Inspiration Machine 17

Clockwise from left: ©dinamarie originals, KillToLive, artd!va, anneso_cachemireetsoie

1. Write a list of 10 places you dream about working at. Then start applying.

2. Give yourself a home pampering day, complete with scented bath, facial and pedicure.

3. Keep a diary of all the good things that happen to you. Pull it out when you are feeling glum.

4. Collect sand from all the beaches you visit (Bakerella has an amazing collection here).

5. Hate holiday consumerism? Sign up for Buy Nothing Day - and join the fight against Black Friday fever.

6. Have a bunch of random art supplies, wasting away? Stick them all in a box, close your eyes, and stick your hand in (make sure to leave out the Exacto blades ;) - whatever comes out, you have to work with.

7. If you could take part in any great movement in history, which would you choose, and why?

8. Bleach your jeans. Go ahead, you know you want to.

9. Who says you have to be stuffed on Thanksgiving? Organize a Thanksgiving cocktail party instead - create turkey (or tofurkey) hors d'œuvres, cranberry-vodka shots, and decorate wine glasses with feathers.

10. Make your friends fall over laughing with an absurdly funny alternative ecard from Someecards.com

Inspiration Machine 16

Clockwise from left: joelinner.net, Aspirin Photo, Danz in Tokyo, persephassa

1. Design your own tattoo.

2. Write a dirty limerick.

3. If you could have tea with any five people alive or dead, who would you choose? Why?

4. What alternative to driving automobiles would be your preferred mode of transportation?

5. Volunteer at your local youth program.

6. Try to wear red, white and blue in a way that doesn't look cheesy.

7. Contribute your essay to NPR's "This I Believe" archive.

8. Invest in Smart Wool socks, to keep your toes cozy, warm and dry in all those big boots you'll wear this winter. (I just got a pair of these, and I am hooked!)

9. Try knitting your own winter hat.

10. Begin your holiday shopping now. (It may seem obscenely early, but when you can spend all December enjoying the holidays rather than preparing for them, you will thank me ;)

Inspiration Machine 15 : Something Wicked...

Clockwise from left: .min., Rödel LA, *BOOJOO*, Walkabout Wolf

1. Make plaster casts of your hands. Then use the cast as a mold to make creepy hand candles.

2. Have a mask-making party. Decorate papier-mâché masks as skulls and animals, then later in the evening, don the masks, dim the lights, and hold a creepy dance party.

3. If you could be any supernatural creature, what would you choose, and why?

4. Give your sweetheart a gift of edible scorpions.

5. Creep yourself out with some spooky "true" ghost stories.

6. Buy a cassette of spooky music, dim the lights, and practice your door opening routine to thoroughly frighten trick-or-treaters (make sure you have a tame one for the little guys)

7. Take a walk through your local cemetery, taking gravestone rubbings of interesting graves.

8. Have a dinner on Halloween night, with an extra place setting for departed loved ones. Give the place setting an apple, and a shot of spirits. Spend the evening reminiscing on stories and memories of those who are no longer with us. At the end of the evening, take the apple and brandy, and leave it on your doorstep overnight in honor of those who are gone.

9. Watch the classics: Charlie Brown, Garfield and SpongeBob are great ways to be festive and still be able to get to sleep at night.

10. Whip up a batch of Halloween Lady Fingers (my friend Linda whipped these up this week, and I helped decorate them with nails & blood) - simply scary & delectable!

Inspiration Machine 15

Clockwise from left: KillToLive, M.Omair (The Perfectionist), rosiehardy, dodidoune

1. Try wearing rings on every finger.

2. Pick an item you absolutely hate (crop tops, leggings, stripes) and try to incorporate it into an outfit you are proud of. Everything has potential.

3. Make your own leggings, a la Queen Michelle.

4. Ask yourself, "Are you happy?" Then ask yourself what you need to be so. Then go after those things.

5. Make your own marshmallows.

6. Organize a fall cleaning: pack up summer clothes, bring out the heavy blankets and humidifiers, and decorate your home in warm autumn colors. Personal favorite: stocking up on delicious pumpkin candles. Or even better, make your own pumpkin candles, out of real pumpkins!

7. Begin making "goody bags" for trick-or-treaters. Fill them with toy jewelry, old fashioned rock candy, and gold chocolate coins. Write spooky ghost stories on burned scraps of paper for a perfect finishing touch.

8. Each morning when you wake, take a few moments to set your intention for the day.

9. Think up five ways to wear a scarf.

10. Wear a kimono.

Inspiration Machine 14: Costumed

Clockwise from left: gashlycrumbs, verhext, manganite, carli kirstin

Going to change things up this week! In honor of my favorite holiday quickly approaching, here are some ideas for that perfect Halloween costume...

1. Dress as your favorite movie character. gashlycrumbs does a brilliant job here, dressed as Jack Skellington and Sally from "A Nightmare Before Christmas"

2. Paint your face in honor of "Dia De La Muerta." In Mexican folklore, death is often celebrated as a freedom from pain, and skeletons drawn in vivid colors, decorated with flowers. Verhext does a fantastic job here.

3. Dress as your favorite literary character. Persephassa has an excellent rendition of Nancy Drew.

4. Static Cling: Burda Style shows how to make a last minute costume from all those leftover socks.

5. Go as your favorite hobby. Flint Knits has a remarkable shot of her friend Vanessa's clever bowling costume.

6. Want to be classy, and sexy? Go Burlesque.

7. You can never go wrong with a simple little indian costume. Heck, I am tempted to wear this every day!

8. Anyone can be a pirate. Now, a newspaper pirate, THAT takes a little imagination.

9. I like the idea of dressing as a drunken bride - it's a great excuse to wear a beautiful dress, and carry a bottle of champagne around all night. And it is pretty darn funny.

10. Go as your favorite painting. helveticaneue's depiction of "Girl With a Pearl Earring" is simply stunning.

Inspiration Machine 14

Clockwise from left: Rödel LA, Bleu spark, verhext, Bleu spark

1. Read the poems of Pablo Neruda.

2. Find the perfect fall perfume.

3. Go for a walk in the falling leaves.

4. Coordinate a pen-pal on the other side of the world, to tell you about the warm or cold season they are experiencing.

5. Give yourself a porcelain face. (Courtesy of Doe Deere)

6. Begin researching your family tree.

7. Register to vote!!!

8. Actually roll down your stockings.

9. Drink Pumpkin Ale - or better yet, MAKE it.

10. Each year, write a letter to yourself, in ten years. Rent a safety deposit box to keep the letters in. Wait ten years, and begin reading correspondence from your yourself ten years younger.

Inspiration Machine 13: Halloween Cometh...

Clockwise from left: Walkabout Wolf, persephassa, Lynn Morag, persephassa

1. Go for a walk in the woods in the dark, with a solitary candle for company.

2. Dress entirely in black (but try not to look goth ;)

3. Try to make one cryptic statement a day. If anyone questions you about it, just smile.

4. Compile a list of spooky movies to watch and books to read throughout the month.

5. Work on your evil laugh.

6. Have yourself and your friends each compose a scary story. Then host a party with a bonfire, and tell each of your stories in turn.

7. Make candy apples, pumpkin pie, sugar skulls, and popcorn balls.

8. Keep a witch's hat around your house, and put it on at random moments.

9. Howl at the moon unexpectedly.

10. Watch "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" with all your friends. Dress as the characters, and make sure to sing and shout all the lines.

Inspiration Machine 12

Clockwise from left: abless, abless, FrizzText, kitty227

1. Name your computer.

2. Display your shoes by color or height.

3. If you could create your own personal sanctuary, what would it be? Where would it be?

4. Take a moment to feel everything you touch.

5. Make a collage/digital video of all your favorite things.

6. What is your mantra?

7. Outline the steps of your spiritual quest.

8. If you could have your own magazine, what would you name it? What would it be about?

9. Listen to opera.

10. Begin planning the trip of a lifetime.

Inspiration Machine 10

Clockwise from left: ieganai, Zack Schnepf, boboniaa, shoobydoo

1. Lose yourself in an adventure.

2. Describe what your perfect bag would be: size, color, fit, magical powers...

3. If you could have a super power, what would it be? Why?

4. If you could have any creature on Earth for a pet, what would you choose?

5. Take your old tights and stockings and make banging wristlets from them.

6. Make a quilt from all your favorite worn out clothing.

7. Start planning your fantastic Day of the Dead party.

8. Spend 20 seconds laughing everyday.

9. Start keeping a diary.

10. Make the decision to never dwell on disappointment.

Inspiration Machine 10

Clockwise from left: ieganai, borfis_, gwen bell, ieganai

1. Dress to clash.

2. Dress in homage of your favorite artist.

3. If you could choose one supernatural thing to actually exist, what would it be?

4. Tell secrets to flowers.

5. Make a mixtape of all your favorite songs from high school.

6. If you could have a one night affair with anyone on the planet, free of guilt or repercussions, who would it be?

7. Paint your nails the color wheel.

8. Braid scarves into your hair.

9. Invest in and learn to play ukulele.

10. What would your Inspiration Machine look like?


Let's here and see some magic, kids.

Inspiration Machine 9

Clockwise from left: Divisible Eye, victoriarikaheke, lebonbonmulticolore, borfis_

1. Take a photo each day of something you love. At the end of the year, print out books of the photos to give to your friends and loved ones.

2. Keep a book of beautiful names and words.

3. Make a pile of all the seasonal clothes you haven't worn in 6 months. Each day, grab a piece from the pile and try to make an outfit around it. If you can't, chuck it out!

4. Reread the first book you ever read.

5. If you had a zoo, what animals would you fill it with?

6. Buy a bouquet of all your favorite flowers. Keep them in your home, or give them out to the people you encounter through the day.

7. Paint a dress, shirt, pair of jeans.

8. Start planning your Halloween costume.

9. Go horseback riding.

10. What would your hot air balloon be in the shape of?

I'd love to hear some answers to 5 and 10 - or better yet, what's in your Inspiration Machine?

Inspiration Machine 8

Clockwise from left: stellalee523, abless, ~fb~, FrizzText

1. Go a whole day without saying "no."

2. Everyday write down something you have learned.

3. Embroider a denim vest or pair of jeans with all your favorite things.

4. Try wearing your favorite shirt/dress backwards.

5. Set up windchimes in all the windows of your home. Open them all up and have a "windchime orchestra."

6. Make sun tea. (a la French Toast Girl)

7. Write a list of all the things you haven't had a chance to wear this summer, and try to coordinate them into your remaining summer wardrobe.

8. Get your boots polished for autumn.

9. Design your own chess set.

10. Give a random hug today.

Inspiration Machine 7

Clockwise from left: Bonnie Shulman, Gatochy, Steve Hopson, Shutterhack

1. Decorate your own pair of sneakers.

2. Begin holding dinner parties.

3. What would you choose to float in the air instead of clouds?

4. Eat a piece of fruit everyday.

5. Dress monochromatically.

6. If you had your own company, what would you call it?

7. Replace all the doors in your home with filmy curtains.

8. Write down the 10 nicest things that ever happened to you.

9. Invent a fantastic new hairstyle.

10. If you were in a band, what would you play?

Inspiration Machine 6

Clockwise from left: ~fb~, Gatochy, Meanest Indian, Pink Sushi

1. Coordinate your closet by the colorwheel.

2. Dress up your best friend.

3. Hold a cupcake-tasting tea party

4. For the apartment-bound, grow grass in window boxes in all your windows.

5. Handpaint your own nesting dolls.

6. If you could create the ideal pet, what would it look like, and what would be its key traits?

7. Write a letter to your living hero, telling them how they have inspired you in your life.

8. Channel the spirit of the missing color.

9. What noble title would you prefer?

10. Make a necklace of braided scarves.

Inspiration Machine 5

Clockwise from left: ulisses barbosa, kelco, rosefirerising, ~fb~

1. Choose a language, and teach yourself one word from it each day. Say the word in greeting instead of "hello."

2. Dress as your favorite character from a book or movie.

3. Determine what will be your "great work."

4. Start carrying cloth handkerchiefs.

5. Create postcards from scratch of imaginary locations, and send them to friends.

6. If you could start your own charity, what would it be based around aiding? How would it accomplish it?

7. Start your own charity.

8. Whenever you get angry at someone, make yourself tell them an earnest compliment instead of brooding.

9. Cultivate a vanity table.

10. Live each day like its going in your memoir.

Inspiration Machine 4

Clockwise from left: anneso_cachemireetsoie, !.keesssss.!, ♥chimidoro♫♪, kozika

1. Take up haberdashery.

2. Decorate dollar bills, and give them out to panhandlers.

3. What would be your name if you were a pirate?

4. Learn the Latin names of all your favorite flowers.

5. If you could create your own language, what would the words be for "love," "hate," "beautiful" and "war"?

6. Attempt the highest hairstyle you can muster.

7. Take ten deep breaths, acknowledging and thanking each for keeping you alive.

8. Pick a color, and draw everything you see in that color throughout the day.

9. Compose your speech to the world.

10. Make the decision to live bravely.

Inspiration Machine 3

Clockwise from left: xelia., idgie., unaerica, olivia ew

1. Imagine your own tribe. Decide it's name, belief system, and customs.

2. Create a brand new holiday around your favorite thing.

3. Reenact your first kiss.

4. Design your personal amulet.

5. Summon your guardian spirits: what are their names, and what do they look like? (Takashi Murakami has two)

6. Buy a globe, and decorate all the places you have been with paint and glitter.

7. Imagine what you would be like if you had lived your entire life in another country. What country would you choose? How would you be different: in dress, habit, and profession?

8. If you could have a twin, what would be their name? Would you prefer a boy or a girl? What would they be like?

9. Choreograph your own personal dance. Perform it frequently, in celebration of yourself.

10. Decorate your hair daily with something that starts with every letter of the alphabet.

Inspiration Machine 2

Clockwise from left:sadandbeautiful (Sarah), flint knits, martianmermaid, Sarajea

1. Learn how to do a handstand.

2. Invent a signature drink, and name it after yourself.

3. Give names to all the dogs you pass throughout your day.

4. Give yourself a french manicure, but with bright, brilliant colors.

5. If you could have a castle, what would you name it?

6. Think of the perfect date, then take yourself out on it.

7. Reach out to a distant friend once a week.

8. Design your own coat of arms.

9. What would you name your own planet?

10. Swap back rubs for hugs. Or vice-versa.

Inspiration Machine 1

Clockwise from left:Miss Lulu & The Teaspoon Shortage, anneso_cachemireetsoie, ElisabethD, Fjola Dogg

1. If you could decide the uniform of the planet, what would it consist of? What would the the color palette be?

2. Dress as the spirit of your favorite food.

3. Name each of your toes.

4. Pick a day of the week. Dub it your day. Make sure to celebrate it throughout.

5. Eat everything with chopsticks.

6. Keep a journal of all the animals you encounter.

7. Drink a glass of water the same way you would an expensive glass of wine.

8. If you could make a totem pole, what animals would you stack?

9. When you are in a particularly great mood, mail a postcard to yourself about why.

10. Carry sparklers in your purse for fun emergencies.