Odds and Ends

Hi everyone, happy Wednesday!

Now that I’ve pretty much finished furnishing my place, I’ve turned my attention to trinkets, because I am at heart an acquisitive little magpie who can’t resist something shiny. One of my greatest superpowers is that if you provide me with a flat, elevated surface, I will without fail end up packing every square inch with an assortment of tchotchkes that I’ve manifested out of thin air. Here are some fun knickknacks I’ve been eyeing lately — these shelves aren’t gonna fill themselves, after all…

Think Outside the Box

VINTAGE BANDSAW BOX - THE ENIGMA VINTAGE SHOP ($116)

I’ve been on the hunt for a jewelry organizer to hold smaller pieces like rings and stud earrings, which are currently scattered willy-nilly among the disposable cardboard boxes they arrived in. But if you think I was gonna just pick out some velvet-lined tray and call it a day, you’ve got another think coming, because I can’t ever buy a thing without searching for the most quirky, unique version of it. My research led me to this guide “Building Beautiful Boxes With Your Bandsaw,” which provides step-by-step instructions on how to create boxes with unusually sinuous, fluid, organic shapes, featuring fanciful names like “Wind Tree” and “Tsunami” and “Cetacean Migration.” A quick search of “bandsaw boxes” on Etsy and eBay unveiled tons of listings for boxes with similar serpentine designs; I can’t decide between this wiggly wardrobe, this charming golf cart, or these abstract drawers that make great use of negative space. 

When It Rains, It Pours

VINTAGE UPSIDE DOWN UMBRELLA CANDY DISH - EMERALD SHELF ($35)

I was feeling a bit dejected that someone had managed to snag this whimsical umbrella table lamp on Facebook Marketplace before me, so once again, I embarked on a bout of consolation shopping. Though I didn’t manage to find a suitably similar option (that also didn’t cost thousands of dollars), I did come across this darling umbrella trinket tray, which, really, is doing wonders to assuage my dismay. I love the dainty brass handle and the pink frosted glass, and though it could easily act as a jewelry dish, I feel strongly that its true calling is to serve as a bedside bowl of Hershey’s kisses. 

Tomato Girl Summer

HEIRLOOM TOMATO CANDLE - SCANDLES ($23)

Forget candles that are heirloom tomato-scented, and take a gander at candles that are heirloom tomato-shaped. Candles resembling produce are nothing new — pretty much every cutesy Brooklyn boutique has a few waxen lemons perched next to the Chunks clips and Baggu pouches — but I’d yet to see the lumpen, misshapen figure of an heirloom tomato replicated until now, from Los Angeles-based brand Scandles. Each candle is hand-poured using soy wax and scented with essential oils; these tomatoes have a leafy, vegetal fragrance and come in shades of fire-engine red, yellow ochre, and jade green. Pick up some eggs, avocados, and apples while you’re at it, and you’ve got yourself a full-on farmer’s market haul. 

A Bonus Update:

In my last issue, I wrote about buying five cartons of ice cream from Horse Ice Cream, a project run by the artist Alan Wagner. Well, Wagner contacted me and said that he’d put a pause on Horse since he wasn’t getting that many orders, but was willing to whip up a special batch for me, which I heartily took him up on (to be fair, I did offer to forget the whole thing if such a task would prove unduly inconvenient). Anyway, Wagner personally delivered the pints to my door, and I’m happy to report that they’re delicious — the texture is thick and creamy and the flavors just straddle the line between familiar and peculiar. If you’re reading this and you’re in New York, please order some, because they’re worth it (and also so I can feel less guilty about making him go to all the trouble 😅). 

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Tried one of my recs and loved it (or hated it)? Wanna get something cool on my radar? Drop me a line at kittylguo@gmail.com or swing by my Twitter @kitguo!