honesty is the best policy

...so here are my honest thoughts on house beautiful's "250 gifts under $25" feature.

the good:

dear little lantern with your yummy blue hue and your intricate design, i am picking up what you are putting down. small blue lantern, $16, sitedesignnyc.com.

maybe it's just my paper goods obsession talking, but i think this would make a baller gift. personalized and pretty — what's not to love? monogram stamp, $25, charmingcards.com.

how happy would you be if these showed up at your doorstep? festive and yummy means outta the park. christmas light cookies, $23 for 8, flourpotcookies.com.

so what if i don't drink tea? i love elephants and you simply can't beat the price. elephant teapot, $13, worldmarket.com. (p.s. am i the only one who hadn't heard of this site before? it seems like a real gem.)

this super cute customizable alphabet print would have been perfect for yesterday's post. i love the happy colors — so fun for a playroom. penny people print, $18, fawnandforest.com.

pretty cocktail shaker in to-die-for colors and patterns. one of those things that you see and go, "why didn't i do this first?" cocktail shaker, $17, worldmarket.com (this place again! do i live under a rock?).

the bad:

a digital photo key chain. i feel this review can be summed up in three words: who uses keychains?

lilly pulitzer pens. like the world needed more over-priced pink and green banana leaves.

self-watering planters. when did humanity become so lazy that we can't water our own plants? these remind me of those god-awful things advertised on tv.

the ugly:

why, why, why would anyone want to give — or receive — gingerbread cookies with missing limbs? i know a couple ways to achieve this look without the help of terence conran's handicapped cookie cutters.

okay, so this blanket isn't actually ugly. at all. what is ugly is home goods' website or lack thereof. hello, home goods. welcome to 2009. here we use this crazy thing called the internet. we have e-commerce and web designers and everything. try it.

am i the only one who isn't lunging for this cookbook with a massive dead animal on the front? it's probably the vegetarian in me (or the part that likes to judge books by their covers) but there are some gorgeous cookbooks out there and this is not one of them.

...so here are my honest thoughts on house beautiful's "250 gifts under $25" feature.

the good:

dear little lantern with your yummy blue hue and your intricate design, i am picking up what you are putting down. small blue lantern, $16, sitedesignnyc.com.

maybe it's just my paper goods obsession talking, but i think this would make a baller gift. personalized and pretty — what's not to love? monogram stamp, $25, charmingcards.com.

how happy would you be if these showed up at your doorstep? festive and yummy means outta the park. christmas light cookies, $23 for 8, flourpotcookies.com.

so what if i don't drink tea? i love elephants and you simply can't beat the price. elephant teapot, $13, worldmarket.com. (p.s. am i the only one who hadn't heard of this site before? it seems like a real gem.)

this super cute customizable alphabet print would have been perfect for yesterday's post. i love the happy colors — so fun for a playroom. penny people print, $18, fawnandforest.com.

pretty cocktail shaker in to-die-for colors and patterns. one of those things that you see and go, "why didn't i do this first?" cocktail shaker, $17, worldmarket.com (this place again! do i live under a rock?).

the bad:

a digital photo key chain. i feel this review can be summed up in three words: who uses keychains?

lilly pulitzer pens. like the world needed more over-priced pink and green banana leaves.

self-watering planters. when did humanity become so lazy that we can't water our own plants? these remind me of those god-awful things advertised on tv.

the ugly:

why, why, why would anyone want to give — or receive — gingerbread cookies with missing limbs? i know a couple ways to achieve this look without the help of terence conran's handicapped cookie cutters.

okay, so this blanket isn't actually ugly. at all. what is ugly is home goods' website or lack thereof. hello, home goods. welcome to 2009. here we use this crazy thing called the internet. we have e-commerce and web designers and everything. try it.

am i the only one who isn't lunging for this cookbook with a massive dead animal on the front? it's probably the vegetarian in me (or the part that likes to judge books by their covers) but there are some gorgeous cookbooks out there and this is not one of them.