If you look at history, now is a flippin’ sweet time to be alive. Need proof?

We have problems like “I want to constantly witness the beauty and mystery of a butterfly, but without harming it“. Beats the pants off of “I hope we chopped enough wood to make it through the winter”, doesn’t it?

Like an adorable confirmation from above, these electronic butterflies remind you how good life is. Simple, fascinating, beautiful. This is exactly the kind of gift I give to my Type A friends. When you tend to “live in your head”, reconnecting with simple pleasures is key.

What about kids? Check out the video below to see how enraptured they are playing with their butterfly.

Hmm, can you think of anyone else who might enjoy these little marvels?

If Mable’s had a sister store, we would be total twins with UncommonGoods. They have so many truly unique and head turning items, and many of them are eco-friendly or artisan made. Pretty much the best combo ever, if you ask us.

This time of year UncommonGoods puts their customer favorite items into awesome gift guides. There’s categories for everyone, but here are the major ones;

Check it out and let us know your favorites. Like UncommonGoods’ slogan says, you’ll find anything but ordinary

Our favorite stores are often difficult to describe. Their offerings change quickly, and the selection can be as varied as the shoppers they attract. Talking Paintings one day, and an Eames House of Cards the next? Sounds good to us!

Enter San Francisco based The Curiosity Shoppe. Their tagline is “Crafts, Kits and Curious for the Creatively Inclined“, but we dare anybody to walk away without an item that tickles her fancy. Have you seen the USB drive that doubles as a comb? How about the hand printed tea towels featuring a pirate-inspired tall ship?

The store is owned and operated by Lauren & Derek who opened the Shoppe for one simple reason: they are “obsessed with beautiful things.” And what sorts of beautiful things might you find while browsing their hand picked wares? “Whether it’s a favorite art book, a vintage find, a carefully hand-crafted piece of jewelry or a one-of-a-kind painting, we guarantee everything you’ll find in the Shoppe is special.”

Like anything truly magical, their stock changes frequently, enticing you to come back for visit after visit. If you’re in San Francisco, you can drop by their store on Valencia Street, or head to their 24/7 web shop here. For extra fun, visit their blog Smarts & Crafts and say hello.

Step back in time with a beautiful vintage inspired dining set with classic red and white coloring. Maybe black and white is your preferred retro motif? Either way a dining set like this will send Grandmas and kids alike back to a time when it all seemed a bit more simple.

Mix the past with the future by blogging, tweeting, and surfing the web via your fancy iPad at this retro table and chair set and you might just cause a time vortex. Or time leak, or maybe just a plain ol’ flashback in your giant brain.

Either way mixing the sexy retro past with today’s technology brings us all closer to living without limits of time, or space, or decor. So do us all a favor and pick out some retro decor from our friends over at Stacks and Stacks and live life Doctor Who style by straddling multiple time periods at once.

The simple play of light and shadow can be so mesmerizing. This new shadow projecting lamp from Brooklyn based Lumen uses a flock of birds to create it’s beautiful shadow play. Measuring a wee 5″ x 2.5″, the shadows it projects get larger as you move the lamp away from the wall. It makes a great conversation piece for living room display, yet I envision placing them on a nightstand (or uber sleek Lumen shelf). I’d just love to have my own flock of birds next to my bed And since it’s oil powered, there are no power cords to tie it down and no electricity being used. This lamp is (almost) free as a bird…
$47.99

Related: Lumen “cedar tree” lamp & Lumen “bloom” lamp

We’ve talked about VivaTerra‘s Root of the Earth Bowls. They are beautiful and make a great gift idea, but it’s time to feature some larger items that can really help surround you with nature in the comfort of your own home.

Set the stage for your magical getaways (a.k.a. books) with this whimsical book shelf that utilizes dense elm wood as well as Indian root and trunk materials for outer decoration. Finally something to hold all your Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and other nerdy fantastical escapes!
There is also a matching Root Wine Rack for those who like to live dangerously and drink while reading.

Now where will you set your book down while you get up to get your wine from the favorite reading spot? On this
Branch & Glass Side Table of course! Yep, with branches working together to support the snazzy glass top it looks like nature is here to serve you. A matching Branch & Glass “Console” Table (whatever that means) is also available.

Last but not least on today’s list is … say it with me kids … a STOOL! Yay for stools! (pun intended).
These reclaimed wood stools are made of beautiful Japanese teak wood, and they are great for an impromptu sit down, end table, or they can even be magical chairs out in your secret garden.

Where will you put your eco-friendly furniture?

Blik Surface Graphics provides awesome designs that we can easily affix to our walls, tables, mirrors, and other flat surfaces. Plus they are easily removable so it doesn’t ruin the surface it was once adhered to. They have many different designs to fit many decor styles, but I’m a big fan of bringing nature into our homes. My favorite nature inspired graphics is the 7.00 Wall Graphic which comes with seperate branches, branch nodes, leaves, and birds so you can arrange it all however you like. I really appreciate the modular setup Blik has with their wall stickers so the customer has more creative freedom with their decor. Buy some for your own place, or send them as a gift, either way they will surely bring a smile to those who get to enjoy them daily.

Other nature inspired wall stickers by Blik:

Flying Birds

Undersea Theme

Retro Googie Nature

Vintage furniture is a hot commodity on eBay and one of the most popular searches are for the infamous Eames styled items. Eames designed furniture sets the retro mood in any room decor which is partly why it is such a highly sought after design. Learn more about the Eames brothers’ revolutionary and award winning designs here. Remember to check out our retro furniture page for more decor ideas and our 50′s Clothing store for matching outfits.

Find the latest & greatest deals on vintage Eames furniture right now via eBay search. Below is a list of the hottest eBay auctions for Eames furniture.

Remember: Buying used items on eBay is another form of recycling and promotes a conscious shopping experience. Stay green!

The Swiss Hot Steam Humidifier: This pretty little humidifier boils water to eliminate waterborne bacteria and viruses before emiting hot steam that improves ambient air moisture in these dry winter months. Deliciously scientific isn’t it? Now go buy one.
$99.95

The Best Electric Tea Kettle: This is the best electric tea kettle, simply because it outperformed all other models due to its awesome heat retention, quick boiling time (twice as fast), automatic shut-off, and safety features. The perfect gift for those tea lovers.
$69.95

Organic is one of our passions at Mable’s, and we’re always on the lookout on how we can help spread the word. I don’t want to play the fear card, but just stating the statistics is a scary thought. We’ve brought these up before, but it’s worth mentioning again. Did you know that about 1/3 pound of chemicals are used to grow and manufacture just 1 pound of cotton? And did you know that conventionally grown cotton is the most chemically treated crop in the world, using 1/4 of all toxic chemical pesticides produced each year?

We lay our bodies on our sheets about a third of our lives, which, from my point of view, is too much time spent with the most chemical-laden crop in the world. Thanks to the many online retailers soft organic sheets are an affordable nightly luxury that we should all enjoy.

Right now Gaiam is having an Organic Sheet Sale with prices as low as $40 per sheet. They also carry attractive printed organic sheets vs the standard solid white most retailers carry.

Viva Terra carries organic Pima cotton sheet sets in queen and king, as well as organic Duvet Covers. If you are in need of other sizes I’d head over to Design Public for their organic full fitted and flat sheets.

For the little ones, who probably benefit most from chemical-free sheets, Kee-Ka carries organic cotton baby bedding in solid colors and delicious cupcake patterns. Pair the sheets together with an organic blanket and your baby should be all set.