http://shine.yahoo.com/blog/shine_valerierainsI edit the At Home blog on Shine. Current favorite fabric: Mattress ticking. Current favorite cleaning product: Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Nuggets. The top item on my furniture-shopping list: a new bookcase. Got a question or a suggestion for me? Please send me an email . [Portrait Photography: Emily Nathan]Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:10:16 -0700http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/speak-for-yourself-would-you-hang-a-portrait-of-your-pet-251234/In the age of pet clothes and $330-mechanical litter box monitors, dog spas and canine face lifts, one has to wonder if the "man's best friend" of olden times would even recognize his modern counterpart. Would he feel slighted (or relieved) that he never received such pampering? Has the relationship between man and pup changed? Is this anthropomorphism run amok? This all brings me to another issue that has come up in our indulgent, post-Paris Hilton age: The proliferation of pet portraitists.]]>Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:10:16 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/speak-for-yourself-would-you-hang-a-portrait-of-your-pet-251234/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/speak-for-yourself-would-you-hang-a-portrait-of-your-pet-251234/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/inspirational-office-moment-the-most-beautiful-file-folders-in-the-world-i-think-so-246561/Allow me to welcome you back from your (hopefully) long, relaxing holiday weekend with a little office cheer in the form of The Most Beautiful File Folders In The World. Design whiz (and righteous blogger) Joy Deangdeelert Cho's Nantaka Joy paper goods line now includes recycled-paper kraft file folders detailed with gorgeous copper and silver floral and leaf patterns. Not exaggerating, they are like jewelry for your desk. I especially love the combination of rough brown paper with shiny, feminine details, which I've been appreciating in the notebook form for some time...]]>Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:31:16 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/inspirational-office-moment-the-most-beautiful-file-folders-in-the-world-i-think-so-246561/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/inspirational-office-moment-the-most-beautiful-file-folders-in-the-world-i-think-so-246561/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/things-i-am-eagerly-awaiting-right-now-cheap-home-accessories-a-new-hotel-and-custom-furniture-245752/
John Derian's line of bargain-priced decoupage housewares for Target, coming in September. (Here's hoping it looks as classy as his expensive stuff, because the last time I bought something of his—as an anniversary gift for friends—it nearly bankrupted me.)

]]>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:14:45 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/things-i-am-eagerly-awaiting-right-now-cheap-home-accessories-a-new-hotel-and-custom-furniture-245752/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/things-i-am-eagerly-awaiting-right-now-cheap-home-accessories-a-new-hotel-and-custom-furniture-245752/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/would-you-do-board-game-decor-245675/Knowing my ongoing obsession with Scrabble (and no, I do not mean Scrabulous, which is completely different and inferior!), a sweet friend sent me the link to Los Angeles designer/artist Clare Graham's amazing Scrabble tile- and board-based constructions. (Graham also dabbles in collecting and stacking up and gluing together buttons, bottle caps, yardsticks, and paint-by-numbers art, which I happen to love and a lot of you happen to hate.) If you have a few minutes you were planning on procrastinating through anyway, spend them clicking through Graham's site—it's like a museum of childhood detritus-turned-sculpture, and some of the pieces will really surprise you if you let them.]]>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:22:20 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/would-you-do-board-game-decor-245675/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/would-you-do-board-game-decor-245675/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/custom-work-fabric-you-design-yourself-printed-by-pros-244449/What with the recent spate of print-it-yourself books, the explosion of Gocco fan clubs, and the resurgence of craftiness in general, it can seem like the perfect time to take on making your own printed fabrics. And it is—if you want to add a few one-color repeat patterns to a solid background. If, however, your aspirations are a little loftier, you might need some assistance. Finnish web site Bon Bon Kakku can take the manufacturing work off your hands, leaving you to focus on the purely creative part.]]>Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:53:13 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/custom-work-fabric-you-design-yourself-printed-by-pros-244449/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/custom-work-fabric-you-design-yourself-printed-by-pros-244449/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/party-favorites-how-to-set-the-table-cloth-242826/ Formal table setting skills may have gone the way of, well, eating formal dinners in one's own home, but sometimes you get that urge to cook a big meal and ]]>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:34:49 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/party-favorites-how-to-set-the-table-cloth-242826/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/party-favorites-how-to-set-the-table-cloth-242826/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/oh-the-cupcakes-that-could-have-been-saved-239640/...if I had only known this trick for packing them: An empty egg carton makes a perfect carrying case for party- or picnic-bound mini cupcakes. It's one of those so-obvious- you're-embarrassed-you-haven't-been- doing-it-all-along ideas, but I'm blaming my oversight on the fact that I have an inexplicable and long-standing aversion to eating eggs, so I probably wouldn't have a 12-pack carton on hand when I needed it, anyway. Thanks to Shelterrific's Mary T. for sharing her discovery (and to Seattle bakery/coffee shop Coffee to a Tea With Sugar for exhibiting such genius in the first place).]]>Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:44:23 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/oh-the-cupcakes-that-could-have-been-saved-239640/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/oh-the-cupcakes-that-could-have-been-saved-239640/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/i-like-the-way-you-move-how-to-make-relocation-easier-or-at-least-prettier-and-more-fun-239491/ ]]>Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:43:54 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/i-like-the-way-you-move-how-to-make-relocation-easier-or-at-least-prettier-and-more-fun-239491/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/i-like-the-way-you-move-how-to-make-relocation-easier-or-at-least-prettier-and-more-fun-239491/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-grown-up-school-supplies-do-you-have-your-eye-on-236039/I can't possibly be the only one (over age 12) who still gets the powerful craving for new pens and notebooks when fall starts rolling in, can I? This year my back-to-school wish list has expanded to include elaborately patterned sticky notes, like this unicorns-and-headphones style from...]]>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:26:05 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-grown-up-school-supplies-do-you-have-your-eye-on-236039/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-grown-up-school-supplies-do-you-have-your-eye-on-236039/http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-s-in-your-toaster-besides-all-the-burnt-bread-crumbs-235259/Brittnybadger's Flickr stream, now racing around the blogosphere at lightning speed, can show you just that—plus what's in your blender, iron, Dustbuster, waffle maker, electric knife, and more. Click through to gain a greater appreciation for all of life's little conveniences—that are made possible by some pretty complicated little devices. See if you can guess what each of these are, then check against the answers at the bottom. [via SwissMiss and NotCot]
]]>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:42:45 -0700nospam@example.com (Valerie Rains, Shine staff)http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-s-in-your-toaster-besides-all-the-burnt-bread-crumbs-235259/#commentshttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/home/what-s-in-your-toaster-besides-all-the-burnt-bread-crumbs-235259/97310wisteriaI edit the At Home blog on Shine. Current favorite fabric: Mattress ticking. Current favorite cleaning product: Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Nuggets. The top item on my furniture-shopping list: a new bookcase. Got a question or a suggestion for me? Please send me an email . [Portrait Photography: Emily Nathan]11 I edit the At Home blog on Shine. Current favorite fabric: Mattress ticking. Current favorite cleaning product: Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Nuggets. The top item on my furniture-shopping list: a new bookcase. Got a question or a suggestion for me? Please send me an email. [Portrait Photography: Emily Nathan] 000.0000IDInfoshine_valerierains#ivshine_valerierainsa8boee.iCYvh52vH7HQCl6HqfYBT7Oi0AcBnO.wyoAL7XusValerie Rains, Shine staffnhttp://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/identity/nopic_96.gif9696http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/identity/nopic_244.gif2424http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/identity/nopic_48.gif4848http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/identity/nopic_32.gif3232http://f3.yahoofs.com/coreid/47e25cc0ibf2zul3sp1/VgFqkGIic6.kRCSsDj1Yv9f4DuQZQvg_G5k-/1/tn96.jpg?ciAIxOJBwXWtpDdA9696http://f3.yahoofs.com/coreid/47e25cc0ibf2zul3sp1/VgFqkGIic6.kRCSsDj1Yv9f4DuQZQvg_G5k-/1/tn24.jpg?ciAIxOJBIIvglLvB2424http://f3.yahoofs.com/coreid/47e25cc0ibf2zul3sp1/VgFqkGIic6.kRCSsDj1Yv9f4DuQZQvg_G5k-/1/tn48.jpg?ciAIxOJB0RwDkw074848http://f3.yahoofs.com/coreid/47e25cc0ibf2zul3sp1/VgFqkGIic6.kRCSsDj1Yv9f4DuQZQvg_G5k-/1/tn32.jpg?ciAIxOJBJxzI0HMO3232IDContextualInfoglobalYahoo!1http://profiles.yahoo.com/shine_valerierainsIDContextualInfombYahoo! Message BoardsError Reading Key for user shine_valerierainsiv#iv to UDB in UDBConnection