Over at Not Martha, Megan made her own gin. Awesome! We’re thinking about making our own, Hendrick’s style, with cucumber and rose petal!

We are busting out the fabric and thread after seeing this detailed and inspiring tutorial at Design*Sponge on making your own pouf. Via Craft.

Even though Lost is officially over, Apartment Therapy shows us how to bring it into our homes with a Lost-inspired decor roundup.

More sweets that look like sushi! This time, it’s donuts shaped like nigiri. Bet Mr. Sparkle would go nuts for these!

We are really digging wallpapered ceilings these days. Curbly gives us even more to desire with their post, wallpapered ceilings for instant wow factor.

Slacker might be a bit too harsh, but some of us are definitely guilty of some major procrastinating over here. Thankfully, Unclutterer is here to help light a fire under even the most lackadaisical, with it’s motivation tips for slackers.

CasaSugar wowed us with the coolest wedding favor we have quite possibly ever seen: custom beach towel favors for a poolside wedding.

Summer Breezes make us feel fine. And we like to hang our laundry out to dry in them. Retro Renovation’s got the down low on where to buy old fashioned clotheslines, so our clothes can blow through the jasmine of the wind, not our minds.

1) Stop saving pet and human hair; it WON’T help with the oil spill. Thanks to reader Heckman for sending us a link to the LA Times, who had reported several times on the efforts to collect hair for oil cleanup. Unfortunately, it turns out that the hair is too heavy to make a good cleanup boom — it sinks. Let’s hope the spill is stopped — and soon.

2) Your knives are as dull as ours were. Alyson says: “Dude. My knives needed to be sharpened when I bought them two years ago and I keep telling myself to buy a sharpener (apparently a honing rod is the way to go?) and still have not.” See Megan B.’s knife-sharpening revelations right here.

3) Apparel as decor is great for evoking happy memories. Jenney says: “When my husband and I first got married, we had very little money but lived in a great shopping area. We were browsing in a shop and he spotted a party dress that he said would look fabulous on me….I still love the dress and the memory of starting a joyful marriage feeling treasured, so I haven’t wanted to get rid of it. We recently bought a house where I have my own room for painting, crafts, and sewing, and so I put it on my dress form as a decoration. I see it every time I go into the room and feel happy and in love with my husband all over again. It is my favorite of all our decorations!” Jenney, we love that story — thank you for sharing. Click to read the whole story and see more apparel as decor.

4) Water, water everywhere on your unnecessary product wish lists. Jacuzzis, soaking tubs, indoor pools — when we’re decorating purely in our imaginations, we all seem to equate water with luxury. Carolyn says: “I can’t believe I’m not the only one that would get an indoor lap pool! I had no idea they’re so popular. I just checked out the Endless Pools website, and they start at $20K. That’s insane!” What unnecessary home product would you buy…if you could?

5) Brass? Resounding “no.” Are we all children of the ’70s with bad memories of brass decor? You’d think so from the comments on our post on new brass outdoor seating from DWR. Michelle V.K. says: “Can’t do it. In my mind, the only time brass is acceptable is on a vintage brass bed. And that only works if it’s contrasted with the right kind of bedding, accessories and other furniture in the room.” (Mary T. confesses she has a suspicion that brass may start looking cool to her in a few years’ time. Maybe. Perhaps.)

There’s lots of doable backyard project inspiration in This Old House’s 14 dramatic outdoor transformations.

Now anyone has room for a barbecue! Introducing the hide-a-cue, a wall mounted charcoal grill that folds up flat when not in use. Brilliance, via Unclutterer.

Rhubarb is the closest thing some of us have to locally grown fruit for at least another couple of weeks. Vegetable virtuoso Deborah Madison has two delicious ways to prepare this potentially toxic stalk.

We’ve oohed and ahhed over Seattle’s glassybaby votives before — now they’ve taken Manhattan!

We’ve grown our own fruits and veggies before, but we’ve never thought to cultivate our own mushrooms. Over at Veggie Gardening Tips, they’ve got a tutorial on growing your own Blewitt mushrooms. How cool would that be?

Lifehacker gives us the secret to keeping a clean house: frequent entertaining. If it weren’t for the occasional dinner party or houseguest, our house may never get cleaned!

CasaSugar gives us more helpful wedding gift advice: monogram etiquette for married couples.

1) Sometimes all you need is tape. Of the Rebecca Ward for Kate Spade tape-happy interior, ellobie says: “This might be my favorite thing ever.” See it here.

2) You gush with praise for bidets! (Sorry.) (Not really.) The responses made us laugh, but seriously, many of you love bidets, some are afraid of them, and most are baffled as to why they’re not more common where you live. C. says: “I have and use one and live in the upper mid-west. [U.S.] It’s a ‘Biffy bidet’ that hooks onto my toilet and cost around 100 dollars. It’s cold water only and you may think that’s awful, but it’s not and you adjust mighty quickly. I keep fabric ‘drying pads’ in a pouch near the toilet. I’m the only one who uses it as we have roommates who are ‘afraid’ but I’ve found it’s wonderful and I feel cleaner. Don’t know how else to put that one.” Marissa says: “I would LOVE to have a bidet. LOVE LOVE LOVE. i find them to be incredibly civilized, and SO much cleaner than just plain, dry, TP.” We think we agree! Join the civilized conversation on bidets.

3) Spice packs as party favors? Yes, please. Shoppingsmycardio says: “We did something similar as a holiday gift to friends and family…they’re always demanding my husband’s secret recipe for his ribs, so we gave everyone a jar of ‘top secret pig rub.’ It was a huge hit (of course, the fleur de sel caramels we included probably didn’t hurt either…).’ See this great idea for a wedding favor or other gift.

4) You also love Blue Carrot Shop. Wow, what didn’t you love last week? Sarah C’s report on Blue Carrot Shop also garnered praise. Michelle V.K. “Wonderful selection. Great website, too! The ‘grilling’ TV tray is fantastic. I think I’m gonna buy it.” Better hurry, Michelle!

5) And finally, you love Mexican chocolate tofu pudding, too! Love all around! Streakyj says: “Yes! last year, instead of making a cake for my b-day, I used this pudding to stuff popovers — worked reasonably well, esp. w/ a drizzle of dark choc on top. This recipe makes an unusually dark, rich pudding.” Yum! See it here.