Who: Dinah Coops; Seattle, WA

What: Tablemats & Coasters

Where: Dinah Coops -  Tablemats – $35;  Coasters – $12

Why: Looking for a fun and sustainable way to dress up your table? Try these simple, modern and colorful designs from Dinah Coops. She hand silk screens each one with her signature combination of organic images and whimsical doodles. Fun to mix and match colors and prints for an artfully inspired table setting, that would look equally at home on your walls.

And the canvas for this table art is none other than Paperstone, the same material we coveted for our kitchen countertops.

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Who: spin spin handmade; Melbourne, Australia

What: Linen ‘T’ Towel

Where: Etsy – $21

Why We Love ‘Em: We are complete suckers for typography and have an inexplicable penchant for tea towels, so it was no wonder that this sweet tongue-in-cheek ‘t’ towel caught our eye.  With its collection of hand drawn rendering of ‘t’s in font types Garamond, Hoefler, Kevlar, Mrs Eaves and Caslon… Love this for a kitchen paired with the red ‘t’ towel.

We also loving having fun tea towels like this handy for last minute housewarming gifts or thank yous – simply laying the towel in a basket and filling with homemade goodies for a sweet treat. Click to continue »

Who: Eco-Me; Pasadena, CA

What: Eco-Me Natural Home Cleaning Kit

Where: Natural Luxe – on sale for $23.40 & get an additional 15% off with coupon code Sherp15 through December 31st.

Why We Love It: Our New Year’s resolution this year? To give up all of the toxic cleaners lingering under our sink. Cleaners that are considered hazardous waste when we throw them away, but that we previously used to wipe down our countertops and clean our sinks…. Thankfully Eco-Me has come to the rescue to help us rid our homes of these toxins with their easy to use starter kit and makes the task much less daunting.

The Eco-Me Natural Home Cleaning Kit comes complete with all the tools you need to make your own chemical free All-Purpose Spray Cleaner (for bath & kitchen), Wood Polish Spray (for wood furniture, cabinets & floors) and Scrub Cleanser (for bathtubs, tiles, sinks & toilets). Click to continue »

Who: FilzFelt; Boston, MA

What: Rectangle Placemats (also available in circles)

Where: FilzFelt – $16/ea (sign-up to The Find for 15% off  December 16-17)

Why We Love It: We got a chance to visit FilzFelt founders, Kelly Smith and Traci Roloff, in their studio last fall and were completely wowed by the vibrant bolts of felt that filled their shelves.

Now, this is not the felt you might recall from grade school, this is a thick, luxe felt made of 100% all natural wool dyed to match the colors of the Pantone color rainbow. Felt is a renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, durable, long lasting, moisture resistant, tactility irresistible fabric and that absorbs dyes to produce insanely rich colors.

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Who: Soda Stream; Cherry Hill, NJ

What: Fountain Jet Soda Maker

Where: Soda Stream – $129.95 w/free shipping & $10 off with coupon code SODABLOG

Why: Ever since we found our vintage iSi soda maker we have been complete converts. No more lugging home soda bottles, no more overflowing recycling bins and we make a mean seltzer water. The only downfall is occasionally we get a wee bit lazy and filling up a bottle of water can be far too taxing (yes, it’s a hard life…….), so we were a bit envious when we tried out our in-laws Fountain Jet. Which has four benefits over our beloved iSi: Click to continue »

Who: Roost; Sausolito, CA

What: Puzzle Serving Board

Where: Velocity -  $38 (ships in December); Rare Device – $38 (1 available)

Why: We are suckers for a good puzzle, so when we stumbled upon this oh-so-clever serving platter we couldn’t resist.  Clearly we weren’t the only ones – this piece seems to be selling out everywhere and it is no wonder why.

The platter is made from sustainably sourced Acacia wood finished with food grade mineral oil. The six interlocking puzzle pieces join together to form a large serving platter. This, however, is a puzzle you won’t hesitate to take apart Click to continue »

Who: Rae Dunn; San Francisco, CA

What: Custom Napkin Rings

Where: Etsy; with words or dates – $12 each, $96 for a set of 8

Why We Love ‘Em: With the launch of her factory produced line in 2003 (RAE DUNN BY MAGENTA), Rae Dunn ceramic gained a mass appeal and we’ve seen them popping up just about everywhere. Her designs are perfectly imperfect with a sweet playful quality to them. And yes, the mass produced ones still have that same pinch pot look  with her signature style, but we are still partial to her handmade originals.  Lucky for us Ms. Dunn has not retired her kiln. She currently has a exclusive collection of 65 handmade pieces selling on Esty. These customizable napkin rings are one of our favorites.

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Who: RSVP International; Seattle, WA

What: Endurance Wine Glasses

Where: Cooking.com – $21.95 for a set of 2

Why We Love ‘Em: Two of our favorite things, brushed stainless and wine,  all wrapped up in one!  We have lost many a wine glass to the dishwasher, over-agreessive ‘cheers’ and the inevitable spill. So we thought what could be more eco-friendly than a durable chip-free stainless steel wine glass?

Great for picnics, pool parties or as your everyday wine glasses, they are tough enough for any dishwasher yet are incredibly light in weight and appearance. Click to continue »

Who: 3greenmoms;  Potomac, MD

What: LunchSkins Reusable Snack & Sandwich Bags

Where: 3greenmoms.com – $8.95  for the sandwich bag & $7.85 for the snack bag; ReusableBags.com – $8.95 for the sandwich bag & $7.95  for the snack bag w/discounts for orders of 2 or more.

Why We Love ‘Em: Finally a stylish, feel-good replacement for that old tattered zip lock bag that has been reused a hundred times and leaves your lunch vulnerable to the dreaded office lunch snatcher. Would they be so brazen to steal the pb&j tucked discreetly in the shark tote with your name on it? Hmmm…

While they can’t perform miracles, these bags will definitely help curb your ‘trash footprint.’ Unlike some of the other reusable sandwich bags,  LunchSkins are made with a high quality, moisture-proof German fabric (it feels almost like a sail cloth) used worldwide in the food industry so it can handle more than just dry goods without leaking and hot items without melting. Best of all, the durable fabric makes these baggies machine washable! Click to continue »

Who: Stone Forest; Santa Fe, NM

What: Moso Bamboo Quattro Vessel Sink (pictured with Bento Box)

Where: Purchase from any authorized Stone Forest Dealers; typically retails for $700 for the sink only. On sale for $675 at Plumbtile.com. Also available in low profile rectangular option.

Why: We were completely wowed by this design at the Residential Design & Construction Expo last spring. There is just nothing out there quite like it. The simple, modern, angular design stood out in a sea of granite, bronze, and highly ornate basins. Pretty amazing to see a sink made of grass with the strength and durability of stone while maintaining the  lightness of wood.

This compact unit would be a great option for a petite powder room with the wall-mounted Bento Box to match, or in a minimalist his and hers bathroom with the countertop of your choosing.

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