Okay, so today I’m featuring two recent flea market scores for you.

The first: these western star pins.   I have no idea what they are, how old they are and what they were used for… but God, I love them.

I found them in Lambertville, NJ at the Golden Nugget Flea Market… We were shooting a story for Country Home about my flea marketing adventures and this was probably my favorite pick.   It’s also the priciest thing I’ve ever bought: at $15 a piece.    I’ve got them outside clipped onto a wire rack full of oranges for the holidays.   

Now speaking of holidays….

How about these vintage Christmas balls?   I got these in the summertime for about $20 for the whole box.  The coloring is chipping in some parts (but I like that) and many of them still have the original metal hooks to hang them on the tree.     I think I might just fill a large vase this year with these balls instead of hanging them on the existing tree already in my living room.  Or I might give it as a gift to someone.  Not sure yet.  But the point of this story is that instead of buying all new ornaments, hit the flea market and get something old, beautiful and inexpensive.

What a great idea this is.   I was looking at bedding at MACY’s in New York City and saw this sitting next to a bed: a stack of books bound together with belts to make a sidetable.

I am totally making this for my living room.   I just returned from Goodwill where I bought two 44" leather belts.   The sales clerk said, "are these for you?"   And not thinking she meant ME TO WEAR, I said, "yes, these are for me."    You can not believe the stares I got from the sales clerk.   

Sometimes, I feel like I’m totally out of place in environments where I should totally feel I’m in the right place.

I recently attended a luncheon for the launch of a new organic skin care line by designer Stella McCartney.   It’s called CARE BY STELLA MCCARTNEY, and it’s a truly 100% organic skin care that will debut later this year in the United States.

At the lunch, I was wearing a different "hat" of sorts: as guest editor of the upcoming green issue of ELLE magazine.   

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m used to being a magazine editor—producing stories, booking celebrities, managing photo shoots.   But working at a global fashion icon like ELLE is a whole different world.

First, it’s interesting to be one of the only guys in a room full of beauty editors.    I think being a beauty editor has got to be one of those jobs that is fabulous at first—the FREE PRODUCTS!  FREE SAMPLES!   TRY IT BEFORE THE PUBLIC DOES!—that wears off pretty quickly.   Case in point: I think beauty editors go from a breakfast product launch, to a lunch launch, cocktails launch and then dinner with a beauty advertiser.     All you do is eat.    After a while, I bet all they want is a fluffer-nutter sandwich at their desk.   So, this might explain the itsy-bitsy lunch Stella’s folks served:

It was delicious.   It was 100% organic.    But it was also four bites of food.   And still…every other plate in the room was hardly eaten because you know the other editors either had A: another lunch to attend for a revolutionary skin care product or B: a 3PM tea and scones meeting to discuss some starlet’s new perfume.    The seat next to me was empty and there WAS a moment, where I thought… "should I eat there plate of food, too?"

Anyway, I digress.  I’ve been trying the free samples of Stella’s line (hey, they tell me it’s unisex) and I have to say it really is amazing.   It smells like–well—organic essential oils.    There’s all sorts of eco certifiactions symbols, literature and notices on the packaging…which is reassuring.

Anyway, I’ll post more things on this blog about my ELLE adventures.    The issue comes out April 22nd 2007.    Which is Earth Day.      And it’s—sigh—my 30th birthday, too.

Happy Holidays!

Well, here’s my wreath this year: a pretty traditional evergreen wreath.   It’s so hard to tel from the photo, but it’s enormous.

I got the wreath from outdoor living catalog Smith & Hawken (www.smithandhawken.com).    I am thinking after the holidays are over, I can strip the wreath and use the dried evergreens and berries as kindling in the fireplace.   The wreath form is something I"ll save and use later for another project.

Here, I have one of my relgazed silhouette plates resting in the middle of the wreath.   Kinda like it.

How are you decorating your home for the holidays?

Okay, TV tour continues.  Tune in MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27th to the CBS EARLY SHOW for simple and gorgeous ways to wrap gifts from my book SIMPLY GREEN GIVING (at bookstores and at amazon.com).   

What can you do with an old potato chip bag?    Electrical tape?   How do you wrap a bottle of wine in minutes that looks gorgeous and professinonal?  (and use stuff you have).

Find out on the CBS EARLY SHOW…  MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27th!