- SouthernLiving: In my humble opinion, Southern Living provides readers some of the most beautiful ideas that are actually easy to execute! Their mix of high-end style on a low-end budget, coupled with the fact that they keep it simple – always just makes me happy. The magazine is one of the few I have delivered and their Website is also an excellent resource.

- Twice Lovely: These ladies are amazingly talented. Their never-ending creativity in terms of transforming worn down furniture into something fresh, modern and exciting is just amazing.  We’re so jealous of their talent!

- Real Simple: This is another go-to magazine/Web destination for us.  The title says it all: real. simple. When you’ve worked a 10-hour day and got in your required 30-45 minutes of exercise – the last thing you want to do is come home and get all complicated.  From recipes to decor ideas, the magazine gives you ideas you can actually execute in the precious little time you have.

- Craftzine: What’s your poision? Knitting? Sewing? Hot glue?  Whether you want great ideas for something you’re already good at, or looking to learn something you’re not-so-good at, this site has something for everyone.

- Style Me Pretty: With Erin getting married in just two months now – agghh! – she’s been calling me over to her desk more and more often to talk about the great ideas she finds on the site and how to customize them to her wedding.

- Garden Design: For Erin and I, the garden is like the unconquered frontier.  We both have tried and failed to grow gardens a number of times but recently discovered this site as a resource to stop the cycle. They offer all sorts of tips on different plants, tricks from experienced gardeners and other ideas which are helping demystify some of the things that have been plaguing us. (As in, how not to kill things.)

What are your favorite places to go for ideas?

See you tomorrow!

Several months ago, I happened across a link for a service called HipTix, in which the Roundabout Theater Company offers heavily discounted tickets to people under the age of 35 for some of their hottest shows.  I was extremely complemented by what they consider a youthful person to be, so of course, I signed right up.

After monitoring for several weeks, I can confirm that the discounts are indeed phenomenal and used today’s code to snag a ticket for just $10 to the show Brief Encounter! Can’t beat it! With Broadway tickets  running at least $60 (and often $100 or more) these kinds of deals must be taken advantage of – particularly by someone who loves live theater but reallllly had to be careful with such an expensive habit.

Sign yourself up for HipTix at www.hiptix.com.

However, in taking a look at my Reader, I’m feeling like I need to get over it. Here is my current list – mostly built on recommendations offered through Google.

• Craft (aka Craftzine)
• Centsational Girl
• Design*Sponge
• How About Orange
• Paper n Stitch
• The DIY Diaries
• Yanko Design
• Make
• MoCoLoco
• Sew, Mama, Sew
• Thrifty Decor Chick
• Young House Love
• The Big Picture
• Better After
• Core 77
• Lifestyler
• New Dress a Day
• NOTCOT
• Oh! Joy
• Smitten Kitchen
• The Purl Bee
• Web Urbanist

I try to get to more than what’s on here directly, for example, friends like Ramshackle Glam and Gertie’s Guide to Better Sewing and staples like Apartment Therapy. Not to mention all of our Twitter friends — but what do you all read? Send any and all suggestions in the comments!

Miss you, Domino.

Design addicts – weep for joy! AOL’s Shelter Pop reports that the Domino archives are now available at Brides.com. Check out the back story here.  Now if only we could convince them to come back for real!

In the meantime, can’t wait to browse the available articles and get inspired.

Marisa of New Dress a Day turns muumuus into must-haves! (Images courtesy of New Dress a Day)

Los Angeles-based Marisa started “New Dress a Day” while in the midst of a creative funk.  Her mission?  Take her favorite hobby of scouring vintage stores for fabulous pieces to supplement her wardrobe and add one big twist:  forgo all regular shopping and instead, create a new dress every day based on these thrifty finds.  That means muumuus, nightgowns, oversized shirts, even pants – all get turned into fabulous pieces. And they are fabulous! And that’s not all – she’s limited herself to $365 for the entire project – so each outfit can only cost a buck!

Follow Marisa and her year-long adventure over at New Dress A Day!  And look out for a special “11 Questions for Crafty People” with Marisa soon. Personally, this is exactly the inspiration I needed to learn to use this sewing machine once and for all!

If only our bathrooms were this nice. We're going to need advertising to afford this one day.

Stumbling around the Internet for some design inspiration for my new apartment, I came across this handy tool from Country Living. Called the Country Living Paint Brush it allows you to experiment with paint colors and trims in various rooms of the house. It’s a pretty neat way to see what a certain color combo would look like (even though the rooms are way nicer my new Queens digs.) I wish they would let you upload photos of your own rooms to experiment, but maybe that will be in version 2.0.

Anywho, this is a really nice time waster – whether you have President’s Day off or not!

Photo via MondoGump.com, originally seen on TreeHugger.com. Original original? Leonardo da Vinci.

Today’s snow has us longing for fall, what with its cooler weather, pretty colors and cuter clothing. We’re also pretty pumped to gather up some leaves after seeing this!  For those of you out there with major artistic skills (I do not put myself in this category for the record), this is pretty incredible.

We spied this  new art form, called Leaf Carving on TreeHugger recently and though I’m sure I am sure I do not possess the artistic wherewithal to do it justice, it just looks so cool!

Perfected in China and practiced by the hands of skilled artisans, a knife is used to gently scrape away the delicate layers of fallen leaves all the way down to their transparent surfaces. Using what we’re guessing is equal parts patience and incredible skill, the artists tease amazing images from the leaves. A single leaf carving might take a month or more to complete.

Though we are in no means wishing for winter again while in the midst of the current one, once those leaves start dropping, rest assured we’re going to gather a few and give this a try. On a scale of one to impossible, we’ll guess this is beyond the higher side, but even a very simple image (like a heart) would be beautiful.

We’re curious – are any of you selling the goods you make for dough?

Photo courtesy of Homes & Gardens

I’m not one to get too jealous over things I don’t yet own, but I can’t help being a little bit envious of just about every room in this incredible gallery by Homes & Gardens.  I think I covet just about every room, knick-knack and pattern!

Guess I’ll just have to re-configure my dream house to be roughly 150 rooms and 87 bathrooms large.  That should be enough space to fit all this, right?

This seems great! But also slightly terrifying! Great because I like making things, but terrifying because what if it comes out good? What if I don’t even have to leave the house to get a decent drink ever again? I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you the ramifications of such a dilemma. I’m putting this in the “things I might do” pile. For those who have an easier time getting out of their pajamas (I have been known to spend entire weekends in them) – I encourage you to try and report back!