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With fall officially in full swing, it’s time to take a look back at some of our favorite product finds for September. Each of the items included here are taken from My Modern Met Selects, our site in which we celebrate creative goods from makers around the world.

As the temperatures begin to cool, many of our picks have to do with hibernating inside a warm and toasty home. DIY projects like terrarium building and knitting kits will help you stay entertained even as the leaves continue to fall. Before you know it, it’ll be spring again.

Check out more of our favorite September Selects below, and follow My Modern Met Selects for great products all month long!

Orange Flower Painting on Wood
By Tarra Wood | $35.00

Unicorn Terrarium Kit
By Tierra Sol Studio | $44.00

Resin Wood Necklace
By Artful Resin | $44.98

Faux Fox Knitting Kit
By Sincerely Louise | $44.07

Interstellar Handbag
By Purple Fishbowl | $99.00

“Melted” Ceramic Vase
By WrenLab Ceramics | $125.00

Cross Stitch Pansy Brooch and Pendant
By Osmosis Designs | $25.18

Balloon Pin House
By Clive Roddy | $32.43

White Swan Felted Wool Scarf
By celapiu | $185.00

Vertical Garden and Planter
By Kim Fisher Designs | $212.50

Libra Constellation Necklace
By Moon & Stars Jewelry | $134.00

Hand Cut Map of Paris
By Studio KMO | $1,300.00

Octagon Hanging Vase
By Kirralee & Co. | $86.57

Vibrant Ombré Tights in Nebulous
By BRZ Shop | $45.00

Wooden Hedgehog Clock
By Decoylab | $56.00

Star Trek Pizza Cutter
By Firebox | $33.79

Unicorn Nymph Horn and Ear Headdress
By Idolatre | $229.00

We can’t wait to see what next month has in store for us!

Fashion designer Roza Khamitova had a dilemma. She had gathered so many sketches of potential scarf designs for her clothing line, Shovava, that they no longer fit in the boxes and bins under her bed. Instead of moving them to a bigger closet or a space inside her desk, she decided to use them for a creative home makeover project—in her bathroom!

Khamitova began by sticking the various scraps of her artwork onto the bleach-white walls, and then decided to connect the drawings with more drawings on top. ”The hardest part,” she explains in a blog post, “was dealing with constantly bubbling paper and varnish that would smudge the ink.” Luckily, her careful attention to detail really paid off and the final result is truly magical.

Her bathroom wall is now enchanted with toadstools and hummingbirds, swaying plant life, and even a fox or two. Khamitova, who lived in the mountains of Kazakhstan until age thirteen, has always been inspired by the natural world in her life and her work. She says on her website, “I observe nature and find inspiration in the smallest details. Maybe it’s a butterfly’s wing or the patterned cell structure of a leaf. Maybe it’s a feather or a raven perched on a tree limb. I take in what I see in the natural world and then create my pieces.” And in this case, she’s created an elegant bathroom fit for the call of nature.

Shovava: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
via [Bored Panda, Homecrux]

Caring for one housecat can be hard, but manageable. Ensuring enough exercise, scooping the litter each day, and patching up scratched furniture are just a few of the toils that come with a feline friend. Add 11 more cats…and you’ve got yourself a full-time job. Somehow, Michelle (aka @12CatsLady) makes caring for twelve fluffy Chinchilla Persians look like a piece of cake, as she reveals her life as a “full-time cat mom” on Instagram. In fact, when it comes to daily care, Michelle says the hardest part is not the litter box like one might think. Instead, she shared with Catster: “It’s very hard to keep their eyes clean.”

Michelle never intended to have a house full of cats. “It started when we met our first cat, Yuki…We took her home after rescuing her in the middle of the road where we found her dirty and freezing,” she said. Her compassionate heart continued to give second chances to cats in need, and so a few years later, she adopted two Chinchilla Persians online. The other nine are the Persians’ offspring. 

Today, all twelve of Michelle’s cats are spayed and neutered, “so there’s no chance of having kittens from them again.” Plus, she’s in a good place with her twelve fluffy furballs. Breaking all of the stereotypes that come with the phrase “cat lady,” Michelle describes herself as “happy, so it doesn’t really matter what other people think about me having this many cats.” She documents their lives together by taking as many pictures of them as possible. How does she possibly get twelve cats to stay still long enough for the photo? “I wave their favorite feather toy to get their attention and call the names of those who don’t look.”

You can see all of the 12CatLady’s adorable photos of her Persians on Instagram.

A day in the life of a Chinchilla Persian

1) Eat

2) Sleep

3) Play

4) Say Cheese!

12 Cats Lady: Facebook | Instagram
via [Bored Panda, Catster]

It’s not always easy to get pets to cooperate for hours of photo shoots, but somehow Mieps the Guinea Pig manages to pose long enough for her Netherlands-based human, Marloes van Antwerpen, to snap a great photo. The three-year-old guinea pig is the star of her own Instagram and for good reason—she is marvelously photogenic!

“I usually create these photos in my backyard or in my DIY studio,” van Antwerpen shares in a blog post. Besides Mieps’ natural shine and sparkle, van Antwerpen adds “a tiny bit of Photoshop magic” and POOF! Mieps is transformed into a model of epic proportions. Since she was a baby piggy, the mini model has become a witch wearing a tiny felt hat, a bespectacled bookworm amidst towering tomes, and a lucky adventurer riding in a small-scale hot air balloon.

The scenes created by van Antwerpen range from gothic and fantastical to sophisticated and simply beautiful. Every Sunday, the photographer searches thrift stores and flea markets for props to use in her next photo shoots. Some of her best finds are the Alice in Wonderland-inspired tea cups and stacks of antique Dutch literature, which give the photos of her beloved animal a unique and tailored look.

For those who want to begin photographing their animal companion, van Antwerpen offers up some advice: “Please be patient with them. Just go with the flow, they cannot possibly know what you want from him or her. Earn their trust, the result will be that they trust you. I hope that is what shines through in my photos.”

You can follow all of Mieps’ adventures on Instagram!

Mieps the Guinea Pig: Website | Facebook | Instagram
via [Bored Panda]

All images via Marloeshi Photography.

The energy drink Red Bull that “gives you wings” also provides action and adventure sports photographers the opportunity to showcase their most compelling images. Through their annual competition called Red Bull Illume, they celebrate high-energy photographs that feature gorgeous settings as a stage for awe-inspiring feats. They’ve recently announced the 11 images (out of over 36,000) that are the 2016 Overall Winner and Category Winners.

This year, photographer Lorenz Holder was named the Overall Winner for his breathtaking shot of athlete Senad Grosic riding his BMX bike across a bridge in Germany. The pathway’s arch is mirrored into the water below and creates a nearly perfect circle—it looks as though Grosic is in two places at once, traveling in a never-ending loop. This image was also a Masterpiece by Yodobashi Category Winner, and Holder’s success doesn’t end there. He also captured Grosic traversing the switchbacks of a rusted viewing platform in Senftenberg, Germany, which took the top spot in the Playground category.

Each of the winning images—along with the top 55 submissions—are now displayed on illuminated lightboxes as part of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour 2016. For the next two years, these pieces will travel to cultural hubs and hotspots around the world. They will only be shown between the hours of 6:30PM and 10:30PM, however, in order to showcase the photographs in a unique and unexpected way.

Above: Overall Winner and Category Winner: Masterpiece by Yodobashi
© Lorenz Holder / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: New Creativity
© Ale Di Lullo / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Sequence by Sony
© Daniel Vojtěch / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Wings
© Micky Wiswedel / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Lifestyle
© Jody MacDonald / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Mobile
© Vegard Aasen / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Energy
© Luke Shadbolt / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Close Up
© Denis Klero / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Spirit
© Dean Treml / Red Bull Illume

Category: Winner Enhance
© Dean Treml / Red Bull Illume

Category Winner: Playground
© Lorenz Holder / Red Bull Illume

Red Bull Illume: Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Red Bull Illume.

The conflict in Syria continues to force millions of refugees out of their homes. These victims of war are constantly torn from loved ones and must leave friends, family, and pets behind. In the ancient city of Aleppo—a UNESCO World Heritage site and the location of some of the worst destruction caused by the war—hundreds of stray household cats have been left by fleeing families to fend the war on their own. Fortunately, one man has made it his mission to protect the orphaned felines in his city.

Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel is an ambulance driver who began feeding and taking care of the cats in the abandoned neighborhood of Masakan Hanano in 2014. He bought $4 of meat everyday and fed it to the twenty cats who lived there at the time. Since then, the number of strays has increased into the hundreds, which encouraged Alaa to establish a non-profit sanctuary called Il Gattaro d’Aleppo. 

With so many precious lives at stake, Aljaleel has risked his life to stay in Syria and care for these cats. He’s even made a name for himself as “The Cat Man of Aleppo.” People come to him with their cats as they prepare to flee the country, trusting his ability to ensure the cat’s safety. In fact, a girl once gave him her kitten because she couldn’t take it with her. “She cried as she handed her to me,” Alaa told BBC, ”and they left the country. She said, ‘Please promise to return my cat back to me when we come back.’ ” Alaa nodded his head and even sent the girl photos of her safe and healthy kitten.

Many of Alaa’s friends have escaped the country. The cats are all that he has left. He calls them family. “I’ll stay with them no matter what happens,” he says. “Someone who has mercy in their heart for people, has mercy for every living thing.”

Alaa’s big-hearted humanity and selflessness has inspired a global community to support his candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize. You can support Alaa’s rescue efforts on the community’s Facebook page, Nobel Peace Prize to Alaa.

Nobel Peace Prize to Alaa: Facebook
via [The Dodo, Love Meow]

All images via Nobel Peace Prize to Alaa.

Filmmaker Brandon Li stumbled upon an unexpected capture when reviewing stills from a drone test. If great photography is a balance of skill, timing, and luck, Li certainly had a combination of all three.

“A friend and I were testing out a DJI Phantom 3 in the Wan Chai/Causeway bay area of Hong Kong, mostly trying to catch the sunset,” Brandon explains to PetaPixel. “But the battery was almost dead so we pointed the camera down to catch another angle and let the drone return to home.”

That decision to aim the camera down was the key to capturing this breathtaking still frame of newlyweds sprawled on a lawn atop the J Residence in Hong Kong. Li hadn’t even realized he’d gotten the image until looking at the footage on his computer. “[I have] no idea who they are, but I assume they were practicing a pose for a wedding photograph or something,” he shares. “Or maybe they were just making lawn angels.”

After a bit of color correction to make the couple stand out and cloning out “what appeared to be either some extra clothes or another person standing near their feet,” Li published the photo is hopes of discovering the identity of the mystery couple.

Have any guesses? Extra points if you also know who the man laying on a piece of furniture in the upper corner of the roof is.

Brandon Li: Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
via [PetaPixel]

All images via Brandon Li.

Baby’s first Halloween is an undeniably exciting (and inevitably adorable) milestone for new parents. From picking out the perfect costume (you can’t go wrong with a cute cat or a plump pumpkin) to dressing up your little one for the big night, it’s a total treat—and, if you have triplets like Jeremy and Ali Hynek, it’s triply sweet.

Unable to pick just one set of costumes for 6-month-old Penelope, Ethan, and Alejandra, the first-time parents decided instead to showcase a creative compilation of getups. Affectionately called “PEA”—an acronym that combines the first letter of each baby’s name—the adorable bunch has been modeling homemade ensembles on Ali’s Instagram page.

The collection of costumes ranges from pop culture staples—a sweet homage to the late David Bowie, Gene Wilder, and Prince has proven to be a particularly popular post—and presidential candidates—yes, even the hair—to colorful flowers and sweet peas-in-pods. Ali creates the looks with help from Brittany Jepsen, owner of DIY craft website The House that Lars Built and a likeminded creative who, according to Ali, “basically made all my baby costume dreams come true.”

Incorporating everything from repurposed pajamas to hilarious wigs, the fun and festive creations are both doable and adorable.

Above image: Baby Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton

Celebrity Tribute: David Bowie, Gene Wilder, and Prince

The Ghostbusters

Run-DMC

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman

The Bachelor/ette

Team Coke

The Three Blind Mice

Blossoming Babies

Sweet PEAs in a Pod

Ali Hynek: Website | Instagram
Brittany Watson Jepsen: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Etsy
via [Huffington Post]

All images via Ali Hynek.