100% Curiously Awesome: April 2009 Archives

I am in love with this wallpaper. And that's kind of saying a lot, because I hate wallpaper in general. But seriously, this is one of the greatest ideas ever.

Initial thought: This would be perfect for a kid's room. They would always have something to color, draw, and paint on. The only trouble I see is that kids can only reach so high, so after a while they're bound to start dragging kitchen chairs or unstable boxes into their rooms to reach the higher frames. Solution? Do a chair rail around the room and only put the wallpaper on the bottom third of the wall.

Besides kid's rooms, though, this would also be great for teenagers so they can display all their funky photos in a more creative way and appealing way than, say, sticking them into a mirror or to a corkboard. And actually, this wallpaper might also be cool in a bathroom. As we've all experienced in public restrooms, people like to write and doodle on walls while they do their business, and their creations would give you something to look at / read while you're doing your business. Just be ready for some not-so-nice stuff, depending how how obscene your friends can get. That's what White-Out is for, I suppose.

I can say from personal experience that the Giant Cupcake Cake Pan is one of the coolest cake pans I've ever seen and used. For looking so awesome, it isn't very difficult to bake and decorate, which is always a plus.

It would be neat to bake a giant cupcake cake in yellow or white cake, put it on a huge tray or platter, and then surround it with a bunch of regular sized chocolate cupcakes. That way everyone at the party can eat the kind of cake they like and everything still looks cute and cohesive. Love it.

For under $30 you can own this delicious piece of over-sized awesomeness. If you like giant-sized gifts, check out these ginormous goodies over at the Vat19.com store.

If this isn't geek chic, I don't know what is.

Since it's introduction to the world in 1990, Adobe's Photoshop program has made its way into everyday American pop culture, to the point where the word "photoshop" itself has become a regular part of our vocabulary, as in "Oh my God, that picture of Mariah Carey is totally photoshopped!" It's even in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. But that's just not enough, is it? We need more Photoshop in our everyday lives. More!

Well, now Photoshop geeks, freaks, and wannabes everywhere can proclaim their love for the software with the "Invisible" T-shirt from artist Reece Ward. The design features the standard Photoshop toolbar with part of the background (in this case, you) erased.

At a totally reasonable price of $24.00, this would make a great gift for any graphic designer, photographer, web designer...basically anyone you know who works with digital images. And while the existence and powers of Photoshop are widely known, there are still a great amount of people out there who would be totally confused by this shirt, which makes it that much more awesome. It's like an inside joke that a heck of a lot of people are in on. Goodtimes!

I would've begged and begged for this TV if it would've been around when I was a kid! A small TV that looks like a crab is just plain awesome. In fact, I dare say it is 100% Curiously Awesome.

At the moment, it doesn't look like the Plush Crab TV is available. The manufacturer, Hannspree, also has other really neat TVs in unique shapes. They make TVs surrounded by an apple, firetruck, monkey, baseball, and more. Geniuses.

Who hasn't stuck photos of friends or family into the edges of their bedroom mirror? I guess the idea is that it's quick, easy, and you're bound to see the photos at least once a day (more if you're narcissistic). The View Mirror by Jellio takes this idea a step further by building the photo frames into the mirror. Behold:

Design look a little familiar? That's right, the View Mirror is modeled after a ViewMaster reel, which I, as a child of the 80s, find completely awesome. The mirror is 24" in diameter and has 14 slots for images, just like the original ViewMaster reels. Retailing for $150.00, it's a tad steep, but I think it would make a great mirror for a child or teenager's room, or even a cool accent piece in a modern home ... or a home dedicated to 80s classics.

Did you know that neon food coloring existed? I had no idea! I want neon icing on a delicious baked good, and I want it now.

I always love a nicely decorated and colorful cake, cookie, cupcake, brownie...you name it. Sometimes it seems pretty much impossible to get the exact color of icing you want when all you have to work with is red, yellow, green, and blue dyes that come in standard food coloring sets. Good luck if you want bright pink or brown.

The McCormick Neon Food Colors & Egg Dye come with pink, purple, green, and blue. I haven't tried these (yet!), but from the looks of this picture, the colors are definitely bright.

If you're not a fan of colored icing, you could use the food coloring to dye the cake batter and make really cool looking rainbow cupcakes.