The creatives at Wonder Thunder have made a clever pillow to express your mood for those times when you don't really want to talk early in the mornings. Why not let this toasty friend do your bidding? Depending on your mood, flip to show the sweet side or the grumpy side. Just one look at the grumpy side might be just the laugh you need before your morning coffee to start the day off right.

We loved Kim Ludy's son's bedroom (complete with a trapdoor!), but this week, it's her Etsy shop, Trampoline, that's making our hearts pitter-patter. Ludy scouts vintage pieces in flea markets and thrift shops in Massachusetts, and our current favorites are these botanical lithographs. What science-loving kid wouldn't adore old-school butterfly prints?

--Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

P.S. More of our favorite children's bedrooms...

We loved this bedroom chalkboard (see more photos here), but what if, like us, you're timid about splashing chalkboard paint on your walls? We were thrilled to discover these peel-and-stick chalkboard decals, which your family can happily cover with grocery lists, love notes and dinosaur drawings ... and then just peel off when you're done.

-- Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

P.S. Features editor Jenny loves her family's chalkboard, and now chalkboard paint comes in color....

For many of us, a favored stuffed creature or doll from childhood still holds a special place in our hearts--maybe you've even passed yours on for your little one to treasure. In honor of the special soft friends that are loved so dearly, we've gathered an assortment of some of our favorite lovable critters for both the young and the young at heart to enjoy.

Crazy-Daisy Turtle Critter ~ Chasing Fireflies

Baby Gnome Doll ~ Craftsbury Kids

Mr. Sun Teether ~ Pin Pon

Donna Wilson Mitten Kitten ~ Design Public

Peeko ~ Blabla

Wendell P. Monster ~ Plants & Animals

See more of our favorite things.

When we need a break at work, instead of walking to the water cooler, we click over to Etsy, the online marketplace, where the vintage wares always inspire us. One of our favorite stops is High Street Market, a Philly-based home store. Here's our current wish list....

Vintage brass shark, $18. For a grown-up desk or Jaws-loving kids. Ouija board, $24. For spooky fortunes during late-night sleepovers...

Bulletin board, $52. Kids can tack up postcards and notes on the pretty geometric fabric.

Vintage miniature airplanes, $12. To add some derring-do to a nursery bookcase.

P.S. Online home-decor shops and websites we love ...

--Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

Check this out: a one-stop shopping source for an entirely eco-friendly pre-fab home, plus all the furnishings, lighting, textiles, and accessories you could ever want. HOM - Escape In Style, created by the California-based design team KAA Design Group, is a comprehensive product line that combines modern design, affordability, convenience, and sustainability. They offer three different home plans, ranging from 1,000 to 3,600 square feet, which are delivered (in one, two, or three pieces) within 10 weeks from the time of purchase.

Because they are 90 percent factory-built, the HOM dwellings produce less material waste than site-built construction, and the one-time delivery dramatically cuts down on carbon emissions from workers' daily commutes to the site. And the list goes on: solar power panels, a zinc-coated roof, sealed cork-tile flooring, corian countertops, low-flow shower heads and toilets, tankless water heaters, Energy Star-rated appliances, and compact fluorescent and LED lighting make these houses incredibly green. We think it's pretty genius! See the entire line of products here.

One of our favorite places in New York is Kiosk, a store that features rotating collections of classic and quirky items from other countries, including Japan, Sweden, and Mexico. Well, this month, they've brought home pieces from Provence, and they're amazing! Our favorites:

A water willow and juniper seed baby rattle. (Isn't it beautiful?)

Mikado pick-up-sticks.

Vintage French postcards with basket makers, fish, and cobblestone streets.

Dried lavender.

Lavender soap, made with local lavender in small batches.
 
P.S. Feeling wanderlust-y? Read through our travel stories, including fantastical castles and tree-house resorts.

-- Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

We love mobiles (and how babies fall under their spell), and we're especially into this hot-air balloon number that costs under $10. Technically, they're greeting cards, but string them from a lamp, and no one will know the difference!

P.S. A gorgeous home with a fish mobile, and a house with a Scandinavian hot-air balloon mobile ...

-- Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo

If you haven't been over to our sister blog Daily Find recently (where our editors share one of their favorite products each day), check it out this week for their favorite baby cards. We're showing you "witty" (above) and "irreverent" (below). Head over there to see where to buy these and the rest of the week's picks.

I was in Los Angeles for a few photo shoots for Cookie home stories recently, and I snapped some pictures while at a few of my favorite haunts.

Distant
This store has so many really covetable towels and linens that I usually have to buy something there, even if it’s tiny. I rifled through the sale bin and found a hand towel I can’t wait to use. But I always salivate looking at the Suzani throws and Turkish towels.


Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
I stopped in to see a show called “Your Bright Future.” The piece in the Grand Entrance (which you don't have to pay to see) impressed me the most. It was an installation by Choi Jeong-Hwa called HappyHappy and consisted of numerous “chains” of strung plastic colanders and other containers hanging in a grid. It was like a forest grown in a 99-cent store. It was really arresting, and the kids in the courtyard were having a great time wandering through it.

Truck Tracks
Standing at the staircase of the Broad gallery at LACMA, I looked at the construction site for their new building and thought the tire tracks from some kind of truck were quite beautiful. Sort of like an urban filigree.

Mercado
I wish this store had a better website (they say it’s coming) because I always find things here that I don’t see in New York. They have such a good eye for everything from jewelry to soap to toys to gift cards to ceramics. It’s really gorgeous, and I purchased some things I couldn’t resist, like a birthday card for my sister and one to hang on the wall.

Mural on Franklin Avenue
I kept driving by this mural near that great store Lost and Found (on Yucca Street). I guess it’s pointing the way to some storage facility? I don’t really know--I was never there except in passing. So nice, though.