While some people may be cringing with the cold, or with the ever-nearing holiday season, I am getting super-stoked for the holiday season!  I, like many of you, love this time of year because I get excited to make my  home a fun welcoming place and I love preparing both food and my home for holiday gatherings.

In my profession, I work with home goods: housewares, textiles, and everything in-between!  The home business booms around this time of year for the very reason that I like to buy fun home goods this time of year: people love to prepare for get-togethers with family and friends.

Take a look at some of my favorite websites for home items of great design and function.  Maybe you’ll find that perfect thing you’ve been looking to serve your homemade cheeseballs in; and, keep these sites in mind for holiday gifts as well!

1.  Bodum

Bodum is no big secret. Bodum has expanded to sell all over the place, including mid-to-high-end department stores, but I listed them first because I always enjoy their products’ design and functionality. Also, when I think of home entertaining, I immediately think of making coffee.  Check out the Brazil Set: a colorful 8-cup french press with four matching cups.  Great for entertaining, OR as a holiday gift!

2.  Greener Grass Design

Greener Grass Design’s mission statement is plain and simple: they want to provide interesting goods.  Boom.  GGD carries everything from bold barware, to playful pet-homes, to whimsical dishes, to charming trash bags.  And come on fellow squirrel-lovers, what home doesn’t need an adorable squirrel-shaped nut bowl?!

3.  The Curiosity Shoppe

The Shoppe always has some cutesy goods perfect for gift-giving, like a cheese board in the shape of France (ooh la la!), or these well-dressed napkins for your not-so-well-dressed family to jam in the necks of their T-shirts and look fancy.

4.  Reiko Kaneko

Let’s switch it up for a second and move beyond the entertaining items, and go straight to a purely holiday gifty item – because it’s just that damn special.  Based in the UK, Reiko Kaneko hand-crafts contemporary designs in bone china.  Their items are interesting and fun, like these cat and dog bone china Christmas tree ornaments. Hand-crafted people!

5.  Perch!

Perch is a small company (um, three people and a cat?) based in Brooklyn that produces home items that can perform double duty! A freeform basket can also be hung as a bird-feeder, a mason jar can be used as a vase or pitcher…you get the idea.  Whatever you use them for, their designs and products are beautiful, modern yet organic, and environmentally friendly.  Perfect for entertaining, or gift-giving!

Main Article Image features Perch! Rosette Vase

A lot of people like the idea of volunteering but when it comes down to actually doing it, life can easily get in the way. Work and school schedules may prevent you from committing to an organization long term or the idea of leaving your neighborhood in your free time is just too much to bear. Maybe you think you don’t have anything you can offer or that it may even be depressing. These are all reasonable worries but the beauty is, there are hundreds of things you can do and once you get started with an organization that is the right fit, you will most likely find it fulfilling and even fun. There are so many groups out there that really need your help, whether it’s just one hour, one afternoon or an evening a week. I’ll give you some examples of great organizations but my personal favorite is New York Cares. They just make it so damn easy to do so much good!

For example, in the listing of NY Cares current projects, the events include:  ’Bedtime Stories’ at the library while parents attend ESOL classes, ‘Culinary Explorers’ teaching children how to prepare healthy and tasty snacks, taking kids to the Bronx Zoo, building a garden shed for a community garden, planting flowers and bulbs at a park, soup kitchens, helping adult immigrants with basic computer skills, morning math games with 4th graders (perhaps the oldest age group I could actually help with math), English conversation partners with Arab-American families, walking dogs at the animal shelter, yoga classes for children with autism and other disabilities, photoshop tutorials, ‘Young Authors Club’ and perhaps most fun, ”Mad Scientists: Participate in hands-on science projects with real-world applications with middle school students from Girls Preparatory Charter School. Possible experiments include exploring the anatomy and growth of plants, testing the freezing temperature of ice cream, and examining your own DNA.” Um, yeah! That sounds awesome! The list goes on and on. There really is something for everyone!

I have volunteered as a dog walker, reading with kids in after school programs and most recently as a mural artist on New York Cares Day. This is a special city-wide volunteer day held every fall to revitalize our public schools. It has been such a fun and fulfilling project for me over the past two years and it always re-lights my spark to volunteer more. You never regret the time you spend, you can invite friends to help out (thanks again, guys!!) and you also meet really great people. The nicest thing about this organization in particular is you can volunteer as much or as little as you like. I’m a freelancer so I can never sign on to the 6 week commitments but I can commit to weekends and the random week day off. With so much flexibility and so many projects, you are bound to see something that calls your name.

You can check out volunteering opportunities with NY Cares plus more listings at NYC.gov and if you are outside of the NY metro area, try  VolunteerMatch.org or 1-800-volunteer.org as well. For holiday specific volunteer opportunities, you can go here.

Here are some other great organizations that could use your help if you are particularly fond of furry friends (and maybe your landlord isn’t):

Animal Haven

ASPCA

BARC

Bideawee

Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals

Give volunteering a shot because this Big Apple has plenty of people who could use your help and the internet / cable / your bed / _______ will still be there when you get home.

P.S. Here are some of the murals we painted on NY Cares Day 2009 & 2010!

You might not have the time, desire, or budget to go all out on a costume, but if you’re in the mood for dressing up for Halloween without a lot of effort, or if you’re just coming across this on October 30th, a printable mask could just be the right idea for you.

JHill Designs, one of my favorite print artists (click here to see her amazing flash card-inspired artwork), created these adorable animal masks, downloads are $3 each, or $8 for all three.

Sweet! Star Wars masks!

Want to tap into current events? Head on over the HuffPo for your Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rod Blagojevich, or Kanye West printable mask:

David Bowie or Jason, anyone?

Or maybe just a gross monster?

As you may have noticed, Halloween is an important holiday for New Yorkers, by which I mean an important excuse for excessive partying and debauchery. The annual Halloween Parade in the Village is an institution, and definitely worth checking out at least once in your life. But the huge crowds, the barricades and the occasionally freezing weather make the whole experience more stressful than fun, at least in my humble opinion. Here are a few other ways to celebrate the best holiday all year:

• Go to Nightmare: Superstitions, the best haunted house in New York. It’s expensive, yes, but it will make you scream like a little girl. Why is it so scary? Because the creepy crawlies and ghoulie ghouls will touch you… actually touch you! In the dark! And no one wants to be touched by a stranger.
• Also scary and full of inappropriate touching: the haunted corn maze at Schmitt Farms on Long Island. http://www.schmittfarms.com
• Go see the Misfits at Irving Plaza. Unfortunately it’s the Misfits without Glen Danzig, which is pretty lame, but it’s still Halloween appropriate.
• Or go see a Misfits cover band in a cemetery in Jersey City, which will be cheaper and definitely more fun. http://rockitdocket.blogspot.com/ Halloween is all about cover bands, and this event has quite a few: The Descendents, The Cramps, Motorhead, REM and even Neutral Milk Hotel… hmmm, that’s an odd choice.
• The World/Inferno Friendship Society, the original cabaret punk pioneers, play on Halloween almost every year. I have very fond, drunken memories of seeing them almost 10 years, on one of my first dates with my husband. Sigh. Now I feel old. Looks like the evening show is already sold out, so why not check out The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black at Santos’ Party House. Looks embarrassing fun. I hear they are pretty terrible live, but it’s more of a burlesque show than anything else. Also, I really like that “Alaska” song. It’s pretty catchy.
• Paint a pumpkin
• Make your own treats: Maple Pecan Popcorn, anyone? It’s simple to make and vegan when you replace the butter with non-dairy margarine.
• Bring it to a midnight screening of Poltergeist at the Landmark Sunshine movie theater.
• Last but not least, check out the premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday night on AMC.
  Zombies! Oh gawd! I’m so excited. It looks better than the comic book.

Photo by John Althouse Cohen.

For under $10, the cost of a can of spray paint, you can make an otherwise boring tray (or most anything, really) look more expensive and/or fit with your décor.

• If the tray has a finish on it, sand it down lightly.
• Clean the tray by dusting it and wiping it down with a damp cloth. Allow it to dry completely.
• Go outside (no spray painting indoors, okay?) and lay down some rags underneath your project.
• Spray the tray with long, even strokes for as many coats as it takes to cover the whole thing, following the directions on the can.
• Allow to dry overnight if possible.
• Enjoy looking at your masterpiece!

I’ve also used spray paint (this time, gold) to make over an ugly wooden frame:

Before you buy something new, look at what you have and ask yourself: could this be better with a coat of new paint? For less time than the trip to the store and certainly less money than the cost of a new frame, tray, or what-have-you.

Game night might not be a regular occurrence in your household, but every once in a while, when you have some friends over, wouldn’t it be nice to play some good old fashioned board or card games? Start stocking up on the games here and you’ll always have something fun to keep you busy on a rainy day. Oh, and psst: games make great housewarming/hostess gifts too!

If only… there is no perfect shoe, but there are some strong contenders in the all-purpose, work-appropriate/bike-appropriate/walking-appropriate flats category. Here are my favorites:

Vans Lesley (pictured above): More like sneakers than flats, these are my favorite weekend shoes. I can ride my bike in them and they look cute with jeans. Done and done.

Patent Leather Saniya Flats from Target: They dress up your outfit just enough that you feel slightly more professional at work, and they are cheap enough you can have an extra pair at work and in your purse. Plus they wear well – the patent “leather” is stiff enough to hold it’s shape but soft enough to be comfortable. They don’t have any arch support, though, so use insoles.

CO-OP Barneys New York Uma I’m not ready for boots yet, but I could be down with shoes. It is fall, after all.
Oxfords are so hawt right now.

I know that Summer is the popular guy in class but Fall has always been my personal favorite. Yeah, Summer has a good tan and doesn’t make you go to school, but Fall smells good and means crisp air, crunchy leaves on the sidewalk, new outfits, Trapper Keepers, and sneakers are back! Plus, as far as seasonal holidays go, you guys can keep 4th of July; Halloween is obviously the coolest!

As it’s still early in the season, here is a project that will keep your pumpkin around for the next couple weeks instead of slowly caving in on itself until Halloween rolls around. Plus, it’s mess free and you can even use the pumpkin itself for bread, pie or roasted seeds at the end of the month!

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Pumpkin, photo print out or drawing (to scale), scissors, Sharpies, and dry erase pen.

1. For the image you plan to use you can blow up a photo or choose from lots of awesome silhouettes out there in the cyberworld. There are plenty of templates out there but I choose to keep it personal and made mine using a picture of my dog Gigi. Obviously.

2. Start by cutting out your silhouette as carefully and detailed as possible.

3. Next, tape the silhouette down to hold it in place.

4. Using your dry erase marker (which wipes off with warm water when you are done. So mistakes are no problem!), trace your silhouette. Remove the tape carefully as you go around.

*Tip* if you prefer to carve out your silhouette and avoid any pen marks, you can trace it by poking tiny holes with the end of a paper clip or safety pin. This way you have a very faint tracing to work off of.

5. Once you are done tracing, remove the silhouette, make any changes with your dry erase and then carefully trace over your lines with a sharpie. If you would like to add a border, draw out an oval on scratch paper (folded in half a la elementary school helps for symmetry) and trace around your silhouette with the dry erase pen. Then trace out the oval in Sharpie.

6. Next, fill in the body of the shape. I recommend a jumbo sharpie to cover more ground! You may need to do two coats to cover the orange.

7. Once the Sharpie is dry, you can simply dampen a paper towel and the dry erase will come off easily.

Voila! Step back and admire!

For more cute no-carve ideas, here is a series I recently made for Real Simple Magazine.

Here is a pretty amazing carving pumpkin idea – leave it to Martha’s team of crafters!

Oh and before you go! Here are a couple recipes to make the most of your pumpkin, inside and out!

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*Classic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds*

1 1/2 c raw whole pumpkin seeds

2 tsp soy margarine

1 pinch salt

- Preheat the oven to 300°.

- Toss the seeds in the margarine and salt mix.

- Spread the seeds on a sheet in a thin layer

- Bake 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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* Sugar and Spice Roasted Pumpkin Seeds*

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 Tbs melted soy margarine or vegetable oil

1 Tbs granulated sugar

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

[Same baking directions as above.]

For more flavor options try: garlic salt or powder, black pepper, cayenne, chili powder or Italian seasoning. Recipe found here.

Happy Halloween, girls!

You know how I’m all about GiltGroupe and checking things out in the store and then finding them online for a lot less? Well, I’ve discovered a new way to comparison shop that has me very excited: ShopStyle.

So say for instance you’re in the market for some Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa Shoes, but you don’t want to pay full price because, well, as cute as they are, $134 for jelly shoes—albeit cute jelly shoes— seems a bit steep. Head on over to ShopStyle and type in Vivienne Westwood Anglomania into the search box, then click on “shoes” and viola: compare prices and styles from every top boutique and department store there is. You can organize by color, price, discount, and the like. Roll over the items and each store’s specials are revealed: free shipping, discount codes for 20% off your purchase of $50 or more, etc.

Check out the offers page for a list of sales and specials at dozens and dozens of retailers (i.e. enter SHOP at checkout for 20% off Lord & Taylor).

Sign up for sale alerts and ShopStyle will notify you when anything Proenza Schouler or Stella McCartney goes on sale anywhere.

Hopping from Macy’s to Barney’s to Nordstrom’s to T.J. Maxx checking out sale racks hoping for the best price or paying full-price is a thing of the past. Thanks, ShopStyle!

Have you noticed when you go shopping for your Halloween candy, the Christmas and Hanukah decorations are already out?!

I decided a few years ago to go with the old adage “if you can’t beat them join them,” and I literally went holiday shopping for friends and family before Halloween!

It was soooo liberating. Gone was the stress of trudging through winters’ elements to overcrowded stores under the pressure to find the perfect gift.

Now I enjoy going fall shopping and when I come across a item or outfit that “screams” a certain friend/family member it is one less person I have to shop for come December!

When I shared this tip with a friend she was skeptical. She thought is took away the spirit of holiday shopping. Au contraire! It may not be for everyone, but I was finding I was actually losing the holiday spirit by shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And that’s really the beauty of this early-bird-shopper concept: it frees you up to enjoy the holiday season. I still go out and about for stocking stuffers, etc., but I don’t have the anxiety anymore—instead I have fun.

Then I take great pride in wrapping the gifts by the fire with the holiday music on, to me that gets me in the spirit. I even found the time to bake holiday cookies for those who least expect a acknowledgment: the crossing guard in town, the bank teller, and the neighbors.

It also helped me to dedicate a area of my home as a “gift closet”. In addition to those on my list, I buy a few little extras for those “surprises”. Guests who pop by unknowingly with a gift for you, now you have something in return! Or perhaps, (woops) you forgot a birthday and you have a last minute safety gift. Great generic gifts that everyone can enjoy are gloves, umbrellas, booze, magazine subscriptions, movie tickets.

Lastly, another ‘lil suggestion: be ready to answer the question “What do you want for [insert winter holiday here]?” Have you consider registering? Seriously! You don’t have to be engaged to be married to have a registry at say, Target. That way you can find some economical items (or not so economical, perhaps your wealthy auntie will get you that dyson vacuum you always wanted, in yellow of course) that you would like to have. It truly takes the guess work and pressure off those that do not their holiday shopping done prior to turkey day.

In the poorhouse this year? Advice is always a great gift, so why not introduce friends and family to OMFGstyle (wink, wink)!