Happy 5th Birthday, FoE!

I'm postponing my Disney shopping haul, because did you know FoE turned five this week?! I didn't! Not until I saw this adorable art by Amy Gentry:

The ear hat! And lil' Squee even gets a shiny number balloon, yesss. That makes it official.

This also reminded me it's been a while since I shared some fun FoE posts, just to give you non-Facebookers a peek at our shenanigans. (FoE = "Fans of Epbot" on Facebook, a fan-run group that I'm delighted to be a part of, especially since I'm not in charge. :P)

Hang on, lemme go rummage through my favorites folder.


Aha! Let's start with this gem from last year(!?) I somehow haven't shared yet:

TEACUP FLOWER CROWNS. Eeee!

As promised in her post, here's Leah & her partner Marji as story-telling fairies:

And here's a more recent post with Leah modeling her new teacup crown!

Now this is a Story teller outfit made to.... SPILL THE TEA.

Eh? EH?

Leah, you look absolutely magical. Amazing work!

*****

Also in the drinks milieu, Caitlin & her sis made Avatar-themed cocktails, and D'AANG are these cool:

Caitlin, I would like to officially propose you nickname the Earth Kingdom one, "Toph Medicine."

::pauses to congratulate self on a groan-worthy pun::

::loses 5 minutes trying - and failing - to think of more ALA drink puns::

By the way, I didn't know several of those ingredients even existed. Spice seedlip? Lavender and ginger liqueur?! I'd like to try them all, please.

*****

There have been a few posts this week celebrating all the friendships and new experiences people found through FoE - and that's what it's all about, right? The people, the connections. We share stuff we love to find others who love the same things - or to introduce each other to new things to love.

 And really, there aren't many places you can find friends fun enough to dress as superheroes at work:

 Dyan, we're all out here wishing our co-workers were more like you.

(Mine keep climbing in my lap and shedding on me, so unprofessional.)

*****

And where else can your kids see other kids being unabashedly, creatively themselves, while the rest of us Kermit-flail in fangirly adoration?

AAAAAAAA

 LOOK AT THE TV. They're performing the Sisters song from White Christmas.... AS INFLATABLE DINOSAURS.

New life goal: be this cool someday.

That's Charlotte (age 12) & Amelia (age 15), and Tiffany tells me they plan to do a new dino routine every year until Charlotte graduates. Please tell me I'm not the only one emotionally compromised in the happiest way over sisters being silly together.

Oh, and Charlotte and Amelia, if there's any way you and your mom could share a video snippet of your dance sometime, I can guarantee you'd make 6,000 of your closest pocket friends very happy.

*****

Let's see, what else?

Ha, here's a good one.  I like how friendly FoE share the little daily things, too. Stuff to remind us, "oh yeah, this is our people."

MY PEOPLE


With a group this big, I like that there's always a comment thread going somewhere with folks recommending new fandom things, from anime to books to movies. I keep bookmarking them so I know which new things to check out.

We also have plenty of my fellow Dizgeeks:



Not only is the Tangled quilt STUNNING, Laura and her mom stitched in hidden Pascals in the purple blocks! Here's a close-up, see him?

Ahhh-mazing.

*****

Here comes one of the best costume mashups I've seen in ages:

Hufflepuff Anna! Traci made all of this herself, my favorite part is the badger design she cut with her Cricut. Isn't it gorgeous??

While I'm bragging on Traci, here's another cool thing she's done, this time for a fellow FoE:

It makes me so happy seeing how y'all are here for each other's geeklings.

*****

Remember my Rainbow Butterfly Wreath? I'll be honest, I was starting to lose heart on craft posts at the time, then BAM. Suddenly everyone was making butterfly wreaths! It was so encouraging, and I especially like how Lisa displayed hers:

The extra trail of butterflies around the room is brilliant. Now I want to do this!

Anyhoo, the butterfly wreath was easily my most popular craft in ages... until 3 months later when I posted the crescent moon wreath DIY. Sweet Stay Puft, apparently y'all like moon wreaths! And unlike the butterfly ones that tend to all look the same, these are wildly different, so I've had a blast seeing all your different variations. Here come just a handful I've saved:

Barb used Dollar Tree's holographic duct tape for the base, and I'm a big fan. So sparkly!

You know how I feel about anything rainbow, so, SWOOOOOOON.  You've convinced me I need a rainbow flower wreath in my life, Jen!

More dreamy colors:

Dangit. Now I also need a pastel succulents wreath.

Angela added pretty butterflies to hers:

And finally Kathryn knocked it outta the park with her bright and beautiful colors:

Yessss. Love the crystal raindrops, too!

And finally, one last giggle for the road:

If your first thought was that you need to print out a bunch of Nicolas Cage heads to hide in public places, then we should be friends. Or we already are. Bahaha!

Let me end with the most massive, heartfelt thanks to the FoE moderators: Sharyn, Dale, Dana, Pam, Aimeé, John, Adele, Daisy, and Melody. Each and every one has been through countless debates, headaches, and heartaches while overseeing an online community of over 6,000 that averages 80 posts per day. (Eeep!) All for no pay, and not nearly enough thanks. The FoE community wouldn't exist without you, Mod Squad! Thanks for letting me steal some of the credit, though. ;) Love y'all.


And though we're celebrating FoE today, I know there are plenty more of you here not in the group. Some of y'all have banded together on the Epbot Discord, others hang out in the comment section here on the blog, others just lurk in the virtual shadows. ::eyebrow waggle:: Wherever you are, however you choose to engage or not engage, I hope this community brings a little more love and light your way. Squishy virtual hugs, thanks for being here.

*****


P.S. With all the talk of wreaths in this post, I have to show you one of my new favorite things: a set of magnetic wreath hangers for our front door.

Magnetic Wreath Hanger 2Pk

Y'all. These things are amazing. For the last 15 years I've had an over-the-door metal wreath hanger, and every time we'd open the door, it would clang and shift around, so I was forever straightening it, plus it rubbed off the door paint, arg. BUT NO MORE. These beauties have a felt-padded magnet that's incredibly strong; after 2 months of daily door-slamming, our pair hasn't budged. The set costs about $14 and comes in 8 different colors/finishes. I can tell you the copper is absolutely beautiful, and looks great on our orange door. I'd share a photo, but unfortunately John found a wasp nest in our wreath yesterday and yeeted it across the yard. Um. Guess it's time for me to make a new one?

 BONUS: if your door has a glass window, you can sandwich the glass between these two hangers, like this:

See how pretty? And such a great solution for doors with windows!