Our favorite Life on Crypton contributor, Julia Szabo has a guest post up on Coochicoos, one of our favorite sites for kids’ design. Coochicoos covers a fantastic range of topics for design-minded parents – everything from the most stylish toys to home decorating tips and advice.

Julia has tackled a tough topic for any family in a small space: how to lay out a play area for tots without letting it take over the house. One of her suggestions for keeping those well-designed spots free of kid messes is—you guessed it—our Crypton Throver. If your little one wants to bring lunch onto the couch, this Throver will really give you the peace of mind you need – just wipe up spills with no problem!

Check out  Julia’s full post: “5 Tips for Creating a Child-Friendly (and Stylish!) Playspace.”

In honor of the extra-special attention from Coochicoos, we are celebrating with a giveaway. Could your bambinos use a little Crypton protection? We are going to send one lucky Life on Crypton reader our favorite Throver and matching pillow.

For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this blog post, sharing YOUR best tip for keeping life clean and stylish with kids in the house. We’ll choose one person at random on September 1, 2010 to receive the gift.

Not only are we doing a giveaway, but Coochicoos.com is also giving you a second chance to win the Crypton Throver and pillow – so head on over to Coochicoos to win there as well!

Brooklynite Erika Burling’s interests include architecture, sewing, reading, and traveling – and all of these are evident in the urban-chic accessories she made using two of our favorite fabrics, Bella and Herringbone.
 

The tote bag and iPad case, which Erika designed as a birthday gift for her photographer husband Ari, are sleek enough to look right at home in any global metropolis – and the pillow comes in handy when curling up for a good read.

“Being an avid sewer and living in New York City, I’m always looking for unusual and durable fabric that can withstand an urban environment,” explains Erika, who insists accessory design is just a hobby despite the high professional quality of her work. “I took a class called ‘Understanding Fabric Selection’ several months ago at the School of Visual Arts. The teacher pointed out that Crypton fabric was stain resistant,easy to clean, and environmentally correct – I was sold.”

A visit to the web site clinched the deal: “I was pleasantly surprised to find such a variety of colors and textures – especially classic gray herringbone, my favorite,” Erika adds. “I love the rich colors of the fabric, which work well for bags and household items, such as pillows. I look forward to creating more items from Crypton.” 

Have you recently used Super Fabric for any fun crafting or interior-design projects? We’d love to see how they turned out, and hear your thoughts on how the fabric handles and holds up. Your Super Style projects could be showcased in upcoming blog postings, so please email us!

Posted by Julia Szabo.

This week, Life on Crypton is hosting an expert we think you’ll love to hear from. His name is Tom McNulty, the author of CLEAN LIKE A MAN – Housekeeping for Men (and the Women Who Love Them), the first housekeeping “how-to” manual written for, and by, the AverageJoe. Welcome, Tom!

Finally, there’s a way to help men embrace housekeeping: make it seem like a game! Start by taking a couple pieces of common sports equipment and repurposing them as cleaning tools.

• A stopwatch – Racing the clock while cleaning a room brings out a guy’s competitive spirit. If he allots 10 or 15 minutes for a room, he’ll push himself to finish as much as possible in that timeframe. He’ll focus better and finish faster.

• A tennis ball – Spray a little all-purpose cleaning solution on one side and the ball’s tough, nubby surface to remove crayon marks from walls, scuffs from floors, and winter grime from patio furniture.

• A golf ball retriever – Put an old sweat sock over the top. It telescopes out to reach high spots: clearing cobwebs in corners, dusting cupboard tops, cleaning ceiling fan blades and the like.

• A bowling ball – Avoid endless blotting of carpet stains – it’s hard on the arms and the spirit. Instead, apply a cleaning solution to the stain, place a clean cloth over it, and roll a bowling ball around on it for effortless blotting! Repeat as needed.

• Sneakers – To protect wood floors from ladder and stepstool legs. Just put the shoes onto the legs. In this case, size doesn’t matter – any shoe fits!

Tom McNulty’s mission is to deliver ingenious, guy-friendly advice on cleaning, organizing and other domestic arts that often intimidate or confuse men. Tom lives in Minneapolis with his dog, Coco, who has an irrational fear of vacuums. For more manly cleaning advice, visit cleanlikeaman.com.

This week, Life on Crypton is hosting an expert we think you’ll love to hear from. His name is Tom McNulty, the author of CLEAN LIKE A MAN – Housekeeping for Men (and the Women Who Love Them), the first housekeeping “how-to” manual written for, and by, the AverageJoe . Welcome, Tom!

July Fourth may be over, but there are plenty of summer picnics, cookouts and family reunions still ahead – complete with overturned plates of burgers and beans, colorful spilled drinks and condiments, and mini-moguls of post-meal trash.

Here are some Clean Like a Man tips for making faster, easier work of the outdoor events:

• Dads can assign each of the kids a job for either the prep or pickup part of the meal. One can bring out all the plates of meat destined for the BBQ, another can keep the cooler stocked, and several can fill garbage bags with debris before heading home.

• University of California-Riverside researchers say dads who help out with housekeeping are good role models for their kids – the children not only learn teamwork and responsibility, they do better in school and have more friends.

• To save garbage bags and be “green” too, re-use dry cleaner bags for trash. Just double them up for strength, tie them off at the bottom, and fill ‘em up.

• Another trash-saving idea? Freeze a two-liter bottle of water and use as an ice-pack in the cooler.

• The “barbie” at home was Sunday, but “garbie” pick-up isn’t ‘til Friday? Seal trash tightly in plastic bags, then toss them into the trashcan with a few cups of cat litter, which cuts odors.

• At 48×54”, Crypton Throvers make ideal outdoor tablecloths or picnic ground-cloths because they’re virtually impervious to moisture and stains – even tough ones like ketchup and mustard.

I hope these tips help you and your family enjoy “the best of the rest” of summer!

Tom McNulty lives in Minneapolis with his dog, Coco, who has an irrational fear of vacuums. For more manly cleaning advice, visit cleanlikeaman.com.

Better TV is Better Homes & Gardens’ hugely popular, nationally-syndicated show with upwards of 50 million viewers per month. It’s must-viewing for anyone who appreciates, well, having a better home and garden! 

Friday’s topic was “Owning Pets and Keeping Clean,” so pet-friendly, stain-resistant fabric and dog beds were right at home on the set. It should be pointed out that the hot-pink pillow looked especially hot next to Rhiannon Ally, the lovely host.

I’m always happy to share tips from my book, PrettyPet-Friendly, which is all about the right tools for keeping your “animal house” up-to-sniff. But adorable, adoptable Tony, available from the HumaneSociety of New York, is the real star of this show. To watch, click here.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

At Crypton, Molly B. Rubin wants everyone to know that every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day – but with the rest of the country celebrating this special day today, we figured we’d get off to an early start. So, this past Wednesday in New York City, our favorite artist, William Wegman, hosted a fun breakfast event at his studio to unleash the new dog-themed designs he’s dreamed up for Crypton.

Guests got a tour of the artist’s studio, and a chance to see his marvelous muses at work. You know those incredbly statuesque poses they’re famed for? Well, Wegman’s three  weimaraners – Bobbin, Candy, and Penny – really do strike these photogenic poses naturally, all on their own. All the artist has to do is gently ask them to, stay, step up on an ottoman  and they happily oblige, without cajoling or even the offer of a treat. Talk about loyal, uncomplaining employees.

These are attention hounds, so they thrive on interaction with people – especially the favorite folks they see every day: the artist, his wife Christine Burgin, and the couple’s two teenage daughters. But the wondrous Weimaraners also adore meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. And the photo above is the proof: Check out Penny, who stopped for a cuddle and a photo opp with Crypton’s own Randy Rubin.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Mary Lou Davidson for SarasotaDog, her fabulous web site and podcast. The subject was living stylishly with pets – something they know a thing or two about down in the Sunshine State.

It was so gratifiying to have the chance to plug my pet cause: adopting shelter dogs and cats. Did you know doctors agree that walking is the best exercise there is for promoting wellness and longevity? So, if you want to live long and strong, adopt a walking partner at your local animal shelter and hit the road together! And when you get home from your walk, you’ll find there’s no better roommate than a dog or cat. Even their snoring sounds sweet. 

Of course, I managed to mention a few of my favorite decor essentials for creating a pretty, pet-friendly pad – including fabric and home accessories that are stain- and odor-resistant. To listen to the interview, click here.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

 That’s all it takes to receive three additional placemats: a full set!  This opportunity won’t be available for long and space is limited, so sign up soon! All signed up? Once you’ve recieved your placemat, fill out a feedback form to recieve the other three.

We look forward to hearing your messy stories!

Biscuits by Lambchop is the genius invention of New Yorker Annette Frey, who was inspired to create a gluten-free, vegan treat for dogs with delicate digestions, like her own beloved mutt. She calls the biscuits “sensible treats for the sensitive dog.” Dogs just call them delicious. 

Available in two flavors – lambchop-shaped, banana-coconut-vanilla “Choppers” and star-shaped, apple-honey-cinnamon “Starlets” – Biscuits by Lambchop are best-sellers. And that’s no surprise, what with increased awareness of how nutrition can help our pets and us to stay healthy.

My cancer-survivor K9 Tiki adores these cookies, and I can rest easy knowing I’m reducing his risk of recurrence by feeding gluten-free, preservative-free morsels at snack time. Other fans of Biscuits by Lambchop include Francesca and Sharkey, Martha Stewart’s adorable French bulldogs. 

That’s Annette hanging with Star, her dependable taste-tester. We dig her apron, don’t you?

Posted by Julia Szabo.

My dog Cupcake (and no, I did not name her) is a yoga natural. Her favorite thing to do is jump gently onto any stranger she takes a liking to, and have herself a good stretch. I call this vertical posture her “upward dog” maneuver. Happily, the passers-by she’s used as human yoga mats didn’t complain.

Most yoga hounds prefer to use the ground as their launch pad to enlightenment. At Manhattan’s East Yoga, owner-founder Kari Harendorf can often be seen with Charlie, her beloved mixed-breed dog and frequent partner in constructive rest. June 25th is TakeYour Dog to Work Day, but lucky Charlie Harendorf gets to go to work year-round.

The great thing about having a canine yoga partner is being able to seize the stretch moment wherever you happen to be. All you need is something approximating a yoga mat to take some of the firm out of terra firma – like a versatile microsuede throw.

Incidentally, Charlie and Cupcake both keep their physiques trim and yoga-ready by eating holistic kibble, as any good yoga hound should.

Posted by Julia Szabo.