Happy Monday

These portraits of crazy cat people are incredible (read: making me jealous).

Here are 15 parties to throw for no reason in particular. The Crock Pot Cookoff party sounds especially appealing to me right now, how about you?

Here are some podcasts to fill the void Serial left in your life.

The Sony security hack sucked for a lot of reasons, but it may have opened the door to equal pay for women in Hollywood (starting with one massive raise for Charlize Theron). Give ’em Hell, Charlize!

What if guys acted like girls on Instagram?

They made a Lady Violet cake to celebrate the return of Downton Abbey. All I want to know is who got dibs on the eyeballs.

You can now play Oregon Trail (and a bunch of other oldy-but-goody MS DOs games) online, for free. You’re welcome.

I bought this women’s book and it is changing my life.

The Season 3 House of Cards trailer came out and I am now counting the days to Feb 27.

This cashier is the cutest thing since kittens.

A list of my favorite distractions from the last week (including these flamingos chillin’ in Antarctica captured by Gray Malin).  

First things first: who is coming over to my house for Downton Abbey and Oreo cheesecake bites?

The largest church in the Middle East was founded by garbage people and it is beyond rad.

10 Famous Love Song Recipients I’d like to Hear From.

Have you ever heard of a capsule wardrobe? I’m intrigued.

The best time to buy an airline ticket (prices change 3 times a day? wtf?!)

Everyone knows about book clubs, but what about an articles club?*
*HAY. Maybe these Happy Monday posts *are* my one person articles club? Can you even have a club with yourself? But you’re here so it’s not just me. We are a club, you just haven’t shared yet. What? This is so meta.

Shopping malls in all their 80s glory.

Rabbit hole alert: The best of the best crafty dollar store ideas.

Ever need to create a simple contract in a hurry? The Freelancers Union just created this awesome (and free) tool. Just plugin in the essentials and it spits out a contract. Also on the freelancing front, this gal’s pinterest board is busting with great tips.

Taylor swift gave John Cleese a death glare to end all death glares for making fun of her cats. So you know he totally deserved it. GO TAYLOR, GO.

Also, these people might sing Taylor Swift songs better that Taylor and my 5-year-old niece. That’s saying something.

Photo of the Hemsley building on Park Ave. Nobody decks the halls like NYC!

Happy Monday Y’all! Hope you are enjoying a happy, safe and restful holiday season. I’m just getting back from vacation to DC, New York, and everywhere in between. Lots of driving. Lots of eating. Lots of family. Lots of making…art, food, things with glitter. Throw in a few late-night board games, cocktails made in milk jars, a round of semi-intellectual fart jokes, and that about sums it up. More on that later. As this was also a partial vacation from technology, I am still catching up on matters of bidness, but in the mean time, here are some of my most favorite recent distractions.

Bruce Springsteen’s list of 28 books that shaped his mind and music.

Eleven little-known words for specific family members. You might have a machetonim and not even know it.

The Rolling Stones swinging 60s French villa of debauchery.

Speaking debauchery…pretzel chocolate chip cookies.

Some seriously impressive libraries.

Eleven smells that are slowly disappearing.

NASA is using glitter to solve giant space telescope problems. If that doesn’t legitimize my glitter hoard, I won’t know what will.

Welp. Now we know how I’ll be ringing in the new year.

Chris Rock on Cosby, Ferguson, Obama…just about everything that needs to be said but nobody else knows how to say.

Ten amazing kid-friendly art projects.

Ever seen a baby pigeon? Nope. Me neither. This is why.

This thing. This thing is too weird to not share.

Happy Monday! Here is a list of distractions to get you through the week 😉

This dog is the best babysitter.

Hold on to your rainbows, the Pantone hotel is here!

Can you believe these coral figures are made of hot glue?! And here are another 15 unusual projects using hot glue. Dang!

A visual love letter to Chicago.

Pride and Prejudice for Australians.

These altered art angels are the perfect way to utilize all those ribbon scraps I’ve been hoarding (or a good excuse to go out and buy more). Great for on top of a tree, or sitting on a mantel year round. 

Dee got me hooked on NPR’s new podcast Serial. GAhhhhhh! Super addictive. Then Yasmin sent me the official poll.

Icelandic words we need to incorporate into English.

Speaking of Iceland…these Icelandic twins are like teensy, Nordic hipsters. I’M SO JEALOUS.

These acorn candy dishes would make a great Thanksgiving day craft for kids (and by kids I mean adults who don’t cook). 

This typical-looking Las Vegas home has a secret underground.

June Cleaver can suck it; the unhappy mothers of Western art history.

Have you ever been to the world’s largest Christmas store? One day, I tell you…one day!

My 5th grade slap bracelets never looked this glamorous!

Also. This happened:

Calm down. It’s not reallllly him. But it was fun to hear my heart poop when it popped up in my inbox. BUT, if anyone else feels like sending me Cumberbatch Christmas ornaments, forget about it.

Look at these delicate feathers painted on coffee filters without actually painting:

Hrmmmmmm. I wonder who made those?

This is Sophia’s way of saying “Happy Monday!”

Some recommended distractions to get you through the week…

Inside the Mansfield mansion. Three words: wall carpeted bathroom.

Disney Princesses with realistic waistlines look…fabulous!

Three ways to make your clothes smell amazing (I’m a fan of the soap bar method)

The seven deadly sins of DIY.

Check out the most eccentric AirBnB in NYC.

Painted feathers FTW!

A nifty way to use up dryer lint and leftover candle wax.

How do we feel about the Pride and Prejudice zombie movie? Hrmmm.

Trick-or-treaters got you on a sugar high? Six secrets for dealing with all that candy. 

A friend of mine made these carmel apple cheesecake bars for a party this weekend and I ate one and it made my brains fall out. I’m not sure if Thanksgiving turkey mixes well with streusel topping, but we all might need to find out.

Brittany Maynard chose to end her life this weekend. I’m not sure how to process this, but her words, and her story, have me rethinking my concept of “quality of life.” What do you think?

This pineapple jack-o-lantern is rad yet really intimidating. I think he can see my soul.

No costume? Here is a simple step-by-step on how sugar skull yourself with face paint. (And a kid friendly version too!) Or what about some nifty Dollar store skeleton accessories? Remember the necklace I made last year? Yeah. It’s still creepy.

Ugly door + stickers = Yass!

Who has two thumbs, 176 scarves, and a trunk full of pompoms? This tutorial was meant for me.

A complete ranking of Mr. Darcy through the age of cinema.

The last of the Japanese mermaids. Fascinating.

Speaking of Japan: That time farts became arts.

This video of water transfer printing on a hubcap has me in a trance. I always wondered how they do that!

Imma need this Boo pumpkin on my porch.

Whitney English on staying creative.

Jenny Andrews Anderson, one of my favorite artists ever, is having a sale on her already more-than-reasonably priced work. More important (because it involves meeee!) itite promoted the sale on her blog (which is also amazing) using a picture of my patchwork pumpkins, which, were largely inspired by one of her prints hanging on my wall. I don’t think she had any idea I was such a fan, so I’m pretty stoked!

Two words: Lego flamingos.

Who needs spans when you can squeeze your ass into dinosaur shorts? Hell. Yes.

I have always wanted to try my hand at painted ceramics. These painted tiles from Crafty Chica have me thinking.

Problems that only 90s kids will understand.

Chicago, peeps! Al Capone’s old house is for sale. What do you think is in the basement? (nobody say “Geraldo.”)

Philadelphia’s Natural History Museum is having a chocolate exhibit. Someone needs to go for me, k?

Remember last week when I was freaking out about collage clay? Here is another example of how to use it: faux bricks…which makes me think about gingerbread houses. You could make the biggest, baddest gingerbread house, like, evurrr.

A table spread inspired by Beetlejuice? Yes please!

Sometimes I get flack for occasionally cursing on this blog, which I find hilarious because I have never met anyone who gets up in arms about swear words who can explain why the word they find offensive is designated as profanity. The fact is there are a lot of profane things going on every day that those same folks forget to give a crap about. Ahem.

Also, I made these no-sew pillows from store-bought napkins. Secret ingredient? Check it out on IloveToCreate.com.

Speaking of ILovetoCreate.com, they sent me samples from their new line of bottoms-up, always ready Tacky Glue. For someone like me, who uses Tacky Glue more frequently than toothpaste, this is more miraculous than that time I washed a bag of skittles in my jeans and they came out perfectly intact (and very tasty). Like I said, I lucked out because they sent me these as a preview, but you can find them near the checkout counter at Joann’s starting November 2, that is unless you live in Northern Illinois, in which case, you are going to have to fight me for them. Cage match!