These don't exactly exude cuteness - also I took the pictures with my phone, in the rain - but the attraction here obviously lies in the fact that they are GIANT! You see, giant Christmas ornaments make everything else around them look mini. And we all know that mini things are super-cute! So next time you are walking by Radio City Music Hall in New York, and it's Christamstime, keep an eye out for these giant ornaments and lights, as well as the giant nutcrackers that I was too wet to take a picture of.
Apparently every year the White House pastry chef makes a gingerbread model of the White House. This year it was covered in white chocolate and the whole thing weighed 390 pounds. That's a lot of house!
But the cutest part was the little marzipan garden! Mini veggies are bound to be cute, and mini veggies made of candy are even cuter. The detail on these leaves and the baskets and signs are amazing. I'm not sure how I feel about the White House putting so many resources toward extravagant holiday decorations, but I am glad to know that they have some cuteness in there!
My latest creation, to go with a sushi dinner we had at our house. Sushi cupcakes! Without looking at them closely, a couple people didn't even realize they weren't real sushi. Snigger snigger.
These are another great example of cute things that look like other things. Sushi is not cute. Cupcakes alone are not cute. But combine these two great things, and cuteness is born. Unfortunately, they didn't taste as great as they looked. But the point was really to admire them and we accomplished that!
For details on how they're made, read about them on GastroFabulous.
Another cute video! This artist at Bent Objects makes cool stuff out of wire. I've been reading his blog for a while now and he just came out with a book. Not all of his sculptures are necessarily cute, but the way the video shows them as regular objects and then as they come to life, the effect is indeed pretty cute!
The upwardly mobile cupcake was another good example of something that is made cuter because of it's humanesque qualities, and the same principle applies here.
In addition, these guys seem extra-cute because we get a glimpse into their inner workings. Cuteness is not only on the outside, you know! They have secret lives that we never see, and all kinds of mysterious adventures! Think about that next time you eat a marshmallow or a cheeto.
Yeah it's been months since I've posted, but I have not been neglecting the world of cute out there! This is a great one I've been wanting to share for a while, but when I first looked it wasn't posted online. We already know that putting faces on inanimate objects (such as this pipe and this tree) makes them super-cute. But this American Express ad takes it even further - they don't have to add faces to things because they found faces that were already there, hidden in everyday objects. It's so simple - we've all noticed faces in appliances and handbags - but it's also genius because it just keeps on going! Face after face! The chairs! The iron! The lonely hanger! The cute faces just keep on coming. Which one is your favorite?
Another cute city critter! We know that putting a face on things makes it cute. As demonstrated here, even just putting one eye on something will do the trick!I've seen pictures of pipes like this one before so I was excited to come across one myself. I wonder how many of these pipe guys there are in New York, keeping an eye (literally, just one) out on the city. I also kind of wonder what that pipe is actually for, but that's a question for another day.
I love walking, and one reason is that you never know what kinds of cute things you'll come across when you're going slow enough to notice them. Even when you're biking there are too many things to look out for to be able to spot the critters around you. New York, and probably all cities, is a great place for cute-spotting. Here's something I found with my friend Andres when I was there last weekend.
It was after brunch, we were walking somewhere else, and if he hadn't taken me that way we would have never found this froggie! But the cutest part, which I believe Andres actually spotted, is the mini froglet - get this - in between the big frog's cute WEBBED TOES! Check out the close-up:
Amazing, right? These guys are cute for plenty of reasons. The froglet is mini of course! And the frog is giant, which can also maximize cuteness. And what further magnifies the perceived cute levels is the two of them together in contrast, making the one look even tinier and the other even bigger. Whoever designed this sculpture is a genius!
Today we're going to look at a cute artifact from my personal collection: It's my piggie flashlight!The coolest thing about him is that he is hand-powered. You just pump that lever on the side and it charges him up. That's why he's green! But the reason he is so cute is that his body parts are integrated with his functionality. Evidence A: The light bulbs are his nostrils! Evidence B: The strap is his tail! It doesn't get much cuter (or cleverer) than that, folks. And, next time my electricity goes out I'll have a friend to call on.
Mochimochi Land is an awesome blog/shop/person. She makes adorable knitted toys and sells the patterns and if I spent lots of time on it I'd aspire to make as cute stuff as she does! Last month she made all these Tiny Things. And as we all know from the mini chair, mini Bird's Nest, and mini sweater, tiny things are inherently cute. Multiple things are also cute, and if you combine the two properties, well the cuteness is almost out of control!
This birdie is more elegant than cute, but it still has some cute qualities. This specimen illustrates the fact that a softie doesn't necessarily need a lot of facial expression or accoutrements to be cute. Sometimes simplicity is the best way to go - no wings, no eyes, just a nice birdish shape. A whole flock of them would be even cuter according to the Property of Cute Multiples. And indeed it is - check out this bird mobile and see where I got the pattern.
I spotted this little birdie at a cafe last week. He lives in the plant pot and just pokes his head out to keep an eye on things. The cutest thing about him is that he is unexpected - most plants don't have long-nosed birds living in them, after all.
I'm back! Did you miss me and your periodic dose of cuteness? I think pretty much everyone who has a blog sometimes just doesn't blog for a while. We get busy with other things of course, but more importantly sometimes we just don't feel like posting. I haven't been making any animalicules lately which I think is why I wasn't really inspired to post things. I don't anticipate having much time to make critters in the near future either, so your doses of cuteness will likely be pretty sporadic. You've been warned. And without further ado, today's featured item: This isn't cute in the way critters are, but I made it, so it's blogworthy. This is definitely my best wrapping job ever and I'm very happy with it. It's for a friend's wedding which is navy themed, so no I didn't randomly decide to make it blue and yellow with anchors on it. It may come as a surprise, but I don't usually put much effort into wrappings. Most times I shove it in a bag or just say close your eyes and stick out your hands. But then I started thinking about all the possibilities... and this is what I settled on. Want to find out what's inside? Check back after the wedding and I'll post the goodies!
This tree has a moustache! Isn't it so cute? I happened to see this tree while we were walking the dog today. I don't know who decided the tree would look more handsome with some facial hair, but whoever it was has an amazing fashion sense.
I've discussed how faces make inanimate objects automatically cuter - those knots for eyes are great. But what makes this extra cute is the context - that I just came across it on a random street, and if I hadn't been watching, I might have missed it. It's not like I was walking in the moustache arboretum, where something like this would be pretty commonplace. Surprise cuteness in an unexpected location is one of life's great joys! Don't you think?
These are the fuwa, the mascots of the Beijing Olympics. They are jam-packed with symbolism which I won't get into but you can read about if you want. Naturally, I'm more interested in their physical appearance. The question is, are they cute? I think they were designed to be cute and maybe they are in a certain way. But they don't really make you go "aww" do they? And they don't even come close to giving me that feeling that something is so cute I can barely stand it. So what exactly are they lacking? They are multiples, and they come in different colors but they just don't have that je ne sais cute.
I've been meaning to post these soy sauce fish for a long time. I actually got them on the flight back from China and these are a great example of why Asian stuff is so great. They rarely miss an opportunity to add cuteness to an everyday object. Why should a packet of soy sauce just look like a packet, when it can look like a fish!? Things that look like other things have a certain duality to them that increases the cute factor. Making the red cap look like the nose of the fish is the perfect finishing touch.
The next cute seasonal treat is made by - moi! Carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, and fondant carrots growing on top. I'm no cupcake expert (yet) so this was quite a production for me. You can see more photos and read about it over on my food blog, Gastrofabulous. You'll see there are other simpler ones with just a carrot sitting on top. I would say those are medium-cute. But this one is extra cute because it looks like the carrots are growing out of the cupcake! You see, I'm always looking to take the cuteness to another level for ya.
This purple owl is admiring the moon in the purple night. Can you tell I love purple? It runs in the family. A blog called The Spark is having a challenge to create something using your favorite color combination and this is my entry. Purple goes great with any color of course, but I especially love it with white, or in this case, cream. The more purple the better!
Continuing on with the edible sheep theme: Aren't these little lambs so cute you almost can't take it?! I know. At first I thought they were just faces peering out of fluffy cupcakes. But then I realized they are little fluffy sheep balls with their feet all splayed out! I think the bulk of their cuteness comes from the ridiculousness of their tiny faces peering out of all those fluffy marshmallows. I'm pretty sure if I made them they wouldn't come out this cute so I'm not going to try. But if anyone else wants to, here's the Food Network recipe, and let me know how they come out!
Okay I know you've had enough bunnies for a while. So let's move on to sheep. We all know sheep can be very cute, especially knit sheep. Something about their fluffy fleeces perched on those little black legs. Actually, real live sheep are much less cute, particularly because their fur is usually all dirty and matted with hay sticking to it. Very disappointing. So let's stick to the cute sheep. And this week - the edible ones: These sheep pops by Bakerella are so adorable they barely look edible. But if you read her other posts about pops, you'll see they're actually made of cake inside. Now let's list the cute factors here, shall we?
Thinking about cake inside a little lamb's tummy is a cute idea in itself.
Those little dangling legs are to die for. If that sheep was not on a stick, it wouldn't even be able to walk it's so chubby.
Their chubbiness makes them look like floating balloons.
The teensy heart nose!
Their sugary-woolliness.
And there you have it! Adorable little sheep pops. The recipe to make them as well as tons of other cute cake pops are all on Bakerella's site. Next up will be another delectable ovine treat! Stay tuned.
The bunny twins love to play hide and seek among the plants. But they also love to play with books! Sometimes they read them but more often they build forts with book walls and hide behind the pages. Be careful if you adopt one because they will rearrange your entire bookshelf!
You may remember our old friends, gardening bunny, and of course sleeping bunny. Today I'm introducing another cousin of theirs: Bunny in Booties. Here she is smelling the first flowers of spring.
But wait, this bunny is actually a twin! The sisters love all kinds of plants and here they are, caught in the act of playing hide and seek through the leaves.
One bunny and her booties have been mailed off to a baby, but the other one is still available.
Check me out - The animalicules and I are featured on a cool blog called Allover Art. She asked lots of questions, so you can read all about me over there!
This Sweet Dreams video, starring a Cupcake, is very cute. If you're reading this in an email feed, you'll have to click through to the site to watch it but trust me it's worth it! It's 10 minutes long but at least just watch the beginning to get your daily dose of cute. Be forewarned - it does get a little racy. I found this video a few weeks ago but now I see that it just won an award at SXSW - congratulations to Kirsten Lepore!
So, on to the analysis: First of all - a waffle cone lamp? a sugar cube building? veggie towns? It doesn't get much cuter than that. Mostly because the things are made of unexpected materials, but not just any old materials - edible materials. I haven't tested this theory yet but it's quite possible that almost anything made of a waffle cone would be cute.
Second of all - it's a cupcake - but it acts like a person! As do the donuts, cinnamon buns, butternut squash, lime, pear, and all the others. Objects (perhaps especially food) that are humanoid have a very high likelihood of being adorable.
Lastly, even the music is cute! No talking is needed because the music says it all. I love it! And I hope you do too.
This might have been a good photo for Valentine's Day, but it's too late for that. I've been wanting to make pigs in all different colors and I'm still planning to, but so far I just have the two. They are kind of like cousins - there's definitely a resemblance but they have major differences, like in skin tone. We already know multiples and different colors are cute. But what really makes this photo is the kiss - the emotion that is evoked by those two flat little noses touching. I'm sure others have researched why touching noses or lips together expresses love, but I'm just here to say that cute things kissing is even cuter. Smooch!
Not everything that's cute has to have a face. Though adding a face usually does make things cute. There's an axiom somewhere in there but I'm not sure what it is. Anyways, these big jelly beans are wool on the outside and rice on the inside. So without faces or personalities, what makes them cute?
Multiples: The more the cuter!
Colors: The bright colors go so well together and make you want to gobble them up.
Nesting: They don't exactly nest the way those geese did but the way they are laid out here reminds me of a tesselation.
Couldn't you just stare at them all day? I wish I had a whole room full of them, like the girl in the picture. I also wish I had that wool felt in every color imaginable, like the picture.
Black Sheep's nemesis is Purple and Orange Sheep. Something about the clashing colors means they just can't get along and each one thinks the other is out to ruin his life. Black Sheep uses his natural coloring and stealth to sneak up on other sheep at night, when he can camouflage with the dark. Purple and Orange Sheep uses his neon colors to jump out at other sheep and blind them. It's an age old story - will these two never find harmony??
This guy was actually a custom sheep I made last month for someone that found me on etsy. Crazy colors, I know, it was apparently some kind of inside joke. Fun to do something different though!
This little guy is the black sheep of his family. They let him hang around but he's always grazing at the edge of the pasture. Something about him is just off, different from the rest of the flock. If you ask the other sheep they won't say just what he ever did, but we do know he never managed to grow a brightly colored fleece.
It's a little known fact that animalicules are not all born with perfect hair. Trust me you wouldn't want to see some of these guys when they first get up in the morning. They have bad hair days just like the rest of us, though for the strawberries it's actually bad leaf days. But after a quick trip to the salon for a new leafstyle, they're good to go. Check out the transformation: When they first get their leaves sewed on, they end up looking like the before picture - sticking up all crazy, basically what we know as bed-head. It takes a little blocking (wetting the yarn so you can shape and mold it) to get their leaves lying flat and looking pretty. Usually one styling will last a lifetime though so they don't have to spend as much money on stylists as people do.
There you have it - a little peek into the life and creation of an animalicule. This guy is even for sale in the shop!
Mom's chair has a new home: a cabinet - and a new family: all the other chairs in it! This is Phoebe's chair collection: Can you find the newest addition? Aren't the chairs cute? Of course they are, they're all mini after all! And there are multiple of them! Double cute points. Can't you just imagine all the chairs in there talking to each other in Chairish? Probably wondering when a collection of mini-people will come sit on them.
Look at this chair my mom made! Isn't it adorable? Miniature Cuteness strikes again! The little cushion is a perfect touch, plus the fabric is just so chair-y. And - get this - it has little button feet! You can't see them in the picture though but how could they not be cute. They're button feet! It's awesome. Next she's going to make one that fully reclines.
Ta-da! My newest animalicule. I haven't had a lot of time to spend on the animalicules, but the long weekend last week gave me a burst of inspiration. Up next: an entire school of them.
What makes this guy cute mainly is the ridiculous fact that he is a fish and he has teeth. Although, I guess some real fish do have teeth, right? But not big pearly whites like this. And the other thing that makes him cute: the angle from which you look at him. If you look from the front, you experience the cuteness in a whole different way!
Guess who got the cutest bear mug in the world for Valentine's Day?! Well okay there could be a cuter bear mug out there, but this one would certainly give it a run for its money. In case you can't tell from the pictures, the ears and nose are on the bottom of the mug and they make 3 little legs for it to stand on when you use it. So why is it cute? 1. The face is intrinsically cute regardless of where it is. 2. The unexpected facts that the face is on the bottom and the bear stands on his face are so ridiculous that it's insanely cute! 3. I can't believe hubby picked this out for me all by himself!
This is a good one for today because for some reason it's 50 degrees so all the snow is melting.
Cute may not exactly be the best word to describe this guy, but it is awesome. I think it's mainly because of two things:
1: It's a cupcake that looks like a snowman. Things that look like other things are awesome, and cute.
2: The snowman is melting and it makes you feel so sad! The fact that a simple cupcake can evoke such emotion, combined with it being just a tad ridiculous, adds to the awesomeness.
We've all seen the Bird's Nest, right? The Beijing Olympic stadium? But did you know they have mini bird's nest lamps all around the stadium?!? They light up the paths that go all around that part of the Olympic Park. I know, adorable right? I've previously discussed the fact that being mini makes things extra cute, as does having multiple things that look the same. But there's something more here, affecting our cute sensibilities. I think it has to do with the Bird's Nest being famous, and recognizable. Imagine if the Eiffel Tower had little Eiffelettes all around it. Or if Big Ben had lots of Little Bens leading up to it. Can you even imagine the cute possibilities? Why has no one else thought of this? Oh wait, the Chinese just did.
We (and the Animalicules) are back from vacation! Check them out visiting Ha Long Bay. We couldn't find kayaks small enough but they did get perfectly sized conical hats! Just the thing for keeping the sun off their sensitive eyes. And pretty cute too!
As a cute connoisseur, I'm on the lookout for all things cute. This is a collection of things I've found and made as I attempt to answer the question: What makes things cute?
These don't exactly exude cuteness - also I took the pictures with my phone, in the rain - but the attraction here obviously lies in the fact that they are GIANT! You see, giant Christmas ornaments make everything else around them look mini. And we all know that mini things are super-cute! So next time you are walking by Radio City Music Hall in New York, and it's Christamstime, keep an eye out for these giant ornaments and lights, as well as the giant nutcrackers that I was too wet to take a picture of.
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