Our new Danny Seo woodland creatures reed diffusers are hitting stores now.      They are packaged in 100% recycled fiberboard packging and come in two choices right now: a white owl or brown squirrel.

The natural reeds take a playful turn when actual hand made natural “flowers” add a woodland touch to the arrangement.   The flowers actually act as real diffusers and help deliver your choice of natural scent to the room (I am partial to the vanilla coconut scent).

You can find them at stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods right now and they are about $9.99 for your choice of either design.

And coming in stores in a few weeks will be our 3rd design: a playful acorn.  Can’t wait to share that one with you!

A very nice houseguest recently brought this yum bottle of rose champagne to my house as a gift.  It was chilled, shared and enjoyed by all.    But I was left with a very sturdy presentation box that I thought could be upcycled and turned into something new.

I had some leftover purple matte spray paint and decided to cover the interior box with a few light coats…  Easy peasy on a bright sunny day!

This pretty paper was leftover from a photo shoot and I thought it would be nice to cover the outside of the box with it.

Just some regular Elmers craft glue, a brush and an X-acto knife to create a perfectly wrapped exterior.  It conceals all traces of what the box used to be instantly.

Brand new box!   Inside is a bottle of local wine all wrapped up and ready to give the next time I visit someone as their houseguest.

Hope you’re going to have an adventure filled summer weekend.   I try to treat myself to 3-day weekends in the summer months knowing the Fall and Winter months are jam packed with work and hectic travel schedules.

Anyway, came across this image of a diamond light bulb and thought A: how cool is this? and B: why don’t they make LED bulbs in this shape?  I want this bad.

And what an interesting way to display a model ship!    This is from The Boat House bar in Lambertville, NJ… my favorite place to have a drink with friends.   I love the upstairs living room area with all the vintage and antique paintings covering the walls.  It’s a must visit place on a weekend away in Lambertville.

Hanging a boat like a mobile is fresh and fun… and a little Harry Potter-esque to boot.

Bought this 1950′s hand hammered copper bowl at the flea market last weekend from a geologist.    Of course, I bought the one thing that wasn’t a fossil or gemstone from him.  $30!

Tealight candles inside the vintage aquarium are really pretty at night when all a glow…

The standing vintage bird feeder stand looks right inside the house.    A $20 find that I think I might hand a giant piece of quartz crystal inside (or put outdoors with, duh, a bird feeder.)

A well used paint splattered bucket that now looks very cool.   I see this inside a Ralph Lauren store for some reason…

A $1 trophy I found at the Golden Nugget flea market that is about 70 years old.   The original arms are broken off, but I loved the color and dented charm of it.  Plus, it was a buck.    I’ll use it as a vase in the bathroom.

Here’s a sneak peek inside the Upcycling Celebrations book coming out late next month.  I got my first bound copy the other day and have been leafing through it like crazy.

I am happy to report this book is about 20 pages longer than the previous book and also have about 20 additional projects with a few hundred ideas (all original content) inside the book, too.

We invested in a whole new styling team and photo team to produce this book and I think the results show it: it’s brighter, clearer and the projects are just way more fun.   I’m very proud of this one.

I dedicated the book to you, of course!

In the back of the book, there is an index of all the upcycling projects organized by photos for quick and easy reference. I felt strongly snapshots would be better than a written list of the projects.

An upcycled robot pinata project from the summer celebrations chapter.

DIY color blocked totes using different types of industrial tape.

Our quick and easy take on shrunken apple heads for a spook-tacular Halloween centerpiece.

And finally some nice words of support for the book from pals like Nate Berkus, Katie Lee, Johnny Iuzzini (from Top Chef Desserts), actress Emmanuelle Chriqui and Deborah Needleman who founded Domino magazine.

The book is out soon, so you can pre-order here:
http://www.amazon.com/Upcycling-Celebrations-Use-What-You-Have-Gift-Giving-Entertaining/dp/0762444665/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343057395&sr=1-7