These Schmaltzy Craftsy pincushions really caught my eye, appropriately enough. Jen Segrest’s designs, many of which are featured in the recent book Pretty Little Pincushions, include everything from her hilarious “Creepy Eye” bottlecap pincushions to sweet cherry blossom and “Thoroughly Girly Tomato” designs.


Her attention to detail is so great and her designs are so incredible, I want a bunch of them, even though I barely sew. You can admire them on Jen’s Flickr page, too. Or, of course, purchase a few of your own at her Etsy store. –Mary T.

P.S. If Jen’s name sounds familiar, perhaps you’ve met her at one of her many other design-related endeavors: Very Big Design, Pixeldecor, Medieval Beads and OHIKEA.

So I finally purchased Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure, thinking I would be a late joiner to the 2008 Spring Cure. I’m reading through the book slowly, and there’s a lot of discussion of how important it is to make your bedroom feel like a sanctuary. While TVs aren’t explicitly mentioned (well, maybe they are eventually — I haven’t read it that closely yet) there always seem to be to be news stories on how bad it is to have a TV in the bedroom. Of course, not everyone feels this way: witness “Hi-Can, the Ferrari of Beds” — it pretty much is a TV! We don’t currently have a TV in our bedroom, but I confess: I love to watch movies in bed. What about you — TV in the bedroom, or banned from it? –Mary T.

Above image from Apartment Therapy.

There haven’t been many movies out recently that had enviable decor (can’t imagine any of you are rushing to steal ideas from There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men), but a film opened this past weekend that has wallpaper lovers swooning: Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. It stars Frances McDormand as misplaced nanny who lands a job as personal secretary for a glamorous actress, played by Amy Adams — but design junkies would argue that film’s true star is the decadent 1930’s apartment created by production designer Sarah Greenwood (who also did Atonement’s lavish mansions). With tufted slipper chairs, silk wallpaper, and mirrored side tables, it’s enough to make any girl swoon. To read more about it, check out this little piece in The New York Times. And, be sure to weigh in on our mega-post, What’s Your Favorite Big Screen Home Decor?

Apartment Therapy had a nice little post on what designers collect. Angela collects antlers and refrigeratorware. I’ve developed a thing for vintage Pyrex. (Somehow I’ve just noticed the amazing site Pyrex Love! Such great photos, like the one above, and such great info.) So what do you collect? Share with us in comments, and include links if you have photos online. (If no photos online, feel free to contact letters at shelterrific dot com.) We may feature some of your fine collections in a future post. –Mary T.

Here’s a recipe for those of you serving a crowd on St. Patrick’s Day — though I actually made this back in January (P.I. time — pre-Isadora) and froze half of it. Ironically, it’s “Mom’s Beef Stew” from a book called Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. (I’m not sure what it says about me, that of all the recipes in the book, I picked out the one that was ‘Mom’s’). It’s amazingly easy, if you have a slow cooker handy.

First, place chopped up potatoes and carrots at the bottom of the cooker. Then coat two pounds of boneless beef chunks in flour, paprika, salt and pepper, and brown it in a skillet. Transfer to the meat to the slower cooker, and add in chopped onion, celery, mushrooms. Stir up, leaving potatoes and carrots on the bottom layer. Add in a mixture of beef broth, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and cloves. Tuck in a bay leave or two and some parsley sprigs. Cover, and cook on low for eight to nine hours. Right before you serve, stir in some frozen peas and cook for fifteen more minutes. We served our stew over mashed potatoes. Talk about a comfort food hitting home! This dish did the trick.

I’m sure there is a way to make this without a slow cooker — simmering in a dutch oven on the stove for three or four hours? Does anyone know? Click through to the next page for the full recipe! — Angela M. (more…)

We’re digging Populuxe Books, where you can buy from a rotating selection of original how-to books and building plans from the heyday of mid-century modern design. It’s great fun just to peruse some of the books’ screen shots, as well. Populuxe also runs Retro Info!, a blog jammed with great links and observations — we particularly enjoyed these notes on more retro wallpaper (we like retro and vintage wallpaper) and even more mod designs for the little ones (with a video of their own little one in his Boon-designed high chair).

Update: I took some pity on Katrina and did a little more research. See below! –Mary T.

“I’m itching to make some lampshades using felt, but need some frames!” says Katrina. “I’m looking for just a simple, elongated cylinder frame, or a drum-shaped frame, and came up empty handed. I found lots of Victorian frames that do not lend themselves to the modern design I am looking for.” Katrina wants a frame that looks like the images above. So how about it, readers? Can you shed any light on this subject?

Update: Some possible solutions after the jump — click to see them! (more…)

Hello everyone! I am sneaking in a quick post while Isadora is blissfully snoozing in the other room (thank you for all your well wishes!). The past two weeks have been blurry (to say the least), but I am slowly starting to reconnect with the outside world. The amazing Mary T. forwarded me this story from the NYTimes last week: Parent Shock: Children are not Decor. Despite the condescending title, it’s a pretty interesting piece about what happens when people choose to become parents later in life, after honing their decor aesthetics and investing in some treasured pieces. While our one-bedroom apartment leans more towards Ikea than modern collectibles, I can empathize somewhat. One dad in the story laments having to put a padded “bumper” around his Noguchi coffee table (I don’t think it looks that bad actually). Our only “dining” table is a bistro-sized Saarinen tulip. Once Isadora moves off my chest for meals, that won’t do at all! It makes me wonder how our place will evolve over the next year or so. Luckily, I learned long ago not to ever get too attached to objects. But tell me what lies ahead! How did you and your friends adapt grown-up, stylish homes into safe, easily cleaned, family friendly abodes that you all live in? Click here to see the full story at nytimes.com. — Angela M.

While you probably won’t catch me in a KFC or Roy Rogers any time soon, if you hand me one of their biscuits, I’ll gladly gobble it up. It’s not that I think they produce quality eats; it’s just that biscuits are something that even when they’re bad, they’re good. While preparing for a day of football-watching the other week (Go Pats!) I wanted to whip up some homey fare. I decided on the “four B’s”: Boston Baked Beans and Biscuits. I must admit, the biscuits stole the show. My search for a reliable biscuit source led me to a site I love for both its recipes and beautiful food photography: Homesick Texan, written by an expat Texan in New York City. The recipe is super-simple, but the results are oh-so-yummy. They were perfect for sopping up the tangy baked beans and they were delicious the next morning under a fried egg, and with tomato soup for lunch, and with a drizzle of honey on my way through the kitchen…I just couldn’t stop eating them! Check out the biscuit recipe — you won’t be sorry! –Erica P.

Want more crowd-pleasing recipes? Try here and here.

While we can all attest to being “under the influence” of great design, who better to give us a fix than Jonathan Adler? His new Druggery collection of hand-thrown jars (from $75), mugs ($24) and bath accessories decorated with trompe l’oeil chains and emotions are definitely passion-inducing. As are his accompanying needlepoint pillows. While “lust” is a given — Mr. Adler didn’t need to spell that one out — the pillow bearing this particular emotion won’t be available until late spring. And who can resist his new Ojai dinnerware with its alluring rich, retro color mix? It’s not on his website yet, either. Does patience qualify as an emotion? In this extreme, just maybe. — Ingrid S.