Monthly Archive for May, 2010

We Can All Be Designers – a post by Eduardo Xol

Published on May 28, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Something I strive to help people understand is that we can all be the designers of our own lives, so it shouldn’t be difficult for us all to be the designers of our own backyard. And today it’s easier than ever.

This is a busy Summer for me.  I’m helping my parents and sister get their backyards ready for Summer as  I’m cleaning up my own backyard as well.  One of the things I love to do is entertain outdoors during the summertime.  I tend to always use tablecloths both indoors and outdoors.  I have a couple of fabric tablecloths I use, but one can also buy disposable tablecloths made out of paper with a plastic liner to give the same effect.  Whatever you use, it’s a simple, inexpensive addition that adds an element of comfort. Anyone can do it! Here is a picture of one of my recent al fresco dinners where you can see the table set.

Growing up I was lucky to get a pretty good education on plants and nature from my father. At least once a month he would take my family to different parks to experience plants firsthand.  Here is a recent picture I took of The Huntington Library’s Japanese Garden in San Marino, California.

Visiting the parks and gardens had a definite influence in my life. If you don’t know what plants are best for your backyard, take a trip to parks in your area to see what appeals to you. Snap a few pictures to bring to an area florist or nursery if you find a plant you love, but don’t recognize. Ask about plants and flowers indigenous to your area- these are eco-friendly options that are bound to thrive in your local climate. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how greenery and flowing plants will bring an air of natural beauty to any setting.

This Summer I’ll be shooting a web series called “Hayneedle Your Home” where I’ll be giving tips and advice on outdoor living.  This exciting outdoor design project just launched today! Be sure to check back throughout the season to see the latest videos, features, and design tips.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and answer your questions, so please, feel free to leave me a note. You can also read more about what’s going on in my life by going to www.EduardoXol.com.

Binocular of the Year Awards

Published on May 26, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE and SPORTS & GAMES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Last Friday, Hayneedle’s binocular specialty store, Binoculars.com announced its first-ever Binocular of the Year Awards. It’s kind of a big deal and the response so far suggests that this was a pretty good idea.

On our staff is a team of optics experts, who also provide support for our telescopes specialty store Telescopes.com. These folks developed an extensive list of criteria for testing the performance of various binoculars in our most popular binocular categories, then they took to the field and conducted these tests themselves. Now the results are in.

The Binoculars of the Year Awards were developed to recognize outstanding products and to help our binoculars customers understand the latest technologies and how they translate to real-world performance.

Here are this year’s winners, just in time for the summer outdoor season:

Best Travel Binocular:
Leica Ultravid 10×25 Compact Binoculars

Best Birding Binocular:
Pentax 8×43 DCF SP Binoculars

Best Hunting Binocular:
10×42 Leupold Camo Cascade Binoculars

Best Astronomy Binocular:
Zhumell Tachyon 25×100 Astronomy Binoculars

Binocular of the Year (a.k.a. Best All-Around Binocular):
Nikon 10×42 Monarch ATB Binoculars with Dielectric Coating

The Best of the Best:
Swarovski EL Binoculars

Check out the full write-up on Binoculars.com to see why each of these models was selected.

Hayneedle’s Memorial Day Sale

Published on May 25, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Everybody around the office is planning various and sundry Memorial Day blowouts … ok, some of them involve more napping than anything else, but no matter what you have planned, take some time to enjoy up to an additional 25% off your purchases from Hayneedle, now through May 27.  Whether you visit The Backyard at Hayneedle and score a sweet new hammock, or finally start your basement redecoration this weekend and need some bar stools for inspiration, you’ll find it all here.  Remember, our Memorial Day Sale ends May 27, so shop shop.

memorial day sale at hayneedle

Hayneedle Appears On The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Published on May 21, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE. 0 Comments

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Did you see it? Hayneedle proudly appeared on Ellen today!

ellen and hayneedle

We gave away a $15,000 shopping spree to the adorable audience member who won the “Blindfolded Musical Haystacks” game on the show.  Hayneedle put together an ultimate backyard display for the show, and along with the grand prize, we gave away $500 gift certificates to the runners up, and $100 gift certificates to all 400 audience members.  You can see it all here, including the cool stuff of ours that appeared on the show.  Partnering with Ellen, giving things away, making people happy … life is good.

Setting Up a Worm Composter – A Green Experience Blog Post

Published on May 20, 2010 in HAYNEEDLE. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

As familiar as I was with the expression “a can of worms,” it did nothing to prepare me for the parcel I received for my worm composter. Our supplier thought it would be really nice to send me extra worms. You REALLY only need to start out with 1,000 to 2,500, so when I opened a box filled with 5,000 squigglers, I don’t know if grateful is the best word to describe how I felt.

I was a little excited and quite a bit nervous to set up my worm composter. I knew the worms could would be okay in the box for up to 10 days, but I wanted to get the composter set up so I could move them into their new home; I would have felt guilty leaving those poor little worms in the box any longer than necessary.

My daughter Chloe helped me with the set-up process. We watched the instruction video a couple times to make sure we knew what we were doing. We laid the bottom tray on the kitchen counter placed a piece of newspaper on the tray before preparing the bed. Next we added water to the coco coir, making it wet but not too wet (when you squeeze the coco coir after adding water only a small drop of water should come out). Then we added a couple handfuls of newspaper to the coco coir.

Here’s Chloe intently watching the instruction video:

Pretty easy, right? Next you grab a couple handfuls of food so the worms can get chomping. I started with lettuce. We put a handful of food in each corner. Now-or-never time to add the worms… this was the most exciting and nerve-racking part! Luckily for me and Chloe, James, a generous and strong-stomached Hayneedle employee, came to my house to help add the worms to the composter.

Welcome home, worms!

The last step was to add a wet newspaper to the top to keep the worms moist. Phew, that was it! Now the question was where to put it. I decided our basement was the best place to put the worm composter, since ideal temperature for the worms is 40 to 80 degrees. I can tell you that putting 5,000 worms in the basement was a great idea. Check back later to find out why!