With “green funiture” concept being reviewed everywhere from blogs to prints, I’m fairly surprised that I haven’t come across the use of Yan Lipao anywhere. Perhaps this is because it is a plant unique to the region of South East Asia only and isn’t as widely known as bamboo or hyacinth. Yan Lipaw is a renewable plant based material used in traditional Thai basket weaving. A quick google search yields this quote on Yan Lipao:

“Yan Lipao is a kind of climbing plant, a fern vine that grows in black and brown colours. It is a natures bounty of raw material for unique basketry work. The vine grows well in the southern part of Thailand. The vine collected from the jungle must be pelled (The outer part being stripped from the pith) and hung to dry in the shade. The dried strips are then polished and smoothed out before weaving. The ripe one-meter portion climbing from the root of the vine is the best materil for basketry work. The tools used to weave are a sharp knife and pin, a holed metal cover on tin, a holed thick metal plate and a pincers.”

Unlike the up and coming material water hyacinth, yan lipao yields a much more detailed weaving pattern and creates a much more elegant look to the end result. Yothaka, a reknowned company started by Mr Suwan Khongkhunthain, is among the forefront of modern furniture making that utilizes renewable resources like water hyacinth and yan lipao. Pictured here are the 4 main products from his yan lipao gallery. He’s been at it since 1989. The pricing is amazingly affordable for these gorgeous pieces. You will, however, have to import them from the far east.

Painfully hip diaper bags, perfect for my co-worker Myles to tote around little Lola’s knick-knacks. $98 at Calliope Boutique.

The clever Japanese seem to never run out of ideas when it comes to too-cute-for-words random little animal thingies. These looks like they might be soap dishes. Available at Day-Lab for $12.

I’m loving this spring-y Snow and Graham blossoming vines gift wrap ($2.75), available at Luxe Paperie.

Lovely little egg-shaped planters for your favorite herbs. $38 for set of 4 (basil, mint, thyme, and italian parseley) at Moma Store.

If you have a thing for octopi, you can get a fabulously awesome glass blown one for $395 at Plantation. Me? I like them in the form of tako yaki. Yumm.

Shopping for anything on Etsy can be an all-day extravaganza, despite all their gimmicky attempts to create various browsing methods. In all honestly a little “search within result” type functinality should do.

I’m heading out to a fantastic restaurant Nobu tomorrow night for the mr.’s birthday with his parents. As I’m thinking of what to wear for this special occasion, it dawned on me that I’ve pretty much manage to lose almost all my earrings. Although I probably wont be able to get anything in time for tomorrow, I figure this spring is a good time to replenish the supply in an el-cheapo way. (Afterall, I will lose this set too in due time anyway)

Here is my pick from Etsy after browsing through 150 pages or so. From top left to bottom right: Cairn by Gemmafactrix ($34), Green polka dot felt dangle by Ellezee ($8), Deploy by Neawear($22), Red porceline flower by Suuskeramiek ($14.90), Hoops with buttons by Dareutowear ($4.99), Hammered circle by Embraceletsdesign ($24), The clockmaker’s daughter by Farewelltransmission ($22), The ring series by Cailean ($10), and Japanese poppy by kspell ($17).

Last year we were in the market for solar lamps for our patio. Sadly all the nice ones were stakes and we couldn’t use them. This here looks promising. The Sun Jar is a portable solar lamp that comes in the form of an old skool mason jar. Very cute. Reminds me of little children catching fireflies in the summer. Leave it out during the day and see it glow at night. It also has a little switch to turn the light on or off. Available at greener grass.