An Interesting Mix Of "Holiday" And "Mildly Horrifying"

Wassup, 'Bot fam? How's your week going? How's your stress level? You remembering to breathe today?

Well listen, I don't know what kind of day you're having, but I can almost guarantee this roly-poly toad ornament is going to make it better. 

HEEEE! Omigosh. Y'all. Y'ALL.

The more I look at this face, the better my day gets. Can you feel it?

::Kronk voice: "Oh. I can feel it."::

Check out the side view on this bad boy:

This amazingness is by Beatrix Cromwell, and you can check out her Etsy shop here. Last I checked she doesn't have any of these toadies left (SOB) but she has plenty of other cool creatures!

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Kleo over on Weird Secondhand Finds posted about her new chair, but as usual, I was immediately distracted by the thing next to it:

Oooh, that fabulous pink plant! Reminds me of Doofenshmirtz's giant blue palm/flower thing:

Kleo later said in the comments that she'd used an old thrift store plant and 7 cans of gloss spray paint to make it that pink, and omigosh. I... I think need to do this. Not only is it fun and cartoony and modern, I bet the gloss paint makes it easier to dust. BONUS.

Hmm. Let's see, I have an interesting mix of both holiday and mildly horrifying stuff today. (Aha! POST TITLE, BABY.) So which do you want next?

Holiday? Really?

Ok, party pooper, here:

The Christmas gnome trend has reached new heights:

This pic is all over Facebook and Pinterest, but I can't find the original source. Anyone know?

I'd love to do this with our own stubby front tree, but then our gnome would have more of a bowler hat and a pencil neck. Which, you know...

Right. MY TURN TO PICK. Brace yourself:

Bahahahaa!

I legit love that I'm the go-to-tag on Fans of Epbot for creepy doll posts, because I'm not sure which is funnier: the dolls or all your "NOPE KILL IT WITH FIRE" .gif threads. Ahhh. SO GOOD. Not to mention all the ideas I'm filing away for a time when John does something truly heinous, like eat the last donut or not let me adopt an alpaca, because have you SEEN Alfie the alpaca trying to eat a cherry, John? HAVE YOU?

::whispering:: We neeeeed ooooone.

Oh sorry, I just realized some of you are still mildly traumatized by the glowy doll thing. Here, have a cute Santa Claus chaser:

Anna & Daniel Clark of We Are Pretend Friends cut and painted a bunch of these adorable standees for their front yard, and I have heart eyes and grabby hands. GIMMIE. Please?

 Go see the rest on their Instagram post here. If you love these then you'll love the rest of their art, too, so be sure to give them a follow while you're there.

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This next one actually combines "holiday" and "mildly horrifying" - but in a genius sort of way.

via Reddit

One more compelling piece of evidence in the "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" debate.

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I've only seen DIY faux fireplaces made as purely decorative pieces - usually made from wood or cardboard - which is why I felt so clever when John and I built in some hidden storage for our screen-accurate Sherlock fireplace.

::leans forward:: WELL. Last month I spotted another faux fireplace build (not Sherlock - just a generic fireplace), and this thing blew my mind. Here's the in-process shot:

Those are all stock IKEA cabinets, y'all, arranged around a large cabinet base.

Now here it is all trimmed out and finished:

Whaaaaat. Mind = BLOWN. Not only is this gorgeous, it's chock-full of hidden storage space AND it's a relatively easy build. You just screw 4 cabinet bases together! Go see all the details over on the Ikea Hackers site if you're interested in making your own - or if you live in central Florida, shoot me an e-mail; I want to convince John we should try to make one. :D

And finally, my cool cats and kittens, I double-dog dare you to get through this entire 2 minute video without laughing:

I kept it together until about halfway: the 2 German Shepherds rubbing their bellies - followed by the mistletoe drop - did me in. Bahaha!

I hope my silly and/or disturbing finds gave you a grin today, and reminded you to take time out this month for a little sheer lunacy. Or a little opaque lunacy.

And hey, if you're in a dark place where that kind of silliness seems a million miles away, then know that I'm right here rooting for you, along with everyone else in this amazing community. We love you, we believe in you, and we're right here when you need us. (Not "if," by the way. When.)

Someone reading this right now has been waiting for some kind of sign, wondering if they're ready to ask for help, wondering if they're ready to let someone help. If that's you, then this is for you: make the call. Your whole life is waiting for you - and I can't wait to be right here in the wings, cheering you on.

Love you all. Take care of each other out there.

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P.S. We're watching the original animated Grinch and a few other holiday shorts tomorrow for Friday Movie Night over on the Epbot Discord, with a repeat showing Sunday afternoon. If you're able, come join us for a few laughs and some silly .gif-offs!

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P.P.S. We're adding a new design to the Epbot t-shirt shop today! And some of you might even remember what it's for:

OoooOOooh. So mysterious. (Or... not. :p)

This should go up in a few hours; John and I are just tweaking it to work on different shirt colors, and debating between orange or teal for the EPBOT. (Which do you like better?) I can't wait to order ours! Hit the link up there to see if it's live yet, and/or to browse our other shirt designs.