3 Videos: Celebrating Hand-Crafted Home Goods

Irwin Weiner ASID - Whenever I decorate a client's home, I always like to see one or more hand-crafted items included in a room. Handmade goods add texture and rich layering to the rest of the decor, and there's always an interesting story to tell about each piece - who made it, where it was made, what it means, and so on. I also love how no two items are exactly alike, a nice contrast to machine-made, mass-produced items.

We selected three videos today to help illustrate that there are real people behind hand-crafted goods: Mogck Pottery, RMIT Textile Design program (a weaving demonstration of technique used to make articles like the beautiful pillows shown in the top photo), and CMM Framing (custom framing work as in the second photo).

 Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features.  

If Real Isn't an Option: Our 5 Favorite Artificial Christmas Trees

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's a blessing to support Christmas tree farmers this time of year. If you live in a part of the world outside big cities where there are local tree farms, please support them; they plant a sustainable crop and deserve to make a good living, as do we all - and there's nothing like the smell of a fresh-cut tree in the home, using the proper watering and safety precautions, of course. 

But for the many of us who live in large cities, it's increasingly dubious (I think) to support the habit of transporting cut trees into the city, and you're not buying something really fresh when you get around to making the purchase. (And they're very overpriced.)

For the past ten years, we've had a Martha Stewart Christmas Tree from K-mart, and although we feel guilty that it's a vision of plastic and petroleum-based products instead of a real farmed tree, it's held up very well and we've saved time and money over the longrun - and this tree will last for eons.

Today's featured Young House Love video shows the decorating of a Christmas tree that's exactly like ours (although ours is a bit taller). And the photos in this post show some of our favorite alternative (read: fake) Christmas trees, if that happens to be your thing. Click on each photo for more product information.

I'd love to know what your family does for a tree around the holidays; add a comment to this post and tell me how you stand in the Real vs. Fake Tree issue. Thanks, and I hope you're having a fun season!

 Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features.  

Decorating Fun: Start with IKEA, Finish with Something New

Stunning tricked-out IKEA kitchen cabinets (Apartment Therapy / House Beautiful)

Jay Johnson - When Apartment Therapy and House Beautiful start to include design details that feature modified or "tricked-out" IKEA fixtures and furnishings, then you know you have a serious trend on your hands. Modifying the clean design of IKEA's furniture, cabinetry, and other home goods has become a global pasttime as do-it-yourselfers and home designers make modifications to create custom looks from basic pieces. The kitchen cabinets in the photo above, for instance, never looked like that in the showroom or catalog; they were custom detailed and finished to elevate the look. Saving money on the basics is what IKEA is all about, but elevating and tricking-out the basics to create a one-of-a-kind end result is what interior designers and DIY homeowners are all about.

The Gallant wall storage shelves were tricked out to create a new media console (IKEA Hackers) 

This trend has become so hot that there's even a popular website documenting a wide array of tricked-out projects: IKEA Hackers. Here are a few tricked-out projects that really caught our eye. Click on each photo for more information.

High gloss red tabletops become a backlit headboard (IKEA Hackers)

Regolit lamp covered with paper muffin liners (IKEA Hackers)

Click to read more ...

Play It Safe or Go Wild: 2 Celebrity Chef Turkey Recipes

Jay Johnson - Well if you ask me, any turkey that you don't have to personally prep, fuss over, roast, carve, serve, and clean up after is the best turkey ever. But if you're in the situation of having to host the annual Best Feast Ever, perhaps you should consider some great turkey recipes.

I searched online for recipes that really stood out, and I narrowed my list down to two options. There's still time to shop and prepare, so never fear - or feel free to save these for next year. Both recipes are from celebrity chefs, so I reason that they don't want to ruin their reputations with duds. Further: I chose one because it looked safe and the other because it looked wild and extraordinary. Which do you prefer?

Alton Brown's Turkey

Celebrity chef Alton Brown wants you to know that his recipe may be superior to others for one reason. "It's scientific and foolproof." Hmmm. That does appeal to me. If I'm trying a new turkey recipe, I'll go for one that helps compensate for my first-time mistakes. It's tough to practice a new turkey recipe before Thanksgiving, yet it's uncomfortable to experiment with your houseguests and family on the Big Day.

Start out with 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the Brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

For the Aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

Click here for the full recipe and prep directions. (See top photo for Alton's glorious final results.)

Bobby Flay's Turkey

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the famous "throwdown" cook, offers an amazing way to prepare turkey that just seems to be lightyears in the seasoning and spice department above other recipes. Here are the ingredients for his Black Pepper-Pomegranate Molasses Glazed Turkey.

For the Turkey Glaze:

1 1/2 cups pomegranate molasses
3/4 cup prepared horseradish, drained
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

For the Turkey:

1 (about 15 pounds) fresh turkey
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium canned broth

Click here for the full recipe and demonstration video (plus his Wild Rice/Goat Cheese Dressing).

 Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features.