It's only January 4th and I'm already a month behind

You ever have SO MUCH TO DO that all you can manage is to sit through another episode of Brooklyn 99? ("NINE NINE!!")

My to-do list literally has "write to-do list" on it. This... can't be good.

So anyhoo, while my house sits in shambles from uninstalling Christmas, and the end of year paperwork piles up, and last month's leftovers develop sentience in the fridge... let's talk about what my friend Serena of Living By Disney put up today:

Go read her post on IG for more thoughts on this; she hits it right on the head. (And while you're there, follow her for amazing Disney coverage. She's one of us. 'Nuff said.)

I've talked about managing our social media feeds before, but I needed this reminder today. Especially now, when I'm drowning in New Year's Resolutions and feeling overwhelmed about where to start. One thing we can ALL do, right now, is take control of what we're feeding our brains on social media, and be a little more intentional about how we choose to make ourselves FEEL.

Case in point, I'm noticing Bored Panda is really ramping up the "Outrage Porn" lately. You know, all that stuff designed to make us mad and race to the comment section to express our outrage - like this one at the top of my feed RIGHT NOW:

Must. Not. Engage...
(Pun intended. Always.)

Obviously these posts are showing up more often because more people on clicking on them and commenting. We're rewarding bad behavior - yep, I'm guilty, too - and ultimately hurting ourselves by filling our feeds with negativity and cruelty.

So as much as I like some of Bored Panda's other content, and even though I do my best to scroll past these growdy ones, I'm unfollowing the page today. It took that nudge from Serena to remind me that I need to be more mindful of what I'm looking at, and more importantly, how it makes me feel. If a page routinely makes me hate humanity, then hey, MAYBE I SHOULDN'T LOOK AT THAT PAGE.  Ground-breaking stuff, I know, but at least that's one Resolution I think I can manage this week.

How about you? Are you with me? Will you look a little harder as you scroll this week? Will you take note of the stuff that makes you feel happy and inspired, and also the stuff that makes you feel angry or lesser? And as a flip side for unfollowing the bad, how about leaving a nice comment or sharing your favorite posts from the good? (Quick shout-out to all of you who share on FOE for keeping my feed full of happy nerdery - and to the mods for keeping it a safe space. Love you guys!)

And finally, since we all post our OWN content, too, even if it's just for friends and family, here's one last challenge: Be the feed you want to see in the world. 

*****

Now, let's see what the winner of my sunny Pygmy Puff is going to name her! (Drum roll, please.)

 ::Virtual Random Number Generator Spinning::

Aaaand the winner is Jamie, who will be naming Puff "Lemon Drop!" Aw, so perfect. Congrats, Jamie, and please e-mail me your mailing address so we can ship Lemon Drop your way!

How To Make Your Own Huffle Bumble Pygmy Puffs

The Huffle Bumble Pygmy Puffs started as a funny tongue twister I came up with late one night during Party Prep, but John & I quickly realized we had to make some for our Harry Potter Escape Room. We told our guests that some magical pets had accidentally locked themselves in the room, so it was up to them to solve the puzzles and free the pets.
 

We piled the Puffs in the final treasure chest, and let the teams adopt one as a reward. I really didn't think many people would want a Puff, but to my surprise they were a HUGE hit - to the point that I ran out! Ack!

So since I had to make another small batch anyway, I thought I'd show you guys how to make your own Pygmy Puffs.



Fun Fact: These guys have feet!

 
 I love having that little surprise when people pick them up. :)




I should mention that these particular Puffs took me FOREVER to make, but that's mostly because I used some really difficult materials, and because we needed nearly 20 of them. If you only want one or two they're actually a pretty simple DIY - and even easier if you don't add stripes!

So here, let me walk you through it. We'll start with the Puff part, since you can use furry puff balls for a lot more than just Pygmy Puffs - and they're surprisingly easy to make!

YOU WILL NEED: