Pencil-pusher

This probably could go to the Under Ten section, but I don't actually know how much they cost: Hindustan Pencils! I don't know why I like them so much, but I do. They are classic. I really enjoy writing with pencils, I just hate to realize I have forgotten to sharpen.

The company's mission is "Delighting consumers with globally recognised stationery."

Under Ten: #3

This timer from IKEA is only five bucks, but it's awfully nice and a good example of why the store rules the world. I know, I know, you all think chain=bad, but in the epic battle between Walmart and IKEA, I know where I stand.

Under Ten: #2

This ring at Fred Flare just pleases my inner six-year-old girl. Plus it looks fairly drool-proof.

Under Ten: #1

There are a lot of expensive things to covet out there, but there's also a lot of nice stuff that doesn't cost a mint. So I'm going to make a little list of good 'uns under ten bucks.

To start with, here are some cute buttons from Carly Couture. I like their candy appeal.

Continental plate

I am crazy about this limited edition plate from NotNeutral. It's a map! (It's china, not melamine.)

Drink a book

How can you not love this mug?

(Actually, how can you not love everything at Conran?)

But there's a whole series of the Penguin mugs and they are very sweet.

C is for cookie

I'm so in to Cookie magazine, which is a new publication that is basically a lot if neat stuff. Ostensibly it's a parenting magazine, but it's really just pretty things. I like the aesthetic, and the way it's not just baby gear, but lovely things to tempt the parentals, too. And pretty pictures.

Back from the warmth

So I was gone for a week, but did some nice-spotting while I was hanging out. I'll dole it out over the week -- to start, here's Dean, which is great -- the colors of the leather are just beautiful, and it's right next to an excellent cheese shop.

Design within reach

Actually within reach.
I don't know what brave soul at Target started the whole cheapo real design thing, but I think it's great (I bet the PR department calls it something else, though). A new manifesto -- there should be no more boring spatulas on earth!
Anyway, Michael Graves.

Pluriel

New cars these days are getting better. For so long there was nothing neato on the market, but now there's the Mini, that funny new T-bird, and -- in the cute and cuddly niche -- the Citroen C3 Pluriel. Don't you just want to pick it up and hug it?

Zoom

I know it's sort of silly to covet a train. I mean, where would I put it? But really, there is something unbearably wonderful about a levitating train. It's like magic. (Yes, I know it's all done with mirrors magnets, but still.) I just love the idea.

I've never even ridden one. I've been on a hydrafoil, though!

Delaware style

Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. The slender bottle! (It's wide but thin, sort of flasklike.) The font, for god's sake! The little bird logo! St Peter's Brewery. The picture doesn't do it justice, really. Go to Whole Foods, that's where I found this beauty.

And I liked the contents, too.

Ah, more info. From the website:
"Our Bottle is a 500ml copy of one from Gibbstown, near Philadelphia which dates from c. 1770. It was produced for Thomas Gerrard, an innkeeper with a tidewater inn on the Delaware River."

A great idea

I am completely in love with Penguin's Great Ideas. I like the red series best, but I want the blue series, too. They are the most gorgeously designed things I've ever seen, and there are some great titles -- you can get Orwell, Machiavelli, Thoreau...it's a great list and there are 24 altogether.

Mpeg and the Specktones

This is fantastic -- an ipod dock with class. I don't know what kind of sound it gives, seeing as it is manufactured by a company that mainly makes ipod and cell phone accessories. But they must have one hell of a designer! That cabinet is wood, by the way.

Very unique

OK, I know that Unicum is something most people have to trick their friends into trying, but I think most non-Hungarians buy it because of the beautiful spherical bottle. In fact, that cross on the front indicates that this is medicinal -- only incidentally highly alcoholic, of course. Sort of the wheatgrass of the liquor world. If you are brave enough to attempt it, chill it first! Throw back a shot ice cold and make sure to have a chaser ready.

House of Lager

Here's a site that has a ton of lovely stuff, like the melamine picnic set in the picture. I'm rather enamoured of this coffee, tea, etc. container set, too (bottom right) -- mostly because of the font, which is very "Eastern Europe in the 1970s." And there's somethig fun about navigating sites when you don't speak the language. Surprise, pretty thumtacks! Surprise, happy sponges!