Beijing Olympic Mascots

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.

What do you think? Are they cute? Why or why not?

Soy Sauce Fish

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.

Carrot Cupcake

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.

Moon Owl

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!

Sheep Cupcakes

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!

Sheep Pops

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.

Bunnies Are Cute

Surprise, surprise! The twin bunnies have their own color-coordinating cards too!
And, just in case you haven't had enough bunnies yet this week - here are some more! Each flock of bunnies is cute for their own reasons too, but multiple photos of multiple bunnies are exponentially cute!
Bunnies for Bushfires
Bunnies on a log
Skull Bunny Parade
Shrinking bunny heads

Bunnies Love Books

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!

Bunnies Love Plants

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.