Chair backs repurposed into coat hangers

Matt C shared this with me. I would love to have a closet full of them.

Dry-Erase Paint!

Now you can Dry-Erase anywhere. What if you could Dry-erase on refrigerators? I would love to get my hands on this stuff!!!

Danielle Everine

This is the work of a girl I met in Minneapolis, Danielle Everine. She is an artist and designer with a focus in fashion. You can purchase her clothes at Cliche, a boutique in uptown Minneapolis. And here is her blog http://danielleeverine.blogspot.com/ if you want to check more of her stuff out

Ice Aquarium in Japan

"to explore the ocean... Japan's Kori no Suizokukan (Ice Aquarium) in Kesennuma, northeastern Japan has about 450 specimens of about 80 species on display for anyone to examine or ponder. But they aren't floating or zipping through aquariums. Nope...they're frozen in blocks of ice."

Crochet Broccoli

"Japanese crochet artist jungjung made these fabulous crochet broccoli and cauliflower heads. They're part of an exhibition of crochet lace that also includes a carrot with delicate crochet greens. [via 203gow]"

Motte Milk Carton Holder

"From Minna Design, this little wooden handle called Motte affixes to your milk carton so you can drink it like a lady. Pinkies up!" (via Design-milk.com)

Piggy by Bruce Tharp of Materious

Piggy by Bruce Tharp of Materious "We believe that this simple product, Piggy, can truly make the world a better and more compassionate place.

Piggy helps teach kids about charitable giving, with the hopes of inspiring new generations of caring, sharing, philanthropic citizens.

With 12,000 children born each day in the US, imagine the social impact if just a fraction of them learned powerful lessons
of gratefulness and kindness to others.

We suggest that children learn to set aside 10% of their income to charity. Parents can discuss with their kids about who they would want to help most. When the baby bank is filled, a special event can be planned to deliver the money to the charity, or a trip to the bank and post office to mail a check.

The goal is to create positive feelings of doing good will make an indelible mark upon their character and place philanthropy as an important and intrinsic aspect of their life."

(via Design-milk.com)

Take Out from Klaus Aaalto

"Take Out is a series of dressers designed by Klaus Aalto in which the drawers are not really drawers at all — they’re actually individual suitcases. The idea was inspired by Aalto’s personal need for a storage solution for his tools. He ended up purchasing a Plasticase after a long search for the perfect briefcase."

Minimalism Today

After coming home and unpacking, I have been frustrated with the amount of stuff I have accumulated just in the past year. I didn't have much stuff to begin with, but I am starting to not have a place for things. I think the worst of it is my art supplies. They all seems useless at the moment, but what if I need it in the future? We probably can all relate to that feeling.

I recently stumbled upon this post from BBC's website about getting rid of most of your stuff by digitizing everything. Now that we can get digital books, music, movies, we can get by with hardly any physical objects. I could not go as extreme as some of these people do, but it would be nice to free up some space!

Post: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10928032

Quaker Granola Eco-friendly Packaging

Thanks Kristina for sharing this with me!

"Quaker has eliminated the paperboard packaging and replaced it with an adhesive label. The adhesive label also has perforated lines that allows for an individual bar to be ripped from the package while the other bars remain together. Quaker’s Rip n’ Go packaging is quite the suitable packaging improvement, Quaker states the new package uses 33% less material than the standard paperboard package. Re-engineering their standard package also made the package more convenient for consumers; the adhesive packaging keeps the bars together until the last bar is finished rather than allowing them to float around in the kitchen cupboard or pantry."

(via packaging-matters.blogspot.com)

Core77 Store in Portland

Core77 opened a store in Portland's China town. They sell tools and gadgets that help Industrial Designers make things. Good move core77! With such a strong DIY/craft culture in Portland this shop is bound to be a success.

Matt and I bought some goofy, but fantastic shop glasses (shown above)! Every Industrial Designer needs their own pair!

2010 DIS Furniture!

I just saw the sneak peak of the 2010 DIS furniture. These are a few of my favorites. The students at DIS design and build these chairs in three weeks. It's amazing the complexity of some of these chairs and that they are made in such a short time! The first one is done by my friend Gino Fiore. Congrats on a great job Gino!

Adorable Photographs

My good friend Anny showed me these adorable photos. They are taken by her younger cousin with tiny objects that look bigger in the photo than they actually are. I cannot believe how well these are taken! The photographer is only 7!

Bamboo iphone case

This trip to Portland has been very enchanting. I've started fantasizing about moving back there. I miss the D.I.Y spirit that everyone seems to have. There are so many wonderful handcrafted items done by local artists. It definitely is the city I group up in. I am inspired from this trip and hope to make more things this next year.

While I was in Portland, I had the opportunity to help out Engrave, one of the companies that helps produce the product featured above. This is a bamboo iphone case that is part machined, part handcrafted by Grove. Then it is taken to Engrave to be laser engraved and packaged. You can personalize the case by engraving your own image or you can select from one of the artist series.

The packaging is one of my favorite parts about this product. It comes in a frame that is the left over scrap from when it was machined. Once opened you can use the frame as a picture frame! Very eco friendly!

You can purchase one here:
http://www.grovemade.com

Because each product is handmade and the demand for the product is high you should expect 8-10 weeks to receive the product after you have ordered it.