Etsy Shop of the Month: Howards Home Novelty Soaps

Chocolate Donut Soap with Sprinkles

Does the idea of rubbing your body with a glob of mac & cheese appeal to you? How about leaving your party guests wondering why you've got severed fingers sitting atop your bathroom counter? If so, Howards Home can help.

This shop slings all manner of novelty soaps (and inventive lip balms!), from exploding frogs to jumbo gummy bears. Not only do these handmade treats look shockingly like the real deal, they make the perfect birthday or hostess gift for the wackier folks in your life. Trust me, you know someone who is down to lather up with a fried egg.

Fried Egg Soap

Etsy Shop of the Month: rommydebommy

Fried Egg Purse

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to step inside the candy-filled world of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, or perhaps be shrunken down to the size of an ant a la Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, you'll get a sense of what both would be like through the art of rommydebommy.

Wondering how? Rommy's fashion accessories, a colorful mix of purses, necklaces and even bow ties, are made to resemble everyday items, like a bowl of cereal or a buttery croissant, except they're oversized in scale and fantastical in image - a serious feast for the eyes. 

Cereal Necklace & Purse

Most of her creations are based on food items, from iced layer cakes to syrupy waffles to full English breakfast plates. The pieces evoke a huge dose of whimsy and are honestly just a joy to look at. Ever wanted to strut around with a giant piece of Nutella toast as a clutch purse? Maybe not, but now that you know you can - don't you kind of need to?

All of Rommy's products give me that feeling - like I need them now. They're so surreal in the greatest way, and they would no doubt be the number one conversation piece in literally any room. I mean, who isn't going to ask you where you got your gummy worms necklace?

Clockwise: Taco Purse  //  Candy Watch Purse  //  Cake Purse  //  Pad Purse

The use of foam as a main material gives her pieces that exciting cartoonish vibe that always catches my eye. Everything is so big and colorful and fun! It feels to me as if the characters from Pee Wee's Playhouse all walked out the door and decided to hang from your shoulder, and for my kitschy tastes, that's about as good as it gets.

Croissant Purse

These cool purses aren't just form over function either - each has adequate space to stash all your essentials, typically accompanied by flashy gold accents. You'll find everything you need to play the part of kooky fashionista on the go!

Tortilla Chip / Doritos Necklace & Purse

Clockwise: Farfalle Bow Tie  //  Hot Dog Bow Tie  //  Apple Core Bow Tie  //  Sub Sandwich Bow Tie

Chewed Gum Brooches  //  Cinnamon Sugar Donut Brooch

Pancake Purse

All photos via rommydebommy

Have you ever seen Rommy's stuff before? What's your favorite piece? Would you walk around with a pad clutch or no?

Friday Faves

Something new!

Like all good internet dwellers, I often stumble upon things I find beautiful, useful or just plain interesting, and want to share them. I'm going to do so with a bi-weekly segment called Friday Faves. It'll be a collection of stuff that's caught my eye since we last spoke and that I think you'll like too, because let's be honest - I can only text my sister so many times a day.

Charley Harper Collection for The Land of Nod

If you don't have kids or a vaguely problematic pinteresting problem you might be like, Land of WHO NOW? Reasonable. The Land of Nod is Crate & Barrel's children's branch and they just announced a collection of bedding and housewares that is, yes, technically for babies, featuring the art of noted midcentury illustrator and personal fave Charley Harper. I want ALL of this shit, and am considering how to tell my dude that I'll be ditching our queen size mattress for a crib.

You Gotta Little Lipstick on Your Ear

These amazing handmade acrylic lipstick earrings from Honey B Gold come in red AND pink!

It'd Be Really Hard to Sleep Here

This futuristic, neon pink bedroom is straight outta Jem. It also kinda makes me feel like I've been shrunken down into a Barbie Dream House bedroom circa 1986.

Ring Around the Roses

These beautiful clear resin rings filled with real flowers, hand-dyed in rainbow hues!

You're Too Sweet

These adorable food-themed office supplies are too sweet to pass up.

Taking Petty to a Whole New Level

Boston's infamous Skinny House is up for sale! Just a cool 900K for this tiny sliver of home, that's just over six feet at its narrowest. This house exists for one simple reason: spite. It was built on a remaining scrap of land to block light and harbor views from the occupant's brother next door. And you thought you knew how to hold a grudge.

More Exciting Than Watching Paint Dry

These paint palette enamel pins are so damn cute!

This Really Lights Up a Room

This sculpture by artist Matt McVeigh looks pretty on the surface, but has more to say.

B.Y.O.C. (Bring Your Own Crimper)

This tumblr is great for a little stroll down beauty product memory lane. It's a fun flash of nostalgia to see products you loved in junior high, and ads you didn't realize have been tattooed somewhere on your brain ever since you saw them in an old issue of Seventeen.

Give Them a Hand

These illustrations - and there are a ton - are always hands on a pink background, but with a new activity (yes, eating guac is an activity). I'm just weirdly obsessed with hand art.

What cool stuff have you been peeping on lately?

ETC: My Christmas Wish List

1. Frida Kahlo Floral Throw Pillow

2. Makeup Geek Eyeshadows in Dirty Martini (matte olive), Blacklight (duochrome purple) & Fortune Teller (foiled gold) 

3. 18K Gold Ravioli Necklace

4. Hot Dog iPhone Case

5. Eye Print Bedding

6. Donut Print Oven Mitt & Pot Holder

7. Kitchen Kitsch Art Print

8. Rose Gold Pineapple Tumbler

9. Benefit Watt's Up! Highlighter

10. Donna Martin Graduates Enamel Pin, Blanche Devereaux Enamel Pin, Peggy Bundy Enamel Pin, Heart Lollipop Enamel Pin & Glitter Troll Enamel Pin

11. Jerri Blank T-Shirt

12. False Lashes Enamel Pin Set

13. Watermelon Cooler Bag

14. Soy Candle Making Kit

15. Full Moon Baseball T-Shirt

16. I Like You Just The Way I Am by Jenny Mollen

17. Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman by Lindy West

18. Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

19. You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

20. You'll Grow Out Of It by Jessi Klein

What's on your wish list this year? Making any fun DIY things for presents? Did the holidays completely sneak up on you this year too? 

OBSESSED: (Creepy?) Doll Parts

I hesitate to label doll parts as "creepy" (thus the question mark in the title of this post) because they're not inherently scary or bad, but many people show anything from mild discomfort to full on terror when presented with them. I never had an interest in dolls. As a child, an elderly neighbor invited me over to see her "doll room," which is exactly what you're picturing: a bedroom filled to the brim with dolls. Dolls on shelves, dolls on furniture, dolls in boxes, dolls in Victorian dresses. DOLLS. This visit not only confirmed my doll apathy, but also showed me that the path of a doll lover could end somewhere really weird. I was always more of a stuffed animal girl, anyway.

I understand the creep factor, but I don't fear dolls, and I'm even oddly drawn to doll parts and unique things made from those parts. A whole doll just isn't my jam, but cut off its arms and maybe stick 'em on earrings - then we're talking! Here are some potentially creepy, maybe cute, definitely interesting items made from doll parts that I'm obsessed with:

1. These blank faces are perfect to stuff full of your favorite greenery! It kind of looks like crazy hair, and crazy hair on a baby is ALWAYS funny. {Buy Here}

2. "Please pass the doll legs! Oh, I meant salt and pepper!" A classic dinnertime mistake, but there's no longer a need to differentiate with these disturbing little gems. {Buy Here}

3. Somehow this hollow doll head manages to look - dare I say? - sophisticated. You know, within the realm of skull-based drinkware. {Buy Here}

4. With this set of hooks, it'll be like your own lil' three-handed youngster is tossing you your keys. What could be cuter, and more practical, than that? {Buy Here}

5. I love a good hand soap! Hand soap - get it? Really, though, give yourself a high five every time you scrub up. {Buy Here}

6. Keep your place in any book and trick people into thinking you're harboring tiny creatures within the pages. Win-win! {Buy Here}

7. On a cozy night, watch a little netflix, pop a tealight in her head, and watch it burn while she stares back at you, despite her lack of eyes. Talk about relaxing! {Buy Here}

8. This bottle stopper is great for keeping this "leftover wine" thing that some people seem to have, plus it makes it look like your liquids are spawning. {Buy Here}

9. I don't have an immediate use for these vintage fabric doll faces, but I'm sure I could find something fun to make with them. New phone case, anyone? {Buy Here}

10. This is not only a piece of art created from an old doll head and real quills - it can also hold photos, papers or memos. Very versatile! {Buy Here}

11. You could store candy, jewelry, or other trinkets in this doll-arm-supported dish, or you could go full on creep mode and use it for cereal. {Buy Here}

12. This studded doll head brooch is so adorable to me, which I'm now recognizing as a sign that this obsession may have me veering into "doll room" territory. {Buy Here}

13. We can't forget the queen of all dolls, Barbie. Carry her disembodied arm with you wherever you wander for a slightly horrifying slice of childhood. {Buy Here}

14. More of a leg girl? Pop these danglers into your ears and catch peripheral glimpses of Barbie's dainty feet all day. Bonus: I bet you could find some amazing shoes to attach here. {Buy Here}

Are you scared of dolls? What would you say if a neighbor invited you to their "doll room?" Don't you kind of want to stuff things into a doll head now?

OBSESSED: Boopsie Daisy

Little Monsters Print Set

I don't take my obsessions lightly, nor do I feature a lot of Etsy shops here because there are just SO MANY good ones that I favorite and stalk on a regular basis, but Boopsie Daisy is Different with a capital "D". Boopsie Daisy (hmmm, I'll call it 'Boopsie' for short) is full of incredibly colorful kitschy art prints and illustrations featuring such fine sights as vintage kitties answering the phone, doll-faced mermaids, a cutesy deer wearing a strawberry as a hat and a cheeky baby face peering out hilariously from a pile of ridged potato chips. So, it might not be for everyone, but it's certainly for me!

The bright hues of pink, blue and orange catch your eye, while the drips of melting ice cream cones and heavily sprinkled donuts keep your attention. It's art with a sense of humor and a major sense of kitsch. I drool over the photography prints, but the dreamy illustrations (think winking cotton candy and high-school-era Bride of Frankenstein) are also completely original and often adorable. Plus, the prints come with amazing pun-filled names (you'll meet "Spag Eddie" and "Peteza" below) to keep the tongue-in-cheek theme going.

Potato Chip Print  //  Olivia Print

Broc Ollie Print  //  Spag Eddie Print

Diggin the Dog Print  //  Eat It Doll Up Print

Bun & Jerry Print  //  Cotton Candy Print

Triple Skewpie Print  //  Doughnt Eat Me Print

One Sweet Ride Print  //  Peas Eat Healthy Print

A Ghoul's Gotta Print  //  Deep Sea Print

Carolyn Guine Print  //  Sue Shi Print  //  Pam Cake Print
Cuke Amber Print  //  Cornelius Print  //  Marshmallows & Coco Print
YoGerti Print  //  Peteza Print  //  Caesar Sally Print

Described as "a 1950s diner on an acid trip," Boopsie's art is the perfect soft serve twist of creepy and cute, with just a bit of sweetness sprinkled on top. Check out the Boopsie Daisy Etsy shop and the Boopsie Daisy Flickr for more delightful wonders!

Do you like your art kitschy? Could you stand to have smiling doll heads all over your walls? What kind of fun art are you creeping on Etsy? Let me know in the comments so I can creep along with you!

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ROUNDUP: Vintage Canisters

I am becoming borderline obsessed with hypothetical home decorating, and as a product of that obsession I have amassed quite a collection of vintage canisters on my (also hypothetical) wish list. I have a chrome set currently (featured below) but if I had things my way, I'd have the space for one million more sets! Check out some of the cute vintage canisters I've been coveting:

WOOD CANISTERS

Something about wooden accents in a midcentury shape gets me all excited!

 1 / 2 / 3

CHROME CANISTERS

Classic and goes with everything!

I have the same kind of set!

 1 / 2 / 3

PRINTED CANISTERS

Fun vintage prints add a touch of kitsch to any kitch!

This one is printed in Russian!

 1 / 2 / 3

APPLE CANISTERS

These come in a bunch of shades and seriously could not be any cuter!

 1 / 2 / 3

PASTEL CANISTERS

These spring-colored canisters are so sweet.

1 / 2 / 3

ATOMIC TURQUOISE CANISTERS

Bright hues like this one would be an awesome pop of color in any kitchen.

1 / 2 / 3

STACKABLE CANISTERS

These save space by going vertical and look totally mod.

1 / 2 / 3

WEDGE CANISTERS

Wedge-shaped canisters come together as a circle on a lazy susan base - clever!

1 / 2 / 3

FLORAL CANISTERS

Mod 60s or boho 70s, these are pretty, retro and functional!

1 / 2 / 3

CLEAR CANISTERS

See what's inside with glass jars or front side cutouts.

1 / 2 / 3

I doubt that I have enough belongings to fill all of these amazing containers, but I love to imagine the kinds of kitchens they would live in. I find these sets to be a major design inspiration!

xoxo,
Michelle