Growth Table Turns Homework and Craft Time Into Family Affair

Irwin Weiner ASID - Such a Family Fun idea! I admit that I'm sometimes late in discovering certain design innovations - there are always so many, I'm bound to fall behind - but I just had to share something cute as a button with you: the Growth Table by designers Tim Durfee and Iris Anna Regn.

Made from marine plywood and bolted together, it's a system of graduated-height desk/work surfaces and benches that accommodate humans of different ages and heights. Adults down to youngsters can have fun working and playing together, and wouldn't this be ideal for home schooling?

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Paris Concept Store Hones in on Contemporary Design

 Irwin Weiner ASID - About ten days ago, Jay and I explored MERCI, a Parisian shopping concept store that provided a fresh and startling mix of new and used merchandise, but the merchandise extended into categories like fashion, home accessories and furnishings, kitchen and bath, and books - and some great all-natural foods and a fresh take on the bistro scene. My Little Paris, a blog we love when it comes to one of our favorite cities, describes the store as follows.

Welcome to MERCI, a store which is lovely, lovable and loving. It’s located in a majestic, sun-lit loft where you can browse from room to room just like in a real house. Stop and look through an old-fashioned trunk spilling over with unique creations and finally find that little dress nobody else has yet to wear! Don’t forget to buy a tiny bunch of roses at the flower shop, and cuddle up on a sofa in the book corner as you check out the latest literary sensation and sip a well-earned lemonade. You’re not going to believe this, but you’ll be raising money! The profits the store makes on your purchases are donated to charities.

Charitable donations - count us in! We love to shop responsibly, and this was a great way to make our purchases count. So what about the home design scene at MERCI? Big thumbs up all around. We thought the collection of home goods was amazingly well curated. One-of-a-kind architectural and antique finds cuddle up playfully with some truly hip and beautiful furnishings. Here are a few examples; click on each photo for more information, and sign up for MERCI's newsletter so you can enjoy their upcoming online shopping experience.

Pressed Chair, Aluminum, by Harry Thaler for Moormann

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Last-Minute Recipes for Halloween Cupcakes

Irwin Weiner ASID - We know you're scrambling to find a few easy-to-make goodies for your upcoming Halloween party this weekend, or in a few days when Halloween hits us in the middle of the week. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) In the following video, you'll see how to make Tombstone or Graveyard Brownies.

This recipe comes from YouTuber Sara Parker, whose 31 Days of Halloween videos include many wonderful ideas for costumes and parties and decor and recipes to help celebrate the spooky side of our holiday. Here's her Tombstone Brownies recipe.

WHAT YOU NEED

Powder sugar
Green food coloring
Brownie, Ding Dongs, or Chocolate Sponge Cake
Grahahm Cracker or Shortbread Biscuit
Chocolate letters
Nutella
Plastic skeleton

HOW TO DO IT

1. Mix Sugar Powder and "Green" food coloring with a tiny bit of water or use green frosting/icing.
2. Use brownie or ding dongs or choclate cake as the base.
3. Use Graham Cracker or Shortbread Biscuit as tombstone, make edges a bit rounder.
4. Cut a gap for the tombstone in the brownie. Place the tombstone.
5. Write something on the tombstone e.g. name of the person you invited. I used premade chocolate letters and used nutella to glue them on. You can use a sugar powder to write on it, too.
6. Add the green sugar powder mix as grass. Let it dry.
7. Make a hole for your skeleton and place it in there. Leave some dirt around it. I cut off the legs of the plastic skeleton.
8. Enjoy!

In the next recipe, YouTuber and cupcake lover Tammy, alias Yoyomax12, gives us her take on a Broken Glass Cupcake. Watch the video, and then afterwards you'll see how she found this recipe and the process.

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Home Decor Tip: Introduce Yourself to New Artists

Philippe Lardy, Life Forms, 2012Irwin Weiner ASID - You shouldn't be afraid to make new art friends! They won't bite. They come in peace. And they can add fresh oomph and much-needed juice into your home decor. I often say that interior design is not about turning your home into a museum. Just because you've already hung things on the wall doesn't mean they have to stay there forever (even museums change it up every so often).

Philippe Lardy, Oscillations 5 and 6, 2011

We just got back on Monday night from a week in Paris and was introduced to the work of an American illustrator Philippe Lardy whose works of fine art are represented by Galerie Menus Plaisirs. We admired the graphic forms and confidence in his work, but the point is to go out to galleries, look at online resources (even inexpensive ones that offer fine art like 20x200), and find something new for your walls. And you can always switch artwork back or move one or more items to walls in other rooms. Go wild. (Click on artwork for more information.)

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