Toaster has message

Toaster has message

Even toast has a ‘tude.

The Pop Art Toaster produces toast with a message or image branded right on, thanks to interchangeable stencils. Designs range in demeanor from hearts and smiley faces to the cynical command, “Bite me.”

The toaster comes in plastic and chrome models with various stencil sets, and additional stencils are available.

Toasters sell for around $35 to $50 at a number of online retailers including Amazon.com, Fresh Finds, Stupid.com, SkyMall, Target, Baron Bob and Disney Store, which sells toasters that create Disney designs.

Turning junk into decor

Ever wonder what to do with, say, that pharmacy funnel you picked up at a yard sale or that Astroturf mat you rescued from a Dumpster? OK, probably not. But Linda and John Meyers did, and the solutions they share in Wary Meyers’ Tossed & Found make for some fairly entertaining reading.

The Meyerses are husband-and-wife designers who love turning old cast-offs into unique home-decor items. Their aesthetic is bohemian and whimsical — a tabletop made from a basketball hoop, for example, and Chippendale chairs reinvented with new backs in the design of a skeleton’s spine and rib cage.

The Myerses note in their introduction that their designs might be a little extreme for some readers, and besides, you might not have a ready source of Astroturf. But their idea is to inspire and get people thinking creatively about the things they otherwise toss out.

Wary Meyers’ Tossed & Found: Unconventional Design from Cast-Offs is published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang and sells for $27.50 in hardcover.

Window treatments

Window treatments can make or break your decor, says Wendy Baker in The Complete Book of Curtains, Drapes, and Blinds: Design Ideas and Basic Techniques for Window Treatments (St. Martin’s Press; $24.95).

That’s why learning the basics of window shapes, measuring, heading tapes, fabric characteristics and quantities is a must.

It can’t hurt to go a little further by learning about accessories, such as rods, hooks or tie backs. And, of course, finishing touches, such as tassels and trims.

Baker covers all that in her guide, but the best part is the four chapters of black and white sketches that can be used for ideas and inspiration.

Also, see how much you already know by reading the dos and don’ts.

Combined dispatches