Hercules stool, for example) but sometimes a little whimsy is a welcome thing. We hope it doesn’t disappear completely. Don’t get us wrong — great design at low prices? If that’s what lies ahead for us, than finally, that’s news we’re happy to hear!

It’s too early to think about spring updates, but I’m counting the day to put away our winter bedding and brighten up the bedroom with some fresh cottons. This vintage bird cover and shams at West Elm would do the trick. And at only $120 pretty affordable (especially when compared to the Dwell Chinoiserie cover, I also love). Do any of you have experience with West Elm bedding? How does it feel? Does it wash well (i.e. get softer)? — Angela M.

With so many home magazines going away, it was great to discover Atomic Ranch, a little gem that’s somehow escaped my notice for four years! The quarterly magazine focuses on midcentury design, but with a twist — most of the homes featured aren’t exactly huge and a lot of them aren’t exactly what you’d think of when you think “midcentury modern.” All the more inspiration for me, who lives in a home that was built midcentury but that will rely on us to add the “modern.” Subscribe to Atomic Ranch here. –Mary T.