There's nothing quite like a good book and that was especially true during the Great Depression where entertainment was short and disposable income was low. Seeing people read during those tough times provides both a look at their realities and their escapes from reality.
These awesome photos, featured on Flavorwire, show just how important books, magazines and newspapers were to keeping up morale and just passing the time.
Halloween is our favorite time of the year, but it can be stressful, particularly for parents who don't have enough time or money to make or buy their little one the perfect costume. But you can make a pretty awesome costume for surprisingly little money and here are a few ideas for those who prefer to DIY over buy, but still want something pretty simple.
A yellow hat, an orange scarf, a brown sash covered in badges and some hefty hiking boots can transform any boy into everyone's favorite Wilderness Explorer.
Windup Doll
Dress up your little cutie in his or her fanciest clothes, then add a gold-painted cardboard cutout of a windup key and you have an adorable little windup doll.
Wonder Woman
Every little girl is wonderful, but with a blue tutu, some felt stars and a Wonder Woman tee, she can actually become Wonder Woman as well. Throw in a tiara and wrist cuffs on older girls and you've got a full, fashionable ensemble.
Here at Neatorama, we're pretty big fans of Seinfeld, which is why I couldn't be more excited about Gallery 1988's "An Art Show About Nothing."
If you love Jujyfruits, Junior Mints, Kenny Roger's Fried Chicken, pretzels that make you thirsty and soup Nazis, then you'll inevitably love the delightfully silly and whimsical art based on the long-running series.
If course, having looked at the art on the website and over at Flavorwire, I can't tell you if there's any triangle art there, but there does seem to be plenty of other great referrences in the show.
There was a time when skyscrapers seemed unbelievable -as though building something that tall was just asking for a major collapse. These days, skyscrapers may be old news, but there still are plenty of architects out there trying to defy gravity and human perception.
Over on Homes and Hues, we collected some of the craziest, most vertigo-inducing buildings we could find to challenge your senses. From tilted structures to cantilevered creations that appear to hover off the ground, it's amazing what modern materials can allow us to acomplish.
Be sure to check out all 7 crazy structures at Homes and Hues: 7 Amazing Gravity-Defying Buildings
We love some good art and some great Halloween costumes -and every now and then the two combine into somehting fantastic. This great Flavorwire article shows just how magical the blend of art and costumery can be.
One of the greatest things about these art costumes is the fact that a lot of them are actually easy, they just require a lot of creativity.
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Of course, you don't have to go serious just because you want to go artsy...
Last week we went to visit The Rise of the Jack-O-Lanterns at the San Diego Safari Park. This incredible pumpkin-carving festival features over 5,000 pumpkins carved throughout the week so there are fresh ones on display every weekend from now until Halloween. If you're not in San Diego, you can also check out The Rise in Los Angeles and New York and I highly recommend the visit. Here are some highlights from our experience though I get the feeling each event has unique attractions so what you see here is probably a bit different than what you might see in person.
At the start of the event you could see carvers making new pumpkins -in part I'm sure it was to show that the pumpkin works of art were actually real and carved fresh before the event, but it also helped emphasize the talent and creativity of the artists.
Still, as cool as these are, they are nowhere near as impressive as the ones actually inside the exhibit.
It seems appropriate that while there we traditional signs around the event, the main one was made from pumpkins -it also seemed oddly appropriate that like Halloween pumpkins, one of the letters had gone out.
This pumpkin sentinel was on guard to protect his other carved friends.
Each area had a theme and the first theme was Under the Sea and here was the welcome sign.
We love terrifying Halloween food, but it's hard to make something mentally scarring without a ton of experience. If you're brave enough to try the DIY approach though, Instructable user SemadarG has put together a handy tutorial on how to make your own nightmarish cupcakes like the one above.
There are some people who like to put a few cute, cartoony window decals up before Halloween night and then there are those who really want their home to be truly horrifying. If you are part of the second group, then you certainly won't want to miss this collection of amazingly scary decorations we rounded up for Homes and Hues.
From ghosts and graveyards to cannibalistic barbecues, these decorations are sure to scare the pants off of your guests no matter how old they are, so don't miss the full collection of terrifying treats at Homes and Hues: 8 More Horrifically Haunting Halloween Decorations
Most of you have probably never heard of the moon melon -unless you're a regular Pinterest user. In that case, you probably know that this Japanese melon will "switch flavors after you eat it -everything sour will taste sweet, everything salty will taste bitter, etc." Of course, there's a reason most people haven't heard of it -it's not real!
And this pastel, rainbow-colored snake is also not real (though it is a pretty Photoshop). If you've ever seen something suspiciously cool on Pinterest, you won't want to miss this collection of viral Pinterest photos that are actually totally fake.
I know it's a brave thing to say in today's political climate, but I can't help but say it -I love pandas. Ok, I'm just kidding about the bravery thing as practically everyone loves pandas but how can you not love something that's black and white and cute all over?
If you feel the same, then you absolutely must head over to this great InventorSpot article where you can find 24 awesome panda-inspired fashions.
For those who prefer the red version of the panda, don't worry, there are plenty of fashions inspired by those cuties online as well -like this great scarf by RedPandaKnits. Either way, it's a great way to make sure your style is unbearably cute.
A bride chooses, a slave obeys and this bride and groom couldn't have chose a more awesome wedding theme than Bioshock. Sure, it might be a little creepy to see a Big Daddy walking down the aisle and I'm sure their grandparents had some complaints about "kids these days," but this couple's wedding is something they will remember forever -along with their guests.
Fans of the game will certainly recognize a lot of the stylistic choices and referrences in the Flickr set showing the entire wedding and there certainly are a whole lot of them!
Via Fashionably Geek
Whether you're going for a theme or just want to "tie the room together," rugs are critical accents to a home design. And over at Homes and Hues, we've rounded up some of the greatest rugs we could find around the web.
From plush animal skins to tributes to Matisse, these rugs cross the entire gamlet of style and class. Kids, artists and frequent fliers alike are sure to find something they like in this list.
So don't miss the whole list over at Homes and Hues: 11 Rugs to Set Your Home Apart
We've all heard of cult films, but it takes a particular accomplishment to make a cult classic about an actual cult. Over at Flavorwire, the greatest cult films in history have been compiled into one great list of creepy flicks -including one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen in my life, Martyrs. Of course, you can also expect the famous cult films everyone remembers like Rosemary's Baby and Children of the Corn.
We've all heard people claim they made something from scratch, but mixing up your own batch of cookie dough with ingredients you bought from the store is a lot different than actually milling your own flour, churning your own butter, etc. We tend to take the accessability of most food items for granted, but what would happen if you really wanted to make something completely from scratch? This YouTuber did just that by making his own sandwich and the result reminds us just how lucky we are to have food readily available at the closest grocery store.
Driving always presents at least some measure of risk, but it's one thing to have to worry about idiots that can't merge and a whole different matter to worry about the road itself. This great TopTenz list shows that your daily commute might occassionally seem dangerous when you see people pulled over after a fender-bender, but it's nowhere near the fearful drive some people need to take every day.
