House Blend

BucketFeet only sounds like a disease contracted by sailors in olden times. It's actually a line of snappy sneakers that feature the work of emerging guest artists from around the world. Lightweight and unisex, the colorful kicks were the brainchild of Berkeley native Aaron Firestein, who saw fresh white sneakers as the ideal canvas for his intricate doodles. With the help of Raaja Nemani, who Firestein met while they were both doing volunteer work in Buenos Aires, the two have added a "buy one, give some" spin: 5 percent of every sale is donated to a charitable organization dedicated to helping children. See a style you like? Grab it now, as many of the limited-edition designs sell out before you can say "BucketFeet."

After weeks of speculation, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday. While the 132-year-old company scrambles to sell off some patents and hype its digital printers, we're toasting to its more photogenic history with camera lens shot glasses from Berkeley-based DERELIQ. The student-run design studio has created sturdy ceramic shot glasses that are dead ringers for DSLR lenses (your choice of Canon or Nikon), complete with raised numbers, focus-ring ridges and an auto/manual focus switch. Plus, the price -- $18 for a set of three -- is far nicer than that of the real thing. According to the designers at DERELIQ, "It's a conversation starter, a shot glass and a bad-ass piece of decor all in one." We'll drink to that.

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders is known for mixing ornate patterns with modern forms. Among his latest creations is the Can Can pendant light, which Wanders describes as "a dancing, seductive lamp that only shows her hidden secrets from a more private position.” Designed for Flos, the linear suspension light conceals a delicate floral decoration that filters the light as it is diffused. Design lovers are invited to apply the intricate inner pattern of the Can Can light in "unexpected places" for the Pattern Play Design Contest. And with this group of judges -- Wanders, Flos CEO Piero Gandini, and Sean Calahan, CEO of YLighting -- the more creative and unusual the better. Entries are due by January 15.

Delight your friends, confuse your enemies and preserve your furniture with coasters disguised as slices of multigrain bread. Created by Brazilian architect and designer Patricia Naves, these Toast It Coasters ($10 for a loaf of eight) are among the top-selling items at the Museum of Modern Art's expertly curated gift shop, and the cork slices can also be used as trivets...or very tiny bulletin boards.

Around the world in 80 writing utensils? That's one way to describe Rad and Hungry, which aims to take lovers of interesting office supplies on a "world tour of limited-edition goods with lo-fi style, pushing design through travel and travel through design." Founded by globetrotters Hen Chung and Sam Alston, the Philadelphia-based company assembles an ever-changing selection of country-themed kits stocked with imported pens, pencils, stationery and other exotic desk goodies, all beautifully packaged. A Rad and Hungry subscription (available on a quarterly or monthly basis) is the perfect gift for the design lover who has everything -- except a ruler from Turkey.

Modernist dollhouse maker Brinca Dada brings its flair for architectural fun to building blocks with this set of 22 curvy, asymmetric wooden shapes that will inspire kids (and adults) to think outside of the Lego box. "I wanted a set of blocks that could be rearranged and made to look like a Frank Gehry Building," founder and CEO Douglas Rollins told us earlier this year at the New York International Gift Fair. And once the tots tire of Bilbao building, the blocks can be used for a game of Masochist Jenga!