1. DIY Recycled Plate Cake Stand; 2. Tea’s Me Tea Set, from Rosana (which has more yummy yummy cups & things); 3. The Sweet Tooth Tunic from Mod Cloth (on sale!); 4. Kesera Tablecloth from Anthropolgie; 5. Girly Girl Gloves in Peach (not even $15! though you can only wear these types of gloves to: weddings, proms, tea parties) from Mod Cloth; 6. Alice & Friends All Dressed in Red & Ready to Mail, 10 folded notecards w/handmade envelopes from Time2Cr8 on Etsy; 7. Gourmet Tea from Tea Forte

Ah, I could not resist my cutsie title, I apologize! I love tea parties. You can have scones, cupcakes, little sandwiches without crusts, and at the same time wear ridiculously frilly dresses. As Napoleon said, “From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step” and thanks to Alice in Wonderland, I think you can take that step while drinking tea.

To highlight two of my faves from the group above:

Why I like: Vintage Alice & Wonderland! Each card is different! Space for your thoughts, such as: “COME TO MY TEA PARTY OR I’LL CHOP OFF YOUR HEAD!”

WHY I LIKE: Vintage-y; contains cupcakes; has sleeves for those of us worried about the visual attractiveness of our upper arms; on sale; unquie; sweeeet!

A while back, one of my fellow AIGA board members noticed my blog post on a tea towel I had just finished embroidering and quickly recommended this great new book that local KC publisher, Andrews McMeel, just released. So for the past month and a half, I have been leisurely enjoying The Kitchen Linens Book by EllynAnne Geisel.

Personally, I think I was born in the wrong decade. I absolutely LOVE vintage clothes, home décor, and especially vintage handicrafts. So I am of the opinion that this book was pretty much written just for me. For the novice vintage kitchen linens collector, this book should be your bible. Not only does Geisel give excellent suggestions on collecting and shopping for vintage tablecloths, tea towels and napkins, but she also gives you the history of their use. For those of us who missed out on home ec classes in high school, Geisel explains the difference between various fabric fibers and weaves, and embellishment techniques. Her how-to’s include a handful of fun recipes (I’m rather partial to the recipe for Quiche Lorraine), directions for using iron-on embroidery patterns (there’s one included in the back of the book), step-by-step instructions for making hot pads, and tips on keeping your vintage finds in tip top shape.

Geisel gives some tips on shopping for and re-purposing vintage linens, but here are a few of mine.

1. Aside from flea markets and antique stores, look for vintage doilies, tablecloths, and tea towels at garage sales in more established neighborhoods. Often, older women are ready to part with their “old” decorations for cheap prices.
2. Look for pieces that may have a small stain or tear away from the design. You can always launder or hide the flaw and might get a cheaper price.
3. Hang embroidered doilies on your wall next to antique keys strung up with ribbon; complete the look with antique doorknobs used as curtain hangers or vintage photographs and postcards.
4. Don’t be afraid to mix-match vintage with newer, modern pieces: contrast is necessary in design!
5. Search etsy for vintage and modern pieces to complete your look. How cute are these aprons (as seen above) by KC designer, dirtylaundry??

PS: the font in today’s college is Argent by my friend, Ryan Baker, if you were curious

Do you remember Maria’s post on the sort-of-creepy-but-pretty-neat Rube Goldberg Fifth Avenue apartment?

Well.  That is just…peas…compared to Scott Jones’ palatial estate.  Considering Scott’s background (Scott invented VOICEMAIL, ChaCha, MOG, Gracenote, etc.), it seems only fitting that he owns a 27,000 sq. foot mansion filled with tech treats and hidden surprises.  The house was featured on HGTV’s “Top 10 Most Amazing Homes” and, more recently, MTV TEEN CRIBS.

Fact!  I did not even know MTV Teen Cribs existed (Thank you, Phil), but the episode above (well…I only watched the first crib: Scott’s home presented by his son Andrew) is far more satisfying than any other Cribs episode I have ever seen.  The house has a secret passage (concealed by a bookcase!), a giant slide, a movie theater, a tree house, and a T-Rex head.  The tech stuff is pretty cool, but I could not stop thinking about the (Disney Channel Original Movie) Smart House.  Which, if you do not recall (or if you spent your youth watching more worthwhile things), was about a tech house “of the future” that goes bat shit.

Finally…Question.  Is it just me or is the intro speaker’s voice much higher than the usual speaker?  Follow-up Question.  When a certian thing is “kid-a-fied,” does that automatically equal higher-pitched voices?  Like…Kidz Bop (I admit, out of all the Kidz Bop songs to feature, this is a poor choice.  BUT PAY ATTENTION AT EXACTLY 2:38 AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT.)

PS- If the video above does not work, this is the link.  I don’t think embeded MTV likes Stickers and Donuts, because the video almost never loads.  Womp womp.

All of these kitchen and dinnerwares are not quite what they seem, from cups that look like noses to traditionally paper dishware turning ceramic, these cute conversation-starters are ready to contribute to your daily eating pleasure.

Left to right, top to bottom:

1. Cups with noses. Quite a hoot for a silly bunch! 24 in a pack of different human or animal noses. (availible at Yolk, $10 for pack)
2. Porcelain hot dog wrapper that looks like the paper kind! Your hot dog probably won’t fall out of this one. (availible at Uncommon Goods, $15)
3. Banana pan holder. So cute and more functional than the pot holders I’ve been using. (availible at Fred Flare, $10)
4. I love gorillas because they can learn sign language. Now I can think about that every time I need salt & pepper! (availible at Urban Outfitters, $12)
5. These swizzle sticks that look like twigs and are very colorful. (availible at Shop at Moxie, $7)
6. This “spoon rest” looks like a pillow! (available at Bitwise Gifts, $8)
7. These Smorgas-board Plates should blend right in to your wooden table. I hope you can find them. (available at Uncommon Goods, $45 for set of 4)
8. The famous New York coffee cup, now ceramic so you can use it all of the time and not ruin the planet! (MOMA, $14)

By now, you know I love cupcakes. Sometimes, I lay awake at night wondering if I should’ve named my blog Stickers & Cupcakes. I always get angry when my Ziploc-enclosed cupcake gets (a) smooshed, (b) icing all over the bag (yes, I turn the bag inside out and lick, is that gross?).

Anyway, despite Cup-A-Cake’s shameless use of Comic Sans on its web-page, I’m really exited about the no-smash containers they created. Apparently, you can turn these $3 suckers upside down and the icing still won’t get all over the place. Magic? I think so.

If you are much fancier than the Cup-A-Cake, don’t travel, and just found $60 under your couch, you can get a fabulously fancy cupcake stand from Fred Flare. Obviously, you will also need a fancy Alice-in-Wonderland-esque tea party dress to eat off of this plate.

New York Time’s Home & Garden section always has awesome slideshows sneaking peaks at unique and funky homes. The picture above is from “Secrets of an Offhand Decorator,” which shows off the East Village home of Pamela Bell, one of the original partners in Kate Spade.

Her children are a large part of her decorating, the couch shown here was colored by her daughter and her classmates.

“The architectural designer Eric Clough embedded clues into a Fifth Avenue apartment, leading the family who lived there on a scavenger hunt through the rooms of their home” (NY Times).

I couldn’t believe this article today in the NY Times. You can actually be an adult and a real person and have a house with hidden drawers and closets and clues! (This may be more thrilling to me than when I found a book about tree houses that real, actual, non-unibomber adults live their lives inside.)

The apartment apparently comes with its own book, soundtrack, and slews of hidden doors, drawers, codes, messages, games, and treasures. And the architect put the whole adventure in without the family even knowing, and it took a year before they even realized there was a mystery to be solved!

For more pictures of the mystery apartment click here and read the full article here.