Etsy has become a wonderful resource for people with incredible talent to get their stuff into the hands of the public without going through a middleman. Skinny Laminx is definitely taking advantage of that to make some of her beautiful goods from South Africa available to us. Shown to the right is her Eep Tea Towel which is a beautifully designed and handprinted towel for only $10. That is just one of the great things I found over at her Etsy shop, the more I looked around, the more great things I found. Available at the Skinny Laminx Etsy shop. Skinny Laminx Blog is worth checking out too.

I am loving these new pillows from Three Sheets. Just like their great wall prints, these decorative pillows are hand printed on 100% linen. This 12" x 20" pillow will run you about $68, which isn't a bad deal when you consider it is hand printed. To make the deal even sweeter, it includes a 90/10 feather down insert for all sorts of squishy goodness. Available in dark robin, light russet, light walnut, and marigold. Available from Elsewares for $68.

I recently stumbled upon the Lotta Jansdotter website, and instantly fell in love with just about everything on their website. Her contemporary organic designs speak of her childhood in Finland and Sweden. Luckily for us, she is based out of San Francisco, which means all her great design is readily available to us. I am particularly fond of the cafe apron shown to the left, especially for only $19. Make sure you check out her ceramics and kids toys as well, they are equally delightful. Available from Lotta Jansdotter for $19.

If you are a big retro modern fan, you know just how cool wallpaper used to be. Back in the day there were all sorts of flavorful designs that ended up on peoples walls. Smitten Kitten, a Canadian based company is bringing back all that groovy love, but in a very tasteful way. They have great vintage wallpaper journals and notebooks, that feature an array of classic floral and geometric retro prints. Make sure you check out the website to see all the great prints, and to check out the purses and jewelry too.

Available from Smitten Kitten for $20 CAD.

My good friend Bryon took the challenge to make a decent video for the Shycast "Break the rules of bedmaking" contest. Unfortunately it looks like he got his entry in a little too late, because there wasn't even enough time to vote it into the top ten. None the less, everyone should head on over to Shycast and check the video out. It is by far the best one over there. Great job Bryon! Check out the video "Making the bed while taking a nap" at shycast.

I know I have featured quite a few different kids prints here on Grassrootsmodern before, but for some reason when I see this bunny I just can't resist. Yoon Kids has several different prints available, all of which are very customizable. You can choose your background, your Yoonie (Bunny, Bear, Giraffe, Dog), and even add text. If you aren't feeling creative you can pick from a whole bunch of different pre-configured prints. They are available in 9 x 12 or 18 x 18 prints. Prices start around $80.

Available from Yoon Kids, starting at $80.

I finally finished setting all the tiles in the bathroom, thanks to my stepdad who came down on Saturday to help. We spent almost 9 hours straight on Saturday setting tile. I just have a couple of small little trim pieces to put up, and then I have to grout and caulk the whole thing. Besides that, the list of things to do in the bathroom is quickly shrinking. We have one more light to install, and a fan. We also need drawers for the vanity and trim for the door and it will be all done. As far as the addition, they put up a couple more walls yesterday, including the walls that connect into our existing house. Today I think they will probably do roof joists, and hopefully some exterior sheathing.

More pics after the jump.

Keeping a journal is something that I have always wanted to do, but never really managed to find time for. This beautiful Garden Journal from lf'n Books is practically begging for someone to pick it up and start writing out their life history. Illustrated by Jen Corace, this journal is a limited edition, with only 500 being printed. It contains 144 colorful pages, and is hardbound and screen-printed by hand. Available from Mahar Dry Goods for $24.

CB2 always has some great stuff. They are a great alternative to Ikea when you are looking for something that is both modern and affordable. Point in case; The Silo Pendant Lamp shown above is only $39. That is a total steal for such a classy chrome pendant. The floral wall art shown above is also another great example. While not quite as good of a deal, they still aren't too expensive at only $9 each. I wasn't really sold on them until I saw them in the room shot shown above, now I think that they look pretty sweet.

Available from CB2 from $9 to $39.

Fred & Nanoo of Qora & Shaï Boutique sent me an email this morning to let me know about a new line of canvas's that they have launched. This dynamic team of illustrator and industrial designer brings a nice mix to the world of canvas art. All of their smaller pieces come as two part sets, and start at around $65 dollars. They also have some great retro french posters for around $45. If you are looking for more similar work, check out some more of Nanoo Shaï's stuff over at the German site Poster Lounge. Available from Qora & Shaï Boutique starting at $45. Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Here is a cute little stainless steel accent for your wall. Designed by Tord Boontje, this simple bird on a branch entitled puddlebird has a self adhesive back and can be put anywhere you are needing a little extra action on your wall. It measures 10" wide and 7" tall.

Available from Well Dressed Home for $24. Comments? Post them here in our forums.

I received one of these gift envelopes over the new year from Design Night. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the red pard of the card is actually a lasercut piece of paper which is wrapped around a yellow envelope. It features a pig to celebrate the chinese year of the pig. The detail on it is really quite outstanding, and the price is nice at $6.50 each. Available from Design Night for $6.50. Comments? Post them here on our forum.

I know that the holiday season is wrapping up, but I couldn't help but share this great wreath with you. It's stylish enough that you don't even need the holidays as an excuse to hang it up. Available from San Francisco based Kenneth Wingard, this powder coated steel wreath would look good on any dark colored accent wall. I especially like it with the dark chocolate wall pictured. Overall diameter is 16", price is $60. Available from Kenneth Wingard for $60. Comments? Post them here in our forums.

What do you do when you fall in love with a wallpaper for your accent wall, and then find out it will cost over $800? DIY of course. That's exactly what happened over at Modern Self, and the results are better than you can imagine. Instead of $800 worth of wallpaper, the couple spent around $80 worth of paint and supplies, and a couple of long nights taping everything off and painting. The results look great though. Good job guys.

For more details, head over to Modernself.com Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Affordable is good, but lets face it, you can't beat free. So when it comes to calendars for next year it doesn't get much better than the very free Blueant Studio Calendar. There are strings attached though, you have to make it yourself. They have included all the beautiful pictures with dates below, you just have to print them all out and bind them if you wish. They look to have been made with Apples iPhoto program and have Applelicious layout and design. While you are over there, make sure you check out Blueant Studio's blog, they have some nice eye candy. Available at Blueant Studio for FREE. Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Things are always better when they serve more than just one purpose, take these great cards from Thing Farm for example. Not only are they very stylish wood veneer, but the snowflake shape can easily be punched out and used for a Christmas ornament. They also promise that no two snowflake designs are identical, just like the real thing. The beautiful wood veneers are bound to heavyweight paper and come with a matching envelope and red tie for $6. Available from Thing Farm for $6. Comments? Post them here in our forums. Via designsponge.

Here is a great little video that I found over at Curbly. It is a DIY project that shows how to make some really cool magnetic flower vases. Make sure you check out Bruno's page over at Curbly for a full list of what you will need for the project. It looks like the hardest part was cutting the pipe down, which would be real easy if you had a pipe cutter.

DIY Magnetic Flower Vase at Curbly Comments? Post them here in our forums.

Everyone is surprised to learn that my wife and I don't want to find out the sex of our baby before he/she is born. They all complain that people will be left with no choice to buy us clothes and baby items that are limited to baby yellow, baby green and white. What I want to know is what happened to all those other great colors? Jeeto is here to prove all those people wrong. Specializing in modern graphic prints for wall art or t-shirts, Jeeto knows there is a lot more to babies than blue, pink, yellow and green. I love that he also strays from the classic prints, his "Happy Bones" skull and cross bones are adorable. Best of all its all affordable. The walrus prints shown above are $24 and $14 respectively. Now thats a good deal.

Available directly from the artist starting at $14 Comments? Post them here in the forums.

One of my favorite bloggers, Grace, over at Design Sponge has posted two great gift guides lately. One focuses on affordable modern art, and includes everything from photographs to prints to books, all of which look great but won't cost you a fortune. Also as you are gearing up to do some serious holiday shopping, make sure you check out her under $25 gift guide. Plenty of affordable modern goods to be had there.

Comments? Post them here in the forums.

It seems like everyone is trying to come up with some super trick modern design these days and throw it on a pillow or canvas and charge a lot of money for it. Well, let me just say, Avalisa does modern art right. Its been a while since I've looked at some nice canvas prints and thought, yeah, I could do that. It's been even longer since I looked at the price tag and wasn't absolutely shocked. Priced between $45 and $115 for a 12" squared to 28" squared canvas, these will look great, and not break the bank. My poorly mounted montage above shows some of her work, but there is even more to be seen. If you have kids, make sure you check out the animals, and things that go collections.

Available from Avalisa from $45-$115. Comments? Post them here. If you are in the holiday spirit (or just a good person at heart) buy a print for Cure International.