The Impossible Lamp is a work of craft and film by Jeeves Basu. It begins with a large wax candle sitting atop a clear plastic lampshade. Basu and his team had the difficult task of melting the wax so that it would drip over the mold, but cooling it before it could drip off. This time-lapse video shows how they did it.
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British artist Rob Smith has some lovely wood carvings in his deviantART gallery. One of the most striking is this table that looks like it’s melting. It’s made of recycled oak and took him four weeks to make.
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Just a quick update from the Neatorama Shop - items back in stock:
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Your purchase helps support the blog! Thank you!
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Here are the perfect Valentine’s Day gifts for the lovable, arrogant bastards (and double bastards) in your life:
(L) Arrogant Bastard Ale Beer Bottle Tumbler (R) Double Bastard
Quantities are very limited! More BottleHood beer bottle tumblers over at the Neatorama Shop: Link
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The Do Hit Chair by Marijn van der Poll turns you into a (very aggressive) designer, letting you (literally) bang out your own chair design. You get a metal box and a hammer, and how it ends it depends on your strong arms and imagination!
Link – via incrediblethings
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The man behind the blog Kitty Hell (“one man’s life with cute overload”) has brought to our attention this marvelous/disgusting instrument of household utility. He writes:
While Hello Kitty fanatics may see something like this as cute (you have to seriously feel for the lumberjack significant other that has to carry this around at work), for the rest of us it pretty much exemplifies what any horror movie villain (or the evil feline herself) would undoubtedly use to dismember victims. In fact, The Hello Kitty Chainsaw Massacre is probably already in production and is guaranteed to be the most horrifying movie that you have ever seen.
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Stone Brewing Co.'s beer bottle tumblers by BottleHood
Available from the Neatorama
Shop
Can you help save the environment, create local jobs and help stimulate the economy? Oh, and did I mention that beer is involved? Two San Diego folks did just that with an idea so simple it's genius: turn used beer, wine and liquor bottles into zany glassware and gorgeous vases.
While many of us recycle (Yay! Go us!), more than a billion bottles still end up in California landfills every year. That represents both a problem and an opportunity for artist and eco-activist Leslie Tiano and businessman Steve Cherry who teamed up to create BottleHood. They "rescue" beer, wine and liquor bottles from local restaurants, then wash, cut, grind, and polish them into tumblers, juice glasses, vases, and candle holders.
Stone
IPA Beer Bottle Tumblers - $7.95 each
Tiffany and I met Leslie and Steve at the California Gift Show in Los Angeles recently and asked them a few questions:
Neatorama: These are great! How did you come up with the idea of "repurposing" beer bottles?
BottleHood (Steve): Leslie presented her first few product concepts from which we first started with vases and tumblers made from wine bottles. I didn't want to cut thin beer bottles glass if you can believe it!
Anyway, I thought of the process of repurposing glass based on lapidary techniques as opposed to heat based treatments to repurpose glass which create a huge carbon footprint in the process. My role was in the conception of the manufacturing and distribution strategy, being "neighborhood" based, very scalable and easily replicated geographically.
Neatorama: What's involved in making the tumblers and glasses? How long does it take to make each one by hand?
BottleHood: We treat the bottles as if they were a gemstone, like quartz, and cut, grind, sand, and polish the bottle turned glassware back to its original luster and finish. It takes about 20 minutes to make each tumbler.
Neatorama: What do the breweries and restaurants think of your idea?
BottleHood: Most breweries love what we do as it promotes their brand and it's a green socially conscious connection. Restaurants turn out to be both our bottle suppliers as well as our largest client segment. BottleHood is a sustainable business and to complete the "circle of sustainability" our suppliers turned clients offer the glassware back to the folks that drank the wine in the first place!
Neatorama: What's next for BottleHood?
BottleHood (Steve): We've got our eyes on lots of different neighborhoods, come see us at the SF Gift Show for more!
BottleHood (Leslie): There's a steady flow of ideas that comes from discarded bottles, so there will be new products in the very near future by BottleHood.
Arrogant
Bastard Ale Beer Bottle Tumbler - $12.95 each
... and who can resist: the Double Bastard!
Double
Bastard Ale Beer Bottle Tumbler - $16.95 each
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I'm particularly taken by Leslie and Steve's line of glass tumblers made from beer bottles. They're SO awesome that we just have to collaborate with BottleHood to carry these beer bottle tumblers in the Neatorama Shop. Check it out - they'll make awesome Valentine's Day present for beer lovers everywhere: Link
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Urn-A-Matic, made from vintage vacuum cleaner parts, by Darin Montgomery
Quick, what does the word "cremation" bring to your mind? An image of spending eternity in a boring ol’ urn? Well, not anymore. Behold the new trend in the cremation industry: artistic funerary urns!
"I wouldn’t be making urns if they were just a cookie jar with a lid on top, sitting on a mantel," Knapp said. "That’s too morbid. If it’s a wacky-looking guy holding his own ashes over his head — now that lightens everything. The baby boomers all want to stand out. Even in the end, we want some whimsical receptacle for ourselves."
Jeff Spurrier of the Los Angeles Times has the story: Link | Photo Gallery
Previously on Neatorama (all the way from 2007): Darin Montgomery’s Urn-A-Matic
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January is almost over, but if you haven’t purchased a calendar yet, you’re in luck: they’re now cheap! But don’t settle for that ho-hum boring ol’ calendar … get these strange and bizarre calendars instead!
(L) What’s Your Poo Telling You?
More at our own Jill Harness’ article over at InventorSpot: Link
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Los Angeles-based artist Ramon Coronado made furniture from shopping carts. He calls the project “Mercado Negro” and his ambition lies in “reclaiming an ordinary, everyday object and transforming it into a whole new object.” At the link, you can see many more pictures, as well as photographs from his workshop as Coronado constructed these pieces.
Link via Fast Company | Photo: Ramon Coronado
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You’ll always have a place for your slippers with this rug! The slippers fit right into spaces in the design when you’re not using them, and become part of the carpet itself. The rug is called Tapistongs by French designer Lise El Sayed. It looks as if there are enough slippers for plenty of guests around the edge. Link
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This looks like a pile of river stones, but this mat is soft and warm to put your feet on. The hand-felted “stones” are made of wool! Link -via Unique Daily
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Why buy a new gadget or chemical when something you have in the kitchen will do just as well? Lifehacker listed ten of their favorite kitchen repurposing tricks. For example, I get plenty of Kool-Aid splashed in the dishwasher, but I didn’t know the lemon flavor (without the sugar) can be a cleaning agent.
It kind of makes one concerned about the thought of actually drinking something like Kool-Aid lemonade, but the citric acid in one drink packet is enough to clean the lime stains and calcium deposits that build up over time in the dishwasher.
Link -via Interesting Pile
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They call it “The Eighth Continent”, and this bathing experience starts at only $50,000 from the ME! Bath® company. You get a combination of glacier water and Hawaiian deep-sea water. Add Arabian Sidr Honey, Peruvian Pink Salt, Illipe Butter from Borneo, Murumuru Butter from the Amazon, Kokum Butter from India, Israeli Jojoba Oil, and 24-karat gold. The final price depends on whether you want to have this bath in a spa or in your home. Link -via J-Walk Blog
(image credit: Flickr user dieselbug2007)
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The ‘whale’ is actually a project from Vincent Callebaut Architects called Physalia Physalis or ‘Water Bubble’, and it has a very serious point. One billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water. This vessel is designed to float up and down the rivers of Europe, purifying the water as it goes. It is of course a huge floating garden among other things, with interior gardens dedicated to Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. So in theory it would make the Thames drinkable. It is also apparently completely self-sufficient, being covered in solar panels. In fact, it is meant to produce more energy than it uses. Too bad it is only a concept for now.
Link – via babycreativeblog
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Home Key Doormat | Enter Key Doormat – $23.95
What better way to welcome a geek home than these doormats that look like the Home and Enter keys? From the Neatorama Shop: Link
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Zombie Brain Gelatin Mold – $6.95
You know what’ll make a great after dinner dessert? How about … (you know it’s coming) braaaaaaaaains?
The Neatorama Shop has just gotten our shipment of the Zombie Brain Gelatin Mold (with recipes on how to make your very own creepy realistic gray brain gelatin, and worm infested zombie brain gelatin): Link
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The New Jersey design firm Lovegrove & Repucci has created this graffiti-covered dinnerware set in the tradition of the Netherland’s Delft-style porcelain. It’s called “New York Delft” and in the links, you can can find an Antiques Roadshow spoof featuring the collection.
Link via Make | YouTube Video | Image: Davies & Starr
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Socks for your chairs? Yes, and they make your chair look like any of several stereotypes based on the style of socks. Get them in argyle (male or female colors), sporty, or striped. Your chairs will never get cold feet again! Link -via J-Walk Blog
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FlexibleLove is the creation of Chishen Chiu, a Taiwanese furniture designer. Its honeycomb structure made from recycled materials allows users to expand, shrink, and reshape it as needed. It’s like a Slinky that you can sit on.
Official Website via Make
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The design blog Dornob has a post describing flooring made from recycled leather belts, including rugs and floor tiles. They’re pricey, at about $70 per square foot. So Dornob suggests that you could make your own:
If you are looking for a cheaper alternative approach, however, local vintage clothing stores may sell a belt for a few dollars. After finding a few choice samples, it is just a matter of figuring out the best way to put them together. For the do-it-yourself craft-oriented individual, part of the fun lies in the creative process – choosing the right hues of faded black, brown, red and orange like in the first (wonderfully muted-but-colorful) example.
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Food Face Kid’s Dinner Plate – $9.95/plate
W00t! We’ve just gotten a surprise partial shipment of the Food Face Kid’s Dinner Plate (it’s not supposed to be in until 2010) over at the Neatorama Shop. These plates turn dinner times into fun times for your toddlers. Bring out the peas and the mashed potatoes and let your kids express their creativity.
These plates are extremely popular and we’ll probably run out soon, so if you’d like one, get it now, mmkay?
Christmas shipping note: the last day to place an order for Christmas was yesterday (12/17/09) and though the window has passed, we’ll try our hardest to ship it so you’ll get it by Christmas. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee shipment by Dec 24, 2009, but we’re sure your kids will still like ‘em regardless 
Link: Food Face Kid’s Dinner Plate | Also just back in stock: Fisticups | More neat Dishware, Drinkware and Flatware
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This cute Japanese coin bank has a kitten inside with its hand raised just like Maneki Neko! In this case, money does come to him. I wish I knew where to buy this. -via Buzzfeed
Update: You can get one here. -Thanks, Rumpus!
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Bombs
Away Shot Glass - $19.95
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w00t! We've just gotten a new shipment of some of our most popular products ... so we've just added them to the Neatorama Christmas Special. Every purchase will get you a free Mystery Bonus.
Quantities are very limited, so order now to get it in time for Christmas, mmmkay? Your purchase helps support the blog. Thank you!
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Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum of Massachusetts are pretty enthusiastic about steampunk. So much so that they have converted the entire interior of their home into a steampunk haven called Modvic (modern Victorian). The full-house effect is amazing, as can be seen in the photos on the linked page.
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Have you ever wondered why tomatoes, potatoes, and some other plants have hairy stems? Of course not. Neither have I, until I encountered an explanation in the Telegraph yesterday.
Botanists have discovered for the first time that the plants are carnivorous predators who kill insects in order to “self-fertilise” themselves. New research shows that they capture and kill small insects with sticky hairs on their stems and then absorb nutrients through their roots when the animals decay and fall to the ground. It is thought that the technique was developed in the wild in order to supplement the nutrients in poor quality soil – but even domestic varieties grown in your vegetable patch retain the ability.
The fact that they are capable feeding on small insects has been overlooked because domesticated varities are typically grown in rich soils where such dietary supplementation is unnecessary. They of course also lack the dramatic apparatus shown below in the outstanding video of the Venus flytrap, or the adaptations shown by the sundew and pitcher plant.
Link. Photo credit Tom Bullock.
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Gin & Titonic Ice Tray – $6.45
How do you make sure that your next party is unsinkable? The answer may just be in your drinks.
Just added to the Neatorama Shop’s Christmas Special, where every purchase gets you a free Mystery Bonus. At just $6.45 (the cheapest price on the Net, I might add) it’ll make a great Christmas gift that you can use year round.
Your purchase helps support the blog, thank you! Link | More Fun & Unusual Ice Trays
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ABC Cookie Cutters – $8.95
What’s better than a warm and yummy gingerbread man cookie for Christmas? How about ones that are funny to boot? Here’s the ABC (Already Been Chewed) Cookie Cutters, from the Neatorama Shop: Link
Get a free Mystery Bonus with every purchase (while supplies last), part of Neatorama’s Christmas Special.
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Both Christmas and National Poinsettia Day (December 12) are coming up soon, which brings up some interesting questions you may never have considered before. For example, why is a flower indigenous to Mexico commonly recognized as an international symbol of Christmas? Or why is it so darn hard to keep your poinsettias alive and blooming once you’ve bought them at the store? You may have never thought too hard about the most popular potted plant in America, but here’s your chance to learn about these fascinating blossoms.
Most people consider the bright red (or occasionally pale green, white, orange, cream, pink or marbled) areas on the plants to be the blooms, but in reality, these are just groupings of colored leaves called bracts. The actual flowers are those tiny little buds inside of the bracts (seen above) and these are called cyathias.
While we’re at it, most people think of poinsettias as red flowers, but as mentioned above, they can come in all the colors listed above. Still, over 74% of Americans prefer their poinsettias red, while 8% prefer white and 6% prefer pink.
Image Via Martin Heigan [Flickr]
In Aztec times though, it was called “Cuetlaxochitl,” which means skin flower. In Chile and the Andes, it was known as the “Crown of the Andes.” According to legend, King Montezuma would have the flowers carried up to Mexico City because the flowers would not grow in such a high altitude.
Later on, German botanist Wilenow gave the plant its Latin name, Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “very beautiful.” Soon after, it was introduced into the U.S. in 1828 by the first U.S. Minister to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett. Years later, historian and horticulturalist William Prescott was asked to give the plant a new name. Having just written a book about Mexican history, he recalled Poinsett’s role in bringing the flowers into America. Prescott named the plant in Poinsett’s honor. In modern Egypt, they still call the plant “Bent El Consul,” meaning “the consul’s daughter” after Mr. Poinsett.
In Spain, the flower is known as “flor de Pascua” or Easter flower. In Mexico and Guatemala, it is commonly called “Noche Buena” or “Christmas’ Eve.”
Speaking of Christmas, it seems rather strange that these New World plants would become synonymous with a holiday celebrating the birth of a Middle Eastern carpenter. Still, they are in fact the most popular holiday plant around, representing over 85% of all potted plant sales in the holiday season.
The reasons go all the way back to the 16th century, where a Mexican legend began spreading about a young girl who couldn’t afford a gift for Jesus’ birthday. She was said to be told by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Soon after, crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds and became poinsettias. Starting in the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico began to include the plants in the Christmas celebrations.
Image Via Southern Pixel [Flickr]
Fast forward into America during the sixties and this Mexican tradition started spreading across the U.S. thanks to Paul Ecke Jr. This young man was a marketing genius who started sending television networks free poinsettias for display on air between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He also appeared on programs like “The Tonight Show” and Bob Hope’s Christmas specials to help promote the plant. His efforts were highly successful and largely responsible for the association of poinsettias with Christmas outside of Mexico.
Lest you think Paul was simply an overly enthusiastic supporter of the flower, his intentions were mostly monetary. Paul was an heir of the Ecke family, owners of a virtual monopoly on our modern day idea of poinsettia flowers.
His German immigrant grandfather, Albert Ecke, started selling the plants from street stands after 1900. Paul Ecke the first, Albert’s son, developed a grafting method that resulted in a fuller, more compact plant than the wild plants (seen to the left). He additionally discovered a phytoplasma infection to the plant would induce it to produce far more flowers than its natural, weed-like cousin. The family held the secret to these techniques up until the 1990’s, giving them a monopoly on the poinsettia market up to that point.
In the nineties, a researcher discovered the Ecke’s method and published it, allowing for competitors to the company. These days, many companies in Latin America sell the flowers all over the world, but the Ecke’s family (who now exclusively uses farms outside the U.S.) still controls about 50% of the worldwide market.
Image Via Jiggs Images [Flickr]
In 1919, a completely unfounded story began to circulate that a two year-old child died after she ate a poinsettia leaf. Researchers who looked into the story found that it is all hearsay and about as truthful as the razors in candy apple stories that circulate around Halloween. Ohio State University researchers found that a 50 pound child would have to eat 500 bracts to even get a sore tummy. Despite this, the rumor continues to circulate that poinsettias are poisonous and should not be kept around pets or children.
On the other hand, the sap from poinsettias can cause temporary blindness when introduced directly in the eye and some people with latex allergies will have an allergic reaction to the plants. So the only people who need to be wary of the plants are those that have a latex allergy or anyone with a habit of putting things in their eyes for no reason.
Image Via distopiandreamgirl [Flickr]
If you’ve ever bought poinsettias during the holiday season, you may have noticed just how finicky these beautiful plants can be. Even if you live in an area with a warmer climate that is suitable for the tropical buds, you still may not be able to get your plants to reflower the way they did when you bought them.
The reason for this is encoded in the plant’s genes. In order to produce the vibrant, thick blooms the plant is known for, the plant needs to have two months of completely dark nights in the autumn. Even minor exposure to houselights can hamper flower production. If you really want your plants to reflower, you need to cover the plant with a light-proof bag between 5 pm and 8 am starting early October and stopping when the bracts begin to show colors –usually around mid-December. To make gardening the plant even more complex, you also have to be sure the nighttime temperatures are below 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but also not too cold. Failure to keep the plant in the right temperature can also result in decay or lack of flowers.
Personally, I love gardening and I love poinsettias, but the effort involved with trying to keep them reflowering is just way too much for me. Have any of you had better luck?
Image Via Property#1 [Flickr]
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Everyone who’s done it knows that cleaning is a lot like warfare (and if you have children, it’s always a losing battle). Hugo Tornelo and Pedro Alegria of Cabracega have just the weapon for your next house cleaning adventure: "Make Household Not War," a conceptual design of broom, dust pan and feather duster shaped like rapier swords.
Similar: BBQ Sword Spatula
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