Designer Desks to Support Orphans' Education in Nepal

Check out these great desks, designed and built by 11 New York wood workers, artists and architects to support the education of orphans in Nepal.  The desks will be auctioned off on May 12th at the Kids of Kathmandu’s fund raising event! (via DesignWire)

The designers:
Mark Righter of Cambium Studio, cambiumstudio.com
Daniel Moyer of Daniel Moyer Design, danielmoyerdesign.com
Brian DeRosia, brianderosia.com
Stephanie Beamer and Lauren Maccuaig of MADE, made-nyc.com
Eric Manigian, manigian.com
Andrew Rumpler of Nine Stories Furniture Co., ninestoriesdesign.com
Andrew Raible of Standard41, standard41.com
Ben Strear of Strear Built, strear-built.com
Bill Hilgendorf of Uhuru, uhurudesign.com
Alejandro Cabrera and James Cohen of Wadaly, wadaly.com
James Harmon of Workshop, workshopdesignbuildllc.com

Fun Friday Finds

Just a few cool things to share with you today!  While I try to share things that you would be interested, I have to admit I use my blog just as much as my own list to record and keep track of all the projects I'd like to try, toys I'd like to get, products I'd like to review, and websites I'd like to explore more!  Today's post is no exception...

Check out this creative twist on block puzzles.  Designed by a Swiss toymaker, Naef, "Colorem" allows your kids to draw their own puzzle images with chalk.  Your kids can decorate all sides for 6 different puzzles, then simply wipe them clean with a wet cloth and start all over!  This seems like something that would be fun to make too, with some wood blocks and chalk board paint. They come with some chalk crayons, which I'm assuming stick better than your standard chalk...otherwise it would likely be a huge mess.  Looks like a blast!! (via Inhabitots)

Here's a fun way to use some of those little toys you have all over the house.  A whole lot better than stepping on them in the middle of the night...use them to light your path instead! Designed by Ryan McElhinney. (via LikeCool)

These shadow boxes by Peter Slight are so awesome.  When I was little I made one of these but it was a carnival scene with a merry-go-round and ferris wheel.  I still have it hanging on my wall.  I love the illustrations of these! Okay, more things for my creative to-do list... (via Drawn!)

Fun Friday Finds

Last night I got to enjoy the rare and elusive thing we call a "date night," celebrating my husband's birthday...our first in the over 4 months since our 2nd child was born.  I'm talkin' the real deal here: leaving the house with a small purse that held only MY belongings, driving in our little VW Beetle that won't even seat our whole family, a 2 and a half hour meal at Solera where we got to actually converse and eat all of our own food, followed by a walk around downtown Minneapolis, topped off with a FULL EIGHT HOURS of sleep!! HUGE thanks to my parents for giving our boys yet another time of their lives so that we could reconnect (especially since my hubby has been traveling for 17 out of the last 27 days), and another big thanks to Toby for picking last night to sleep longer than he ever has!  Wahoo!  Three cheers for Gramma and Grampa!  Hip-hip-hooray!!  Hip-hip-hooray!!  Hip-hip-hooray!!

So, enough bragging about my hot date...time to share some fun Friday finds!  Here are a few cool things spotted this week on the blogosphere, hand picked by IDMommy for your viewing pleasure...

Plum Organics have teamed up with Boon to create this cool package with their built-in spoon!  For $3.99 you can get the spoon, which screws on to the Plum baby food pouches.  You may remember me posting previously about the Boon spoon, which Toby did finally get in his Easter basket this year. I personally prefer to make my own baby food, so I am excited to try out the Squirt spoon.  But, this is a great alternative when you're out and about for even more convenience, if you don't want to worry about filling up the spoon. (via Daily Candy)

Here's a fun building toy idea that mixes art with architecture. (via Inhabitots)

I may not have a beautiful dress with poofy sleeves in my closet, but one of my favorite t-shirts has a plate of tater tots on the front, with the words "give me some of your tots" written in ketchup.  I got it at a garage sale for $0.50 cents...from a 10 year old boy. Yeah, I know, this 30-something year old Mom loves Napoleon Dynamite just as much as 10 year olds, but I can do whatever I wanna do.  GOSH!  That's why I just had to share this sweeeeet wall mural that Design Mom did for her son's bedroom.  Check out the great tutorial!  Makes me want to erect a tether ball in the back yard and make myself a dang case-a-dilla!