Once upon a time, long, long ago, pet rocks were a fad. Kind of inexplicable because pet rocks would just sit there. But if you’re into low-maintenance company, they’re perfect because they require little care and whatnot.

So, if you’re going to get a pet rock, at least get one that’s cool:

You’ll find these lovely rocks — real Montana river rocks, no less! — at Samaria Project.

These rocks come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and are handpainted. In addition to the birds and monsters, there are also some jellyfish.

If you’re still looking for a low-maintenance pet but want something more animal-like, do check out the amazing selection of plush animals in the shop. This one is very delightful:

This brings new meaning to the word bookmobile:

What a lovely piece and a great idea for old books! You can find this book mobile at Shophouse, along with other vintage books turned into art:

While the book sculptures are easily the most stunning and eye-catching decor pieces in the shop, you’ll also find collage jewelry (mostly necklaces), original drawings, and even these really nice sewn paintings. There’s definitely some great art if you’re looking for something a little different to decorate your house with!

When you think 1970s wallpaper, you might think of really awful colors and gaudy patterns. It all seems so … 30 years ago!

But When in Doubt, Draw Flowers has brought vintage wallpaper back — and not in a horrifying way:

It’s all so bright and cheery and flowery … and so much better on accessories than plastered on the wall (though you could do lots of decorating with the lampshades or coasters available from the shop). You can also decorate yourself with wallets, bags and jewelry.

Everything is unique and reusable, and my goodness, it’s nice to know you can bring back the 70s in a way that won’t make you cringe.

There are left-brained people and there are right-brained people in the world. And then there are those who are predominantly one or the other and feel the need to dabble in the pursuits of the opposite brain. I think a scientist by day/crafter by night would qualify, wouldn’t you?

Here’s how one scientist gets her creative outlet on:

(I love it when someone takes elements of his or her profession and expresses it creatively! The napkins are pretty awesome … I’m not a scientist, but a beaker would be fun on my table. Or the molecules.)

This is the work of Erin Wamsley and her shop, The Bohemian Scientist. Erin is all about making functional items out of things she finds around her house. Many of the things in her shop were made from repurposed fabric — in fact, there’s a bag in her shop that she says was made out of vintage 70s tablecloth and a pillowcase!

She’s also passionate about the DIY movement and creating practical items at reasonable prices. From her shop announcement:

The culture of sewing and crafting in America originally evolved out of simple necessity. Today, as America moves further into severe economic depression, sewing is again becoming practical. Take this opportunity to reject mass-produced consumerism, and to return to useful, hand-created, original design.

Every item I sell is useful. Everything is one-of-a-kind. Nothing is over $50.

Now that’s pretty cool.

This certainly isn’t your ordinary pottery:

All this work is by ceramicist Natalya Sots. Everything in her shop has been hand-formed and hand-glazed and hand-painted. It’s quite amazing, really. A lot of her pieces have this colorful, whimsical feel to them — I almost feel like I’m stepping into an Alice in Wonderland-like world. The details are intricate, and every piece is worthy of being in an art gallery.

And do check out the teapots — they are perhaps the most stunning pieces in her shop.

I have to admit, when I saw this dragon bracelet, I was totally floored:

All the color and wire and detail … and the wings were pretty cool. And then I kept poking around Shiny Things and realize there’s a lot more where that came from:

Orin Drake is the one behind all the beads and the wire making all this great stuff. In addition to things you can display in your home (like the tree and the spider), she makes lots of jewelry. If you’re not into wearing a dragon on your arm, you’ll find other wire-wrapped jewelry that’s a little smaller in scale, like this black heart necklace. There are even a few clay sculptures in the shop.

There’s lots of good stuff that’ll make you go wow, so do take a look!

Imagine for a moment that we lived in a world of dollhouses. Or that we were all Lilliputians. Maybe our food would be down to this scale:

(The steak is my personal favorite. Who would think to craft a steak dinner in miniature?)

All of these lovely creations are from Tooth Fairy Miniature. And while some of this listings may have the word “dollhouse” in them, please be reminded that these are not toys! They are certainly not meant for children — they’re meant for collectors and for display.

Rachel makes her miniatures from cold porcelain or air dry clay. Every piece is her design, and her attention to detail — from the individual petals in the flowers on the cake to the marbling of the chocolate cake to the ridges in that asparagus to the decorative handles of the silverware — is amazing. Anything in her shop would make an awesome collectible indeed.

She does have some jewelry available as well, mostly earrings. Those earrings are fun as well — many cupcakes and vegetables, even some lettuce that comes with a matching pendant. There are other charms and pendants, too; in fact, the steak set above is a pendant. Wouldn’t that make a fun necklace?

Delectable desserts are always a crowd-pleaser. Except these won’t make you fat:

It’s a dessert! It’s a towel! It’s really awesome gift! And you’ll find them at Le Viette.

Seriously, these towels would make really nice party favors or birthday gifts or a great addition to a gift basket full of dessert-scented bath products. They’re so nice that people might not want to unfurl the towels!

There is a stunning array of dessert options at Le Viette, from triangular-shaped mousse cakes to ice cream cones, from swiss rolls to sundaes. It’s all enough to make you want to drool … and then you could clean up with the towel.

Looking for a little extra sparkle or shine for your home? How about these?

These glassy pieces are from Full Blown Glass, the brainchild of Brent Earnest and Heather Fulp out of St. Petersburg, Florida. Brent is a self-taught lampworking artist and glass blower, and he continues to churn out jewelry, sculpture and home decor.

There are lots of colorful ornaments and magnets, and even a few plant stakes (this seahorse is pretty cool), so if you’re looking for something simple and elegant for your home, do take a look. Maybe pick up something you can hang by the window for some nice lighting effects.

And if you’re a huge fan of big, bold pendants, there’s plenty of glass jewelry to choose from.

I love it when people take things that would otherwise be junk and turn them into art. Or something functional. Like this:

Otherwise, a lot of this stuff would just be languishing in a garage. Or a junkyard. Heck, I probably have a bunch of this stuff in my own garage: old wrenches, those little wrenches that come with every piece of Ikea furniture you buy (like the ones on the dog above) and more washers and screws than are legally necessary. I don’t have the welding or creative skills to make my junk into art, but obviously the man behind Salvaged Beauty does!

This is just a small sampling of the decor available. Everything is made of about 90 percent recycled materials. Lots of found objects and scrap metal. Even the scraps and cutoffs and slag that’s a byproduct of making these pieces is recycled. Neato.

If you’re looking for something unique to put on your porch or your shelf, do check it out.

I saw this on Etsy and immediately started singing in my head, “He’s got the whole world in his hands … ”

This is from Cozy Cottage Creations. Both wet felting and needlefelting techniques were used to make this globe, which is pretty amazing in its detail. The clouds are a nice touch! If you want the world in your hands, you’ll have to wait a little bit, as these Earths are made to order only!

There are other lovely felt goodies around the store, from trinket boxes to bowls to things you can use to decorate your house, and even huggable things. Take a look:

Usually, moneybags don’t really seem all that sexy. Just these big canvas-looking things that happen to transport all the money you don’t have. And cartoons always make it look like they’ve got these huge dollar signs on them.

Well, it’s nice to know that someone found a nicer use for moneybags and shown that they don’t really have those big dollar signs on them:

It’s a business card holder! You can find it at Chakra Pennywhistle, a shop full of hand-sewn goodies.

(There’s a moneybag wallet available too … ’cause not all of us have stacks of unmarked $100 bills lying around that we could put into a full-sized moneybag.)

Everything in the Chakra Pennywhistle shop is made from organic material, mostly organic cotton. If you’re looking for some home accents, try one of these pillows, which are sewn by hand. The patterns are hand-drawn and silkscreened onto the cotton.

Maybe in a perfect world, we would be living on idyllic streets with colorful houses and perfectly manicured bushes and dainty flowers. It might look something like this:

(The houses are available for sale too!)

If you have a hankering for creating your mini village, check out Foxgloves, where you can find this landscape and other felted goodness!

You’ll find brooches, collectibles, jewelry, magnets and even a few art prints. Custom orders are also available.

Maybe you’ll be feeling one of these:

How can you resist scrumptious-looking food? Maybe if it was made in a way that you couldn’t eat it.

Yum!

These lovely sachets are from Peep Accessories. Peep is run by a trio of ladies — Sally, Jane and Sandy — from New Jersey. According to their shop profile, the aim of Peep is to “make every home in the world smell like chocolate 24/7, and to find the perfect, personalized ‘it’ bag for every woman in the world.”

Not a bad quest, if you ask me.

In addition to the sweet sachets, there are the knitted and crocheted accessories that are indeed colorful and fun. For example, can you resist a robot?

Or hop along with this clutch:

If you want to take a peep at even more stuff — including knit and crocheted jewelry! — you can also head over to peepaccessories.com.

It’s springtime and the time that many folks probably think about planting things in the yard.

If you have a penchant for killing plants instead of nurturing them (oh yes, there are many of us green thumb-less folks out there!), maybe you should look into these:

(The actual Etsy listing is only for one cactus. But the whole range of cacti was just so much fun to look at!)

These cacti are from Barbara at Blazing Needles. Barbara is an avid knitter who turns out a lot of really unique and interesting things. And not just cacti!

Check out these awesome things for your home:

There are also ipod cozies, lip balm bags and even a little Judaica if you’re so inclined.