“HALF FULL: Drink Positively”

Cool, isn’t it? Think you need one? I sure would appreciate having this on my work desk!

I’d love this for our library. It won’t be for the baby. It’d be for ME!

Peeler Gloves. The rough surface actually cleans and skins vegetables with your hand motions. They look like gloves that have scrubbed too many dishes though. Or monster hands. (via)

Guitar Spatula. Air-guitar while you wait for your omelette to cook. Are you on lead, rhythm or bass? Flip those pancakes in rock ‘n roll style! (via)

Cloud Chair. Anyone would look angelic curled up on this heavenly chair.  (via)

Ice Ice Baby. All right stop! Collaborate and listen! What a cool way to LSS on this song! (via)

The Dunk Mug. You’ve got your coffee on one hand, your books on the other… how are you gonna take your cookies to your reading corner? Why with this one-of-a-kind mug of course! (via)

The Map Hanky. Trying to find your way around Tokyo? Take this out of your pocket and never get lost! Just don’t go blowing your nose otherwise snot marks the spot! (via)

Bathtub Couch. Got an extra tub in the house? Turn it into a chair. Duh. Then if someone you don’t like calls, simply say “Can I call you later? I’m in the tub. Kthnxbye.”(via)

Star Wars Pancake Molds A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Yoda pancakes! Stormtrooper pancakes! Darth Vader pancakes! Methinks Sheldon Cooper needs to see this. It’d match his Darth Vader toaster very well. (via)

Cute and kooky, right? Which ones do you want for your home? And are you LSS’ing on Ice Ice Baby? I am. *Vanilla Ice Ice Baby…*

This Sky Umbrella sure looks like it can chase the grey away from any rainy day!

I think I’ll call this The Optimist’s Umbrella.

(via)

Picky lasagna eaters? Problem solved!

Watching TV shopping network informercials cracks me up. At first I always go “Woo! That’s so exaggerated! Why don’t you just use a knife to chop everything up?” Then later on, “Hey, that’s so cool it chops concrete!” Much later, “You can make ice cream in a chopping machine?!?” Much much later, “Husby, come here! I think we need this.”

My husband would just shake his head and say no, but then the magic TV shopping lines like “But wait! There’s more!” and “And that’s not all!” comes on and we’re glued to the rest of the infomercial.

Our household has accumulated quite a number of thingamagics from TV shopping. I’ve bought some kind of mop that (supposedly) has extraordinary abilities to wipe up all kinds of spills. I’ve possessed several towels that have magical fibers that wipe away all kinds of dirt and dust. Then there was that vacuum cleaner that could suck so strongly it could hold a bowling ball in its spout.

My parents’ home also has its share of abdominal workout gadgets. Yes, gadgets, in plural form. None of us have washboard abs though. We’ve had our share of mandolins (Super Slicer? Smart Slicer? I forget the name) but we still slice fruits and vegetables with a knife.

So many times I came close to getting the phone and ordering one of those choppers, that device you wear that cuts your waistline in half, some kind of ladder/table, filleting knives, inflatable mattresses, greaseless grills…

What is it about the lure of these infomercials? The presentation format is simple — problem-solution. Is it because we can sympathize with the problems presented, no matter how exaggerated they are? Is it because we anticipate experiencing the same thing, say get our high heels caught in the hem of our pants, or our shelves falling apart when we go DIY?

Whatever the reason is, watching the shopping network on TV provides me with amusement. I’m just glad their shopping shows don’t have a text component (or do they?). That would be too easy, and too hard to resist. I’ve still got my eyes on that chopper that can disintegrate concrete. Hey, you never know when I’d need to do that in real life.

What have you bought from TV shopping networks? Were they happy purchases or did you regret them? Share, share!

Calling all the single ladies, all the single ladies…

The Bling Ring Ice Pop Molds (spotted at Delight) make snacks fun and literally cool during these hot summer days!

Here are some ideas for your bling:
Ruby : Hulled strawberries, a little honey
Diamond : Lemonade OR plain water OR coconut juice
Citrine or Topaz : Fresh orange juice
Emerald : Avocado OR green mangoes with a little water OR pandan Juice
Sapphire: Blueberries

Choose a gem, throw in the designated ingredients with a little water into a blender, then pour into the molds. Freeze. Ta-da! Instant yummy AND healthy bling!

Holy Oreo. The Giant Cookie Cake pan is nearly a foot wide. Imagine two layers of chocolate cake with a whipped cream or vanilla ice cream filling.

My sweet tooth just did cartwheels. Please pass me a glass of milk! (via Kitchen Contraptions)

The “Wheel of Nutrition” is a visual guide to eating healthy. Isn’t it a great idea? It was designed by Haffstein Juliusson, a designer from Iceland along with Rui Pereira and Joana Pais. I saw the entry and pictures from swissmiss.

“The Diet” plate can be renamed as “The Healthy Plate,” don’t you think? I’d like one of that! It would be a great way to educate kids on the right proportions of good food too.

Is it a sandwich? Is it cake? Well, this silicone mold makes a cake in the shape of sliced bread. Nice! Bake the cake, slice through the center, place your filling and voila! You’ve got a sandwich cake. (Cakewich Silicon Tray via)

Make measuring ingredients a challenge with this geeky measuring cup. This looks like something Sheldon Cooper would get for his Mom. Or himself. (Fred Equal Measure Measuring Cup via)

Show your love for Mom with toasted bread. Toast some bread, then stamp with this mark of love. (Love Toast set via)

Red is for pork, blue is for fish… organize your knives and chopping boards in a space-saving manner. Better yet, it’s good for your health! Color-coding the boards and knives makes sure there’s no cross-contamination of germs. It looks good in the kitchen too! (Index Chopping Boards via)

It’s a Frying Pan-da! Cooking stir-fry has never been this cute. (Frying Pan-da via)

There’s nothing really fun about whisking. If you’ve got these birds to keep you company though, it could be an enjoyable activity. Think of the birds playing peekaboo while you whisk those eggs! (Silicone Bird Whisks via)

If your Mom’s a kid of the ’80s (or if you’re a Mom AND a kid of the ’80s), this character will make taking hot pans out of the oven kitschy cute! (Pac Man Potholder via)

Is Mommy scared of poaching eggs? Here’s a cute and easy way to do it. Crack an egg into a PoachPod, then let the pod in boiling water. When the egg is done, flip the pod inside out and slide the egg out. Done! (PoachPods Silicone Egg Poachers via)

There’s a honeybee in the kitchen! Store your honey in this silver plated glass jar, which comes with a silver honey spoon. Surround with flowers and you’ve got a sweet presentation on your kitchen table. (Silver Honey Bee via)

Put a touch of this ’80s game in your kitchen! The top layer of the cube rotates to grind the salt and pepper. It looks like you’ve almost solved it too! (Rubik’s Cube Salt & Pepper Grinders via)

For the Helvetica font lover, now you can bring the font love to cookies too! Can you spell y-u-m? (Helvetica Cookie Cutters via)

You’ve been looking forward to eating that 2-day old burrito in the ref. When you get home from work, it’s gone! You find out your brother devoured it because it didn’t have your name on it anyway. Hmph. Help Mom prevent fights by keeping your food safe this way! It comes with a combination lock to ensure your food’s protected. (Fridge Locker via)

Which kitchen items would you want for your Mom or for yourself?