They sit, they stay, they never bark. These cardboard canines are the creations of artist Marc Tetro. Punch out the body shapes from a single sheet of cardboard, follow simple instructions on fitting the pieces together, and voila — man's best cardboard friend.
The artist has designed a dozen variations, including boxer, beagle, basset hound and golden retriever. We picked up the pug and Boston terrier pictured here for $10.95 apiece at the South Pasadena shop Marz, (626) 799-4032. The store reports that it still has Yorkies, schnauzers and Westies in stock.
Tetro's e-store has the whole pack on sale, $10 a dog, with shipping starting at $6.95.
If you're still shopping for a dog or dog fanatic, may we also suggest the Packabowl. The flexible food and water bowl can smush easily into luggage or be tossed into the back of the car. Given how dogs are on their way to supplanting babies as the ultimate objects of household obsession and paranoia, should we be surprised that the manufacturer touts materials that are "BPA and phthalate free"?
Packabowl is $18 plus $7.95 for shipping through manufacturer Polkadog Bakery. Angelenos will find it for $18.99 at Urban Pet.
A Dutch-designed chandelier for under a hundred bucks? OK, $99 is the before-tax price. And it applies only to the smaller of two versions. (The larger is $150.) But still -- the Petit Tianon, above, and Grand Trianon, below, are seriously good deals for lighting that packs a lot of visual punch.
Created by Paula Arntzen for Artecnica, the eco-conscious L.A. design company, the lights are made from post-consumer Tyvek, the same material used for those waterproof mailing envelopes. Petit Trianon is 22 inches tall; Grand is 28 inches. The tear-shaped fixtures have a series of folds and slits so that when are lighted, they emit a patterned glow. Both Trianons, named after castles on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in France, are lightweight and washable.
"The pieces are delicate and very strong at the same time,” says Artecnica creative director Tahmineh Javanbakht, who asserts that Arntzen, 30, is destined to be “a very important designer.”
Design bloggers began drooling over the new lights when they were announced over the summer, but only now are Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon landing in stores. Check the Artecnica online shop, of if you're in L.A., head over to New Stone Age on 3rd Street.
Hosting a big holiday dinner? You can make an impression before the first course even hits the table. Inexpensive paper place mats are festive, funny or just plain cool. The one above from Bob's Your Uncle is part of series of "dubious recipes written by children." Each place mat has instructions for a different dish, such as potato salad (six potatoes, cheese, lettuce) and waffles (whose recipe starts with, "You get waffles from the freezer and ..."). We bought our set of 36 for $22 at Ige in L.A.
The map of Venice is from a set featuring Italian cities. The detailed street labeling and iconic landmark symbols are enough to stoke the honeymoon-in-Rome memories of a nostalgic aunt and uncle. A pack of 50 sells for $26 at Plastica in L.A.
The Perfect Setting Placemats feature Charla Steele's drawing for "etiquette training or elegant entertaining." They're $26 for a set of 50 from D.L. Rhein in L.A.,(323) 653-5590. Keeping reading for a few more shopping options ...
L.A. at Home will be presenting home and garden gift ideas galore in the days to come. We'll start with these German nodders, bobble-headed figurines of rabbits, squirrels, dachshunds, lambs and more, each $11 from Ige.
"Crazy, crazy, crazy how big those have been for me," store owner Helene Ige says.
Keep reading to see more of Ige's offerings as well as details on a Saturday sale ...
Sears may not exactly be the obvious place to prowl for a little contemporary cottage style, but then again, that's what's nice about the store's new Country Living collection: an element of surprise.
Yes, you'll find rooster plates (on sale and kind of amusing, actually). But other pieces, styled in the pared-down, pulled-back way, do feel crisply contemporary. The Kenned reversible quilt pictured here has the pattern and texture of times past, but the black-and-white palette puts the bed ensemble squarely in the present. Complemented with a glass lamp and clean-lined rustic furniture, it's a look that would be friendly to many homes — and pocketbooks.
The quilt comes in a set with two shams: $62.99 for queen, $71.99 for king.
The last time we checked the Sears' website for the Kenned design, the photo showed the quilt hidden under a checkerboard duvet. A spokeswoman, however, said the store's Web team had been alerted and was looking into updating the photo. Bottom line: Look here, buy there. In case it's helpful: the store locator.
Our print section Saturday contains a collection of stories on cottage living, including a profile of Venice artist Lynn Hanson. From writer Barbara Thornburg's article:
They began by painting the exterior a chalky hue, then added a proverbial white picket fence. Inside, they took down the wall between the living room and kitchen, with its saloon-style swinging doors, to enlarge the itsy space. Removing the blue and green shag carpeting revealed a nice hardwood floor. White-washing cabinets and adding a galvanized metal countertop and a nifty 1940 Gaffers & Sattler stove transformed the small kitchen.... A 1940s dining table covered with a vintage tablecloth stands in the kitchen alongside a corner cabinet, both Santa Monica flea market treasures.
We've got more pictures in the accompanying photo gallery.
Once you get past the cuteness of the dogs -- it hasn't happened yet, and I've gone into double-digit viewings -- you might realize that OK Go's "White Knuckles" video is also something of an infomercial for Ikea.
"We had no funding and needed a lot of affordable mix-and-match furniture that can be stacked and combined," director Trish Sie said.
As the done-in-one-take video progressed through six weeks of preparation and filming, "it started to dawn on me that there is probably not a person on the planet who hasn't had something from Ikea, and it is the ultimate example of form meeting function with panache," she said. "And celebrating the familiar and the spirit of perky productivity and purposefulness with flair is what OK Go is all about."
The industrious band members, who have built a rabid following for their brilliantly choreographed, labor-intensive videos, developed what Sie called "crazy blisters" from screwing together Ikea's Lack series tables and shelving units, which were used to create pedestals and a doggie elevator. The video also uses four white Skruvsta rolling swivel chairs, $149.99 each, four red Egil stools, $39.99 each, and at least 75 clear Fniss wastepaper baskets, which cost only $1.99 each. Ikea shelf liners on the furniture helped to keep the dogs from sliding off.
"We mummified two Crate & Barrel dining chairs with white duct tape and built a two-legged table and the rainbow steps out of a hollow-core door and planks from Home Depot," Sie said, laughing. "We are pretty high-end, as you can see."
Launched Sept. 19, the video has had nearly 6.2 million views on the band's official YouTube channel -- easily justifying the expense at the Swedish superstore. The final tab, it turns out, wasn't as big as you might think.
"We had to buy a lot of just-in-case duplicates," Sie said, "and even though Ikea says it won't let you return merchandise that has been assembled, my husband begged and pleaded, and they took it back."
Released Wednesday on the affordable art website 20x200, an edition of satellite prints by San Francisco artist Jenny Odell captures objects cut out from Google satellite images. What Odell won't steal? Your wallet. The archival prints come in an edition of 200 and start at just $20.
New York gallery owner Jen Bekman launched 20x200 in 2007. Each week her website offers two new editions by emerging artists or established names such as William Wegman. The work is offered in various dimensions and in editions of different sizes; smaller and more common versions cost less, and larger and more limited editions cost more. An 8-by-10-inch print offered in an edition of 200, for example, might sell for $20 each, while a 16-by-20-inch print of the same work in an edition of 20 might sell for $200, and a 30-by-40-inch print in an edition of just two might sell for $2,000.
Artworks are categorized by subjects -- landscapes, abstract, flora and fauna. All come with a numbered certificate of authenticity that is signed by the artist.
One negative: Many of the $20 prints sell out quickly. I am still kicking myself that I did not buy Joseph O. Holmes' wonderful photograph of a father holding his son in front of a display at the American Museum of Natural History.
To get up-to-date information on new editions, sign up for 20x200's newsletter. Subscribers get first notice of new editions as well as information about events and special offers. To see some more affordable artworks keep reading ...
We saw styles that were dated, frumpy and just plain ugly. We sat upon the lumpy, the squishy and the hard-as-rock. We peeled our legs off cheap vinyl. We dodged pushy salespeople. The quest? To find the ultimate low-cost couch.
In the end, we came upon one simple
truth: You get what you pay for. You won’t get resilient latex foam cushions or designer fabrics or the
most scintillating silhouettes. In some cases, practicality comes at the
expense of style. The trade-off for “Mad Men” good looks might be a
lower level of comfort or do-it-yourself assembly. You might have to
endure getting stalked in a showroom by salespeople or waiting months
for the lowest of low sale prices to magically appear. But decent buys are out there for those looking to spend less.
“I think price has always been important, but even more important now is
value,” said Paul Yaldezian, Macy’s Southwest regional director for
furniture, mattresses and other major furnishings. “No matter how much
the customer wants to spend, they want to know that their money is
buying true value.”
The six sofas here represent the best values we found on a thrifty
budget of $600.
*In one case, the Corona sofa at Macy's, the drawback was a fluctuating price that was $599 in June, $699 later in summer and $899 now (thus the asterisk in our headline). Will it go on sale again? Almost certainly. What will the sale price be? We'll have to wait and see. But first up:
The sofa:Night and Day The store: Urban Outfitters The price: regularly $588, recently listed for $499 The verdict: With its modern lines and retro textured fabric, Urban
Outfitters’ Night and Day convertible sofa in persimmon looks just as
good in person as it does on the retailer’s website. Too bad it’s so
unpleasant to sit on. The website declares that the legs are made of “a
rich solid wood,” and that’s accurate, but the wood frame that supports
the cushions looks pretty scrappy. The seats were made of an
uncomfortably firm foam that made us worry they might sag relatively
quickly. Which brings us to more caveats: Although the couch is not
tagged “online only,” we couldn’t find an Urban Outfitters store that
had the piece in stock. We had no way to sit before we bought. Once the
couch arrived, it required assembly that was a 6 on a 10-point scale of
difficulty. In the end, Night and Day seemed like a good couch for a
hallway or an office — somewhere to throw your coat or organize your
papers but not a place where we’d want to relax.
New York designer John Derian's new fall collection for Target caught my eye when I saw his whimsical designs in the store's online "look book" sent to writers and editors for previewing. Curious to see how the items compared with the photographs, I got my hands on some samples and am happy to report: They did not disappoint me or my colleagues, as an audience quickly gathered when I unwrapped the fun mix-and-match plates, platters and serving trays at my desk.
Derian made his name as a decoupage artist whose glass tableware was made with color reproductions of 18th and 19th century illustrations. His new Target collection is a more affordable take on the same approach, with melamine pieces that seem perfect for a tea party or picnic.
Dreamlike images of butterflies, dahlias, leaves and feathers decorate the nearly 100 items, each under $25. Decorative trays such as the ones shown above ($12.99 apiece) are complemented with melamine dinnerware, ceramic mugs, coasters, stationery sets, notebooks and fabric-covered storage bins. The melamine pieces we sampled felt substantial and carried the same spirit (if not exactly the same look) as the original, more expensive glass pieces.
The collection officially premieres Sept. 5 and will be available for a limited time at www.target.com and select stores. Judging from Target's previous limited-edition collections, items could go fast. Can't wait? Some items will go on sale Friday at the online sale site Gilt Groupe. The sale begins at 9 a.m., but you must register to be a member before you can shop.
To see more John Derian designs for Target, keep reading ...
Tough times lead to interesting new trends, and here in Los Angeles there appears to be an increase in homeowners who are opening their homes and yards to
strangers for swim lessons, yoga
instruction, organic gardening workshops and more. Let a swim instructor use your pool for lessons, for example, and your kid might get to join the class for free.
The arrangement however, is not always stress free. Homeowners have
to deal with the unexpected arrival of pets, strangers who treat their
yards like a public park and, in one instance, the surprise of a
clothing-optional policy. Read more about people who swap their homes for services.
--Laura Randall
Top photo: Deborah Eden Tull, left, shows Andrea Johnson of Stevenson Ranch
how to separate lettuce before planting during a spring
gardening class in a Glassell Park yard.
Bottom photo: Linda Ivarie-Kaplan, floating, enjoys treatment from water massage therapist Davida Taurek in Ivarie-Kaplan's pool in Calabasas.
When the newly renovated Santa Monica Place shopping mall opens next week, CB2 will be the sole new home furnishings retailer among the nearly 60 shops and restaurants. Fewer distractions while the Cult of CB2 absorbs the fall collection, perhaps?
New pieces on display will include the Pablo side tables ($129 for a set of three), right, whose enameled iron tray tops are interchangeable; and the stacking Hive storage units ($79.95 for each three-slot piece), below right.
CB2 Director Marta Calle declared the store opening in West Hollywood last year "a wonderful success." Enough locals embraced the budget-minded offshoot of Crate & Barrel that the chain moved forward with a second store. The Santa Monica Place location will be two stories but only slightly larger than the West Hollywood site, pictured above.
In conjunction with the Aug. 6 grand opening, CB2 will donate 5% of the Santa Monica store's opening weekend sales to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.
395 Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica
-- Lisa Boone
Top photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times. Other credits: CB2.
