External Hard Drive Enclosures

Found on Etsy shop BP Custom Woodworks

Pepsi Refresh Project: Solar Ivy

Pepsi is giving away millions each month to fund refreshing ideas that change the world. The ideas with the most votes will receive grants.



Visually dramatic and structurally adaptive, "Solar Ivy" is a customizable system for sustainable energy generation that mimics the form of ivy and its relationship with the environment. Flexible photovoltaic "leaves" shift in the wind while converting solar energy into electricity, and shade the building from heat gained through out the day.

Solar Ivy brings human beings closer to living in harmony with the earth's resources through its design features. Solar Ivy produces electricity, shades buildings, provides low resolution imagery and can mimic a tree canopy's filtering of light to foster ground level plant growth.

With this grant, SMIT's team of designers, engineers and architects will oversee the final stage of development on Solar Ivy by securing IP protection and testing it to create quality high volume manufacturing in North America. SMIT will head a sales campaign of Solar Ivy at 50 architecture firms with a goal of 20 sales, helping to rejuvenate America's solar industry.


Click here to vote!

U.O. sale items

Oversized Iron Jack $11.99 (Was $18.00)
Crosley Alarm Clock Radio Speaker $39.99 (Was $58.00)

Etsy find of the day

RCA Vintage Radio $55

Portable Rotary Phone?

Portable Rotary Phone

The infamous Portable Rotary Phone is an original rotary phone that has been modified to be a cellular phone. The Port-O-Rotary has a functional rotary dial, rings the original, loud metallic bells when a call is received, and even has a dial tone!

Phone comes fully assembled and tested. All you have to do is open the phone, insert your SIM card, and turn the unit on! The unit will utilize your phone number and account minutes. The internal cellular module works within any country that has one of the 900MHz, 1800MHz, or 1900MHz cellular bands (90% of the world). The Port-O-Rotary is truly international with up to 15-digit dialing, auto-frequency selection, '+' characters, and PIN # entry for pre-paid cards.

Each Port-O-Rotary is an original rotary phone that has been specially modified. There may be small scratches and scraps on the exterior, also known as 'character'. The battery can run the phone for 4-5 days (yes days) and is charged by an external jack on the rear of the phone (charger included).

Phone Includes:

Main controller board
Ringer module
Cellular module
2000mAh Lithium-Polymer battery
Built-in fast battery charger (2 hour max charge time)
Wall adapter (US spades but is 110-240V rated)
Mini-cellular internal antenna (compatible with North American and European Frequencies)

Fireplace mockup

Left: current fireplace
Right: mockup
My home can get quite chilly in the cold winter months, especially in the living room/ dinning room area. We do have this beautiful fireplace that we use often, but every time we burn wood it looks cozy and warm, but all that hot air just gets sucked up the chimney making the room even colder!

We started looking into modern looking pellet stoves and at fireplace inserts for just burning wood. I don't think we have many options finding a modern looking pellet stove for our type of fireplace but I think we can get a simple and sleek insert that blows the hot air back into the room. I'm not sure which is better to get yet, we still need to go to a fireplace store and talk to someone about it. Have any of you updated your fireplace? And was it worth it?

New Clock

It was my birthday last weekend and I decided to treat myself by getting this cute starburst clock from Urban Outfitters. I had been searching for something to put on this wall for some time but I was waiting for something that tickled my fancy. (Oh and yes it's on sale too!)

Crosley Table Alarm Clock Speaker

Vintage-inspired tabletop alarm clock doubles as amplification for your iPod - with a capable speaker at the top and plug at the back for attaching your mp3 player. Volume control and station knobs; AM/FM options; analog clock display; radio or buzzer alarm with snooze button. Finished with smooth plastic casing, reminiscent of mid century appliances. For sale at Urban Outfitters.

Doily Clocks

I keep finding some amazing clocks on Etsy lately.

These clocks above were created by Etsy seller and furthermore, they are made from wooden disks and vintage soft plastic doilies. The clock on the right will be featured in next month's edition of House Beautiful along with other etsy sellers and their wares in a two page spread.

Wilkerson Furniture

Make your living room 50's fabulous with this M21 Flat TV Console, which houses a flat-panel plasmas and LCDs. Made from sustainable solid and veneer hardwoods. Check out more beautiful furniture at wilkersonfurniture.com

Keith Moore - Wall clocks

Gorgeous clocks by Keith Moore

Chroma Lab

Chroma Lab is a wonderful new store created by Boston locals Alicia Cornwell and Tony Bevilacqua. They create colorful, modern furniture and housewares such as hand made clocks, lamps and floor cloths.

Check out more items in their Etsy shop.

Time for clocks

Check out these vintage clocks I found on Etsy.



Yellow clock $16. Click here
Vintage Word Hour Westclox Clock $10. Click here
Daisy mod clock $22 Click here
Vintage Electric Desk Clock on pedestal $20. Click here

Everything's always better with tweed

Nomad Portable Speaker from Urban Outfitters
Going places never sounded better. Inspired by vintage luggage and based on a 1930s design, the Nomad Portable Speaker is a small wonder. Lightweight, stylish and capable, with a dedicated Aux Input for your iPod/MP3 player, laptop or turntable! Richly detailed sound reproduction from a full-range speaker with SRS resonance enhancement; sturdy wood cabinet dressed in classic tweed vinyl; telescopic antenna for improved reception; airplane dial tuner display, on/off/volume knob and tuning knob at the front; electronically assisted tuner; AM/FM/Aux Input select switch at the back; included adapter allows you to conveniently select between wall power and batteries;

Buying a washer and dryer set

We're moving this week, and one of our first big purchases will be a washer and dryer. Our new house has a septic tank, and they recommend that you use front-loaded washers in houses with septic systems. Front-loaded washers use a third of the water than an equivalent top-loaded washer, which is good for the environment. As it turns out, they also clean your clothes better than front-loaders!

My husband and I have fallen in love with the Whirlpool Duet Steam line. They're expensive, but everyone has told us they're great.

Zihotch Retro Phone Watch

This watch tells time...literally! Made by Japan's Maywadenki, this Zihotch Retro Phone Watch has no digital display or a needle. In their place is an old school telephone dial.

To find out the time, simply dial 117 and it will be spoken to you! Dialing a wrong number will result in a "We are sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service. Please check and call again." You can also set it so you receive a personal wake up call every morning!

Princess Phone

It's for you! It's little, and it's lovely. The original desk phone, updated with modern technology and a streamlined new look. The Princess Phone, originally introduced in 1959, is compact and beautifully designed. Push button operation with rotary styling; flash/redial; ringer volume and on/off switch; tone/pulse; extended matching cord.

For sale at Urban Outfitters!

Classic Star Trek

Captain Kirk is known for many things; one thing is being prepared for anything. Whenever Captain Kirk left the Enterprise, there were always three things he made sure he was equipped with. His Phaser, a tear-away shirt, and his Communicator.

Either one of these would make a great gift for a Star Trek fan, and I'm sure we all know one! My father is one of them! :P

Retro gadgets

Retro Spotlight Alarm Clock (red) (silver)

Leather-Clad Flashlight
A classic since 1917, wrapped in chocolate top-grain leather.

Post Office kicks off free, by-mail gadget recycling

Got an old camera, cell phone, or MP3 player that you want to toss? Under a new pilot program offered by the U.S. Postal Service, recycling your dead gadgets is as easy as dropping them in the mail.

Computerworld reports that the Post Office's new "Mail Back" program is getting a trial run in 10 U.S. markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. If the pilot program takes off, a nationwide rollout will follow.

So here's the deal: Just bring your old gadgets (handhelds, cell phones, MP3 players, and even inkjet cartridges - no 20" CRTs or dead dot-matrix printers, unfortunately) to one of 1,500 participating post offices, seal them in preprinted, postage-paid envelopes (you can take as many envelopes as you want), and drop them in the mail.

The package goes to Clover Technologies Group, which is partnering with the Post Office in the new recycling program. In a press release, the Post Office promises that Clover will refurbish, resell, or break down the discarded gadgets for recycling, and that nothing will end up in a landfill.

It's a clever idea for those of us with old electronics too outdated to sell on eBay. Indeed, I have an old, 2001-era iPod that's essentially worthless (I priced it over at SecondRotation and got an estimate of exactly $0), and I'd rather drop it in the mail than pay to have it recycled.

Article found on Yahoo