Don’t have the patience to learn origami from scratch? Origami Napkins come pre-printed with folding instruction for four different designs. Amaze your dinner guests — or kids — with everything from a napkin polo shirt to the bird of paradise. $8.99 for 40 napkins at ThinkGeek. — Sarah L.

1) Shower curtains figure largely into your small bathrooms. Many of you really love your choices. Sara says: “I made mine out of Heather Ross’ Mendocino fabric – the one with the orange octopi cavorting on a light turquoise background. My bathroom is (seriously!) 5 feet x 8 feet and most of that is taken up by the giant clawfoot tub, so I needed a curtain that would make me smile.” What’s on your shower curtain?

2) Many of you would like to see more bright houses in your neighborhoods. Megan B. is considering a change to blue with two bright options and wanted opinions. DJ says: “I love them both, but the more vivid color in the top photo is my favorite. I live in a city where everything seems to be either beige brick, red brick, or concrete color. I miss living in places where folks paint their homes in more vivid shades!” Commenter Jilliana warns of fading due to the sun, but loves the brighter blue nonetheless. Is blue your hue?

3) Magnetic primer fails to please. Sarah C. was thinking of trying it, but many of you find it to be mediocre at best. Some of you even hate it. Sara says: “Seriously, don’t bother. I used SEVEN coats of it on my son’s play kitchen, thinking it would be awesome to have magnets on the fridge. Nothing! Magnetic poetry would sort-of stick before I got the topcoat on, but once the paint was on top, even that failed. I’m still bitter about it, to tell you the truth.”

4) Displaying antique typewriters is an involved process. Many of you had great suggestions for our reader, Meg, regarding how to display her typewriter collection. The consensus seems to be to display them at eye-level and avoid hanging them where they could fall due to their weight. Anyone else have ideas for Meg?

5) Walking while you work is an appealing idea. A TreadDesk might figure prominently to maintaining good habits. Jaymie says: “I NEED one of these! First I thought, “Is this a joke?” but this thing would solve so many of my sleepless nights. I’m going back to work after 25 months of Unemployment and the job includes an hour commute. I’m trying to find a gym close by or at least on the way so I can continue the weightloss I’ve been so successful at with my at home time. And I’m panicking about not knowing where I’ll be working out. So in all seriousness, I want one of these desks. Now to find a way to pay for it.”

The beacon of DIY wisdom that is Curbly has specs on how to make this fabulous lotus lantern using cupcake liners. How fun for a wedding or birthday celebration!

House in a can: turn a feed silo into a groovy modern domicile with this kit. Awesome! Via BLDGBLOG.

If you’ve ever forgotten to Tivo Mad Men in the middle of a night out, here’s how to hack your DVR to be controlled via a mobile device, at Instructables.

Decor8 has us swoonin’ over the delicious kitchen inspiration from Living Etc. magazine.

Pepper season is upon us — huzzah! The Kitchn shares it’s tips for roasting a large batch of peppers at home.
Best idea comes from the comments: creme brûlée torch. Brilliant!

Skip the high-priced school supplies and make your own scrap paper notebooks. Adorably thrifty — at Design*Sponge.

Immortalize your favorite doodle by having it made into a rug (for real). Awesome to the max — thanks to Ohdeedoh.

Over at Casa Sugar, they’ve got a great gallery of simple ways to make your bedroom more relaxing. Might be more effective than our current “Serenity Now!” mantra.

Celebrate the High Holidays with a multitude of mouth-watering recipes at CHOW. The spiced honey cake with caramelized figs? Bookmarked — it may be a upcoming RLTK….

Are you ready for some tailgating? The NFL season starts this weekend and, for now, I’m excited. It will be at least another month until all the fantasy football talk drives me crazy! I’ll be making some classic grid iron potato skins and pigs-in-a-blanket. So how about it, football fanatics? Fire up the grill and tell us: what’s going to grace your coffee table and tailgate cooler this weekend? –Katie D.

Pictured above: Patriots cookies by Flickr member Just Cookies

Believe it or not, there are advantages to having a microscopic powder room. True, grown men have to wrestle with some serious logistical issues when attempting to use the tiny (and I mean tiny) half bathroom in our apartment, but that doesn’t change the fact that its size makes it the perfect venue for some daring décor decisions. For us, this meant experimenting with a pop of color. We chose Benjamin Moore’s English Hyacinth for our space to match the tones in a Harper’s Bazaar cover that we plan on framing. While surely there are bolder choices than a strong periwinkle, we love the break from beige. If I had a knack for decoupage, I’d definitely try to replicate the collage wall in designer Cath Kidston’s Chiswick, England home. Featured in the August/September issue of Lonny, the tiny bathroom was transformed by her friend, artist Nancy Howard, who specializes in creating gorgeous custom wallscapes. Personally, my DIY abilities could never match up to her art, but the idea is one worth exploring!

Click over to Lonny to see the rest of Kidston’s colorful home, and check out Howard’s Facebook Fan Page for more inspiration. –Sarah C.

I spent last week scouring Chicago for a new shower curtain and finally settled on a gorgeous India-inspired print from Macy’s. It was love at first lather. I never thought I could get this excited about a shower curtain! I keep peeking into the bathroom and getting a surprise jolt of happiness from my mini bathroom makeover. It got me thinking, who else loves their shower curtain? I have one girlfriend who regularly changes her shower curtains each season. She loves her crisp, autumnal colors in the fall, her sharp plaid navy in the winter, and her spring floral in the springtime. What about you, Readers? What’s on your shower curtain? — Katie D.

Pictured above: Anthropologie’s Flamenco Shower Curtain, the Holy Grail of bathroom decor. We hear a lot about this one, but at $118 it remains firmly planted on the lottery wishlist. Anyone have it? We’re jealous!

I’ve been seeing a lot of bright blue houses lately, and I like it. Bold, bright, yet somewhat classic, it’s the perfect antidote to the washed out row of white our house currently languishes in. The top photo is my shade of choice, and I liked it so much I went up to the door and asked the owner what the color was (answer: Sherwin Williams Indigo). It’s the perfect blue — bright, but with just enough purple in it to give it depth. I can just imagine it on our 1961 rambler, with crisp white trim and a bright marine orange front door. Oh yeah. Unfortunately, my other half isn’t feeling the bold blue so much… yet. I’m working towards a compromise: a more steely-navy blue (I haven’t door-knocked yet to inquire about the exact shade) as pictured in the second photo. It’s still bold, and will be sure to pop with my aforementioned accents of marine orange and white. What do you think? Is the bright blue route too bold a choice, or is it one you’d like to see on your street? — Megan B.

Maybe it has to do with getting older, but these days, September is at once a funeral of the summer and a nostalgic time in which back-to-school has morphed into back-to-work. That crisp autumn air always stokes a fire in me to go on an office supply binge at The Container Store for a home office I don’t currently have. But the dream office I have in my head? That one is impeccably appointed. On the improvements front, I’ve been considering road testing some magnetic primer to create a multi-purpose backsplash of sorts. A few coats of this Rust-Oleum Latex Primer, $22.67/can at Home Depot should do the trick, but I’m seeing a lot of mixed reviews. The Youngsters over at Young House Love found moderate success with it in their quest to find a new place to hang their wallflowers and offer a helpful how-to on the subject. Has anyone else successfully used a specialty primer (magnetic, whiteboard, chalkboard) in an office? – Sarah C.

I saw this recipe on The Pioneer Woman and since it promised to be quick — 16 minutes — and I already had everything I needed, I gave it a try. My risk-averse kids loved it and although I was afraid it would taste a bit Hamburger Helper-ish instead of homemade, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve made it twice since and substituted cheddar for the mozzarella and mascarpone for the sour cream and it still turned out great. — Sarah L. Click for Bow Tie Lasagna! (more…)

While strolling through downtown Seattle, I was stopped dead in my tracks by some of the most gorgeous tiles I had ever seen. I had never heard of Ann Sacks before, and I really can’t believe that I’ve been missing out for so long. Rows and rows of samples of gorgeous mosaics, glass, and metal tile awaited my discovery. Upon further browsing, I was even more jazzed to spot exclusive tiles by Angela Adams and Heath Ceramics. My favorite of all, though, has to be the retro-riffic Barbara Barry Starburst, pictured above. I’m having a hard time not imagining it interspersed with some vintage flecked tile in different colors in my bathroom. A really hard time. Unfortunately, at $30/square foot, I’ll be sacking away some extra cash before installing. But thankfully, they even have a Basics line that all goes for $12/square foot or less. Score! –Megan B.