Mint

Here are some ornaments we have our eye on this year!

Clockwise: Coral Candy Orb / Bear / Vintage Flocked Finial / Yarn Skein / Crackled Clear Lozenge / Walrus / Lemonwood / Paint in Color Orb / Bristle Brush Fox / Brilliant Bird / DIY Matryoshka Doll (instructions)

We’re continuing with our DIY Gift Guide tradition! Be sure to also check out our 2009 and 2010 guides.

For your dad: Wall clock form Scandinavian Deko

For your mom: hand-dyed napkins from 100 Layer Cake

For your sweetheart: tiny polaroid magnets from Ambrosia Girl

For your grandparents (or teachers or neighbors or friends!): Paperwhite bulb bags from Joke on Frolic

For your sister: hand-drawn mugs from Creature Comforts

For the dog: t-shirts turned into rope toys by DIYourFaceOff

For the little ones: fabric transfer from How About Orange (would look great on t-shirts and onesies, too!)

For your brother: While it would be cooler (and easier) to get illustrator Kyle Hilton to create custom paper dolls for you, I love One Plus One’s idea of your loved one transformed into their favorite super-hero.

For the cat: DIY cat toys from Design*Sponge

 For your friend: ipad case by Lotta Jansdotter in the Anthology Gift Guide

A round-up of gift-worthy items from some of our featured sponsors!

1. Good Timers Ceramic Mug by Kin Ship Press / 2. North Carolina Necklace by Vespertine / 3. Thunderbird Ring by Ruby Lane / 4. Zig Zag Postcards by The Change Factory / 5. Western Meadowlark Specimen Letterpress Print by Mossière / 6. Spring Court Velcro Trainers from Smallable / 7. Snow Angel Letterpress Cards from Felt & Wire / 8. Peaceful Snowflake Cards by Juniper Berry / 9. Looking for Beauty Print by Creature Comforts / 10. Hana-Hukin Kitchen Cloth from Uguisu

Thanks, all! Sponsors help make Mint possible, and I am so grateful for their support. If you’re interested in advertising on Mint, please get in touch by emailing ellie at mintdesignblog dot com, and I’ll be happy to give you all the details.

Some things we are coveting this week:

+ Pippa Small’s ethically traded collection at Terrain.

+ These constellation calendars by little bright studio via Unruly Things

+ Erika Lawlor Schmidt’s collages via Design for Mankind

+ This apple galette recipe from La Tartine Gourmande, above

+ Turner Pocock’s Owlet Wallpaper via Design Sponge

+ A very cozy looking Rennweg Scarf from Anthropologie

+ LOCAL STUFF: First Friday Gallery Walk in Raleigh // Durham Storefront Project // Holiday Open House at Marbles Kids Museum’s Corner Store // Raleigh Winterfest on Saturday

 Have a good weekend!

Chomp is a one lady textile and pattern design shop, created in 2007 by Dana Fehsenfeld during a fellowship at Penland School of Crafts. Dana first takes her hand drawn patterns and turns them into screen printed textiles, which are then turned into one of a kind sewn goods (or sold by the quarter).

Thanks to artist Ele Annand for the tip!

We’re kicking off our 2011 gift guide series with design books. Why? Design books are the gift that keeps on giving! Above are some favorites from my own collection (which I refer to often), in addition to a few I wish would appear under my tree. Photographs and book descriptions provided by their respective publishers.

DIY Furniture: A Step-by-Step Guide
Featuring 30 designs by leading designer-makers from around the world DIY Furniture shows you how to use simple techniques to make stunning designer furniture from scratch. …Each project features hand-drawn diagrams with short, easy-to-follow instructions on how to build the piece.

Thinking With Type, Revised Edition
Thinking with Type is the definitive guide to using typography in visual communication, from the printed page to the computer screen. …Throughout the book, visual examples show how to be inventive within systems of typographic form—what the rules are and how to break them.

By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art
…By Hand features the work of thirty-two artists whose innovative and unexpected uses of handicraft techniques such as embroidery, sewing, knitting, and crocheting are making the age-old craft versus art debate obsolete. From Kiki Smith’s lovingly etched birds, to Barb Hunt’s knitted land mines to dynamo-ville’s one-of-a-kind puppets, to Evil Twin’s handstitched publications, the artworks in By Hand revel in the care and consideration of craft.

Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon
…An innovator and one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of her time, Vera built her company on a radical philosophy: fine art should be accessible to everyone, not just a select few. Known for her iconic images of cheerful flowers, trendy geometrics, and vibrant ladybugs, she believed people should surround themselves with beauty. …In this volume, richly illustrated with Vera’s original sketches, paintings, and photographs of her worldwide travels, readers are introduced to the amazing woman behind the dynamic designs that continue to inspire and influence art, design, and fashion.

Pulled: A Catalog of Screen Printing
Popularized in the 1960s by Pop artists such as Andy Warhol, screen printing remains a favorite of artists due to its remarkable versatility and relatively low cost. In Pulled, best-selling author Mike Perry (Hand Job, Over and Over) collects the work of more than forty of today’s most talented designers who are, in their own way, pushing the boundaries of this dynamic medium.

Drawn In: A Peek into the Inspiring Sketchbooks of 44 Fine Artists, Illustrators, Graphic Designers, and Cartoonists
People are fascinated by artist’s sketchbooks. They offer a glimpse into private pages where artists brainstorm, doodle, develop and work on ideas, and keep track of their musings. Artists use these journals to document their daily lives, produce their initial ideas for bigger projects, and practice their skills. …See inside the sketchbooks of artists Jessica Hische, Mike Perry, Jen Corace, Matt Leines, Jill Bliss, Camilla Engman, Anders Nilsen and many more.

Design*Sponge at Home
The long-awaited home décor bible by design blogger Grace Bonney

To Each His Home: Inspired Interiors as Unique as Their Owners
…In To Each His Home: Inspired Interiors as Unique as Their Owners, photographer Bilyana Dimitrova takes readers on a tour of eight extraordinary homes that unabashedly express the personalities of their free-spirited owners. Dimitrova’s carefully crafted color photographs, accompanied by brief interviews with each homeowner, create vivid portraits of these one-of-a-kind American spaces.

The Printmaking Bible: The Complete Guide to Materials and Techniques
… The Printmaking Bible is the definitive resource to the ins-and-outs of every variety of serious printmaking technique practiced today. In-depth instructions are accompanied by profiles that show how working artists create their prints. Historical information, troubleshooting tips, and an extensive resource section provide more invaluable tools.

Stay tuned this week for our usual Mint gift guide round-ups… more books, DIY, and “gifts for good.”

And I’m so looking forward to a little break, good food, and family. You?

Stay tuned this afternoon for a combination of This Week’s Recipe and Round It Up, Thanksgiving style.

vintage apron from esther and harper / wooden serving spoons from aged simplicity / rifle place cards / bowls from little wren pottery