Nonpareil

It’s that “gifts for dads & grads” time of year, and I tend to ignore indie finds for guys. And, what makes these glasses only for the boys? Not a thing! Anyhow, These repurposed bottles are from local Chicagoan, Windy City Glassblower. I learned about them from the wonderful blog Down and Out Chic a little while ago. Many bottles-turned-glasses out there have been just cut and sanded, but Nicholas Paul uses a mighty amount of heat and fire to form his bottles. Scary-cool! I love the buddha glasses!

ps. He posts a link to Chicago Hot Glass on his site…and I really really want to take a beginning glassblowing class…

Yikes! How did Monday meld into Wednesday so quickly?!! Sorry I didn’t post the winner on time! According to my random integer generator, Kat is the winner of the book! I had to check out her site too…it’s called Paul and Kat, and they have some really cute buttons! So, congratulations, and I hope the book lends itself to some super craftiness!

The lovely jeweler and web designer, Amy DiGregorio {no relation…I don’t think…} sent me the link to a new website she did for Kelly Haas Jewelry. I think her pieces are beautiful…love the mix of different chains and metals. I only swiped a few detail pictures from her shop…but it’s worth a visit to see the whole pieces!

I can hardly believe it…but I started blogging a year ago today. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who take time to read nonpareil. I totally appreciate it, and love all your comments!! It’s been fun getting to “know” many of you over the course of the last year too…I love having readers from all over the world. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

In case you haven’t read it, here’s a link to my first post, and one of the reasons why I do what I do.

Pink Olive is a sweet boutique with a ton of great indie goods for little ones, as well as for grown-ups! Some of the brands they carry include BlaBla {monkey slippers},  Pink Chicken {dress}, Envirosax {floral bag}, 3 Sprouts {chicken towels}, Atsuyo et Akiko {baby shirts and footies}, Leather Zoo {owlie bookends}…oh, and Soapy Love {not pictured, but one of my favorites}, They have so many cute things, I had a hard time choosing my favorites for this post…

AND…they are kindly giving away this great crafty book called Sewing Green to one lucky Nonpareil reader!

If you’d like to try to win a copy:

• Just visit the Pink Olive site, and comment back here about your favorite item from their shop!
• You’ll get an extra entry if you twitter about it {make sure you let me know when you do by using @nonpareilblog in your tweet}.
• You’ll get even one more entry if you mention the contest on your blog {leave a comment about it below}.
• Make sure you get your comments in by Monday, May 25 at noon, central time. I’ll pick the winner that afternoon!

Good luck!