When sea creatures attack

Noticing this whole octopus/jellyfish/animals-whose-sting-requires-you-to-urinate-on-it trend everywhere these days. Scary-cute, no?

Captain Smith Hand-Printed Wallpaper by Grow House Grow! (LOVE this)

Jellyfish Note Card Set by willywaw at etsy

Jellybot print by Hamburgerpanda

Octopus Print Canvas Reusable Grocery Bag by happyfamily at etsy

Mendocino Octopus Pouch by ArtByJess at etsy

octopus thank-you card pack by serimony

Jellyfish Wall Decals by Michellechristina at etsy

All images / websites / content © their respective owners.

Top picks from the Martha Stewart craft sale

My good friend Leah, my good camera, and my good self braved the rainy/snowy NYC afternoon today and headed over to the very first Holiday Craft Sale featuring items made by several employees of Martha Stewart.

And oh-ho-ho my. Please witness this cuteness:

Each of these amazing acorn pendants by Hosanna Houser is named after the location where she found the original acron. She'll soon be opening an etsy site to sell the necklaces (our favorite item from the sale!); in the meantime, you can order them at hhjewelry@yahoo.com.

The cute girls from Handle & Spout whipped up these equally-as-cute hair pins.

This pimento cheese by Blondie's Southern Sweets and Savories made me question my previously held belief that I didn't like pimento cheese. Contact slapyomomma@gmail.com to order. Or to tell her that you dig her gmail handle.

Mini Notes from LoveTeenie make me want to write a tiny little hello to tiny little friends (big giant ones, too).

I loved the sweet detail on this platter by Gleena Ceramics.

These chunky-Mondrian-colored necklaces from JodiL made me smile. (And also crave candy. But that's totally unrelated.)

Check out a few more pics from the sale on my Flickr stream.

6 Perfect Art Books About New York City

Here are six art books on the city that your bookshelf will battle your Kindle to the death to own. FIGHT!

1. The City Out My Window: 63 Views on New York by Matteo Pericoli

2. New York, Line by Line: From Broadway to the Battery by Robinson

3. Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit by Sandra Bloodworth & William Ayres

4. Manhattan Unfurled by Matteo Pericoli

5. Manhattan Within by Matteo Pericoli

6. A Year in New York by Elisha Cooper

Hip to be square

I'm not a real big holiday-decorations kind of girl, but I did at one time own a square wreath that I loved enough to keep up year-round.  It was made of these plain, dark-brown twig things that I thought were kind of cool.  My roommate at the time, however, dubbed it "The Blair Witch Wreath" because it was a little different, probably created on a low budget, and, okay, kind of scary, if viewed from certain angles.

I ditched the BWW when I moved into my own place. But I still love me a wreath shaped like a square. I might even consider purchasing another one some day--perhaps this time made with more real greenery and less horror-movie-like materials (you know, because I like to be respectful around the holidays and all).

(Top wreath: Boxwood Square Wreath via fclstyle.com)

Salal Square Wreath via Northwest Wreaths

Boxwood Wreath Square with Ribbon via Williams-Sonoma

Original Magnolia Wreath Square via gardens

Square Preserved Boxwood Wreath via jamaligarden.com

All images / websites / content © their respective owners.