I really do have ridiculous ways of finding my ridiculous items. I know that for today's item I didn't go searching for giant chess sets... I didn't even know they were on Etsy! I literally searched for "giant" under the handmade category because I know that many times the coolest things are either oversized or undersized versions of the original item. Well that is definitely true in this case!

Very appropriately named, largechess is the maker of this item. This set is the largest of his chess sets, at two feet tall. The "World's First Giant Medieval Themed Outdoor Chess Set" is indeed what it says - the world's only giant chess set with a medieval theme! It's based off of King Arthur and the Legend of Excalibur. And I know I've seen regular chess sets made giant, but never one like this! Largechess says he spent over a year creating the original sculptures for this set. And because this is a custom order, they can be made in colors to match your home or garden! The pieces are durable, lightweight, and definitely ridiculously awesome!

Whoa wait, what? Actual robots? On Etsy? Who knew? I didn't. At least not until about five minutes ago. This awesome (and very teeny) robot comes to you from MiddleCreekMerchants. And it looks like this husand and wife team creates just about anything!

This particular guy is a solar powered sun seeking robot. It has a tiny solar panel and will actually follow the sun. And it moves fast too, at one inch per second. And since it's solar, it requires no batteries - bonus! It teeny tiny! Not much bigger than a quarter, and it was made from computer and phone parts! I went to their website ( http://www.robots.stonepile.org/ - the one listed in the picture) to watch the video. Pretty cool stuff! Middle also has different tiny robots listed in their shop, including one that makes noise, and one that looks like a caterpillar!

Ok ok, I'll admit it. I stole this from the front page. But hey you have to admit, the FP has some pretty ridiculously awesome items. Like these cute little stud earrings from Joannarutter!

"Tiny Fox and Forest Studs" are made by hand by Joanna out of sterling silver. I love that the two earrings are different, as is the case with many of Joanna's earrings, including those with tiny squirrels and birds. In fact, Joanna has a whole shop full of beautifully handcrafted jewelry. I personally like all of the little birds - they would go great with a Nimbus necklace!

I'm going to be mixing in some of my awesome fashion finds from now on, in addition to the Ridiculously Awesome series. How exciting is that? And if you think the items I've found on Etsy are ridiculously awesome, then you'll love designer Hussein Chalayan. He's most known for mixing technology with fashion. He makes clothes that light up, and clothes that literally move and transform themselves. I don't know how he does it, but it's truly ridiculously awesome. And not only are they technologically amazing, they're beautiful as well, and really well designed. Here's a video of his Spring and Summer collection from 2007. The beginning two minutes or so is his ready to wear collection. If you want to skip ahead to the really wild stuff, start the video at 1:50.

I've always greatly enjoyed staceyrebecca's store full of fun little finger puppets, and now she seems to have even more up in her shop than ever! She also seems to be having an awesome sale on adorable toilet paper finger puppets!

This "Toilet Paper Party Finger Puppet" is made out of felt and, well, looks pretty friendly to me. But if toilet paper doesn't suit your fancy, there are man other choices in Stacey's shop. Would you prefer a Microwave of DOOM? Or maybe an Angry Pizza?

Today's dose of awesomeness comes to you from danielbombardier. Daniel designs sweet wall decals for the Wall+Ternatives graphic design company, like this one!

This Cassette Tape wall decal is huge at 2x3 feet. Retro and detailed, it even says "Mixed Tape" on the label. These wall decals are great because they don't damage the walls while they're up. They come off cleanly, with nothing left the behind. The only downside is once they're off of your wall, you can't use them again.

There is literally and endless supply of ridiculously awesome wall decals on Etsy, so I'll save the rest for other posts ;)

I was looking for some sweet sculptural pieces for today, and when I saw "Flo the fabric donkey" from the lovely peeps at prettyscruffy, I thought 'Hey, that's a pretty sweet fabric donkey.' And then I saw the words "Lifesize Sculpture" in the listing... and almost died.

Bryony and Abi are the peeps behind prettyscruffy, and this fabulous lifesize fabric donkey. I was able to get the whole story from them on how Flo came about. She was made in literally FOUR DAYS as a last minute decision right before an event. Flo was made with fabrics scraps collected through the years (I like how individual motifs were cut out from the fabric and sewed on as appliques) and then stuffed with newspaper, magazines, and plastic grocery bags. I imagine there's gotta be some kind of armature in there as well to make her stand up on her own, either that or the legs are stuffed really, really tightly to make them stiff enough to hold up the weight of the rest of the donkey.

And all that work really paid off! Flo will be shown at local school exhibition soon, and is also travelling to London to be shown! I also got a few extra behind-the-scenes pictures from Bryony and Abi of the making of Flo... but for whatever reason they just started showing up as big stupid sad faces instead of the actual photos... if anyone knows how to fix this please let me know! Until I figure it out I'm just removing them from this post. Hopefully they'll be back up later!

Today's dose comes to you from michaelarras. I love these circle tables he sells in his shop, and this one is super fun because it's bright green!

Called "Yellow Green Table," it consists of several circular and oblong pieces of wood connected together in a single unit. It's handmade, one of a kind, and guarenteed to be a unique addition to your living room!

Michael has a few other similar tables in his shop, in different shapes and finishes, including a fun more rectangular table in orange! But all of his furniture is very clean and modern while still being statement pieces.

I was having quite a time finding something I really liked for today's post... that is, until I came across homedog's Etsy shop. I cannot get over how ridiculously awesome and hilarious their pet houses are.

This one, as you might have already guessed is modelled after the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. It's called "The Cathedral of Notre Dog," and looks so much like the original it's amazing! Ok, I'm pretty sure the red fire hydrants aren't actually outside the cathedral in Paris, but a dog's gotta feel at home right? You really do need to click on the listing, and look at the other pictures for the full 360 effect - it looks good from all angles!

This would be great for small dogs and cats - but can you even imagine how epically awesome this would be build for say, a St. Bernard?!? Oh, and of course there are replicas of other famous buildings scaled down for your pet, like The Pantheon, and The Continental Library!

Today's daily dose comes to you from knitting extraordinaire elf518. Elf makes highly detailed fairisle patttern into sweaters, clutches, neckwarmers, and hats. And they're all hand knit, too!

This sweater, called "Robot Pixel Mash-up Fair Isle Sweater" is custom made for you in your size when you order. The design is crazy awesome, and the black and white combination makes the pattern stand out a lot. It's handknit by elf, and the gauge is fine enough to allow to a lot of detail within the design.

I particularly like the blue and red combination, and the puff sleeves in another sweater of hers called "Red and Blue Handknit Robot Sweater." Really, how can you go wrong with robots and sweaters all in one?

Today's ridiculously awesome item comes to you from harlequinfeltworks. She makes her floral inspired scarves using a wet felting techique called "nuno" felting, which is really fun because you felt on top of silk chiffon to create this fun effect.

This scarf is called "Minimal Rose." I like it because the colors are more neutral, and the gradation is a really cool effect. The base is a hand dyed silk chiffon scarf, with a merino/silk blend felted into it. Merino is really soft and comfortable, and isn't itchy like domestic wool can be.

You can wear is wrapped around as shown in the picture, or you can let it hang down (check out her shop banner for examples of ways to wear the scarves).

And if you aren't a fan of this color combination, there are other colorways in her shop, including combinations of reds, pink, oranges, grays and white. Definitely cool designs, and great scarves!

I've had valhallabrooklyn on my ridiculously awesome list for a while now! She's been a featured seller on Etsy, and had a "Quit Your Day Job" interview as well. She has a lot of wonderful new bags, wallets and cases out for summer!

This "Okinawa Leather Bag in Turquoise" is a great example of valhalla's work. Everything of hers is very detailed and well made, with lots of pockets inside andout to hold all of your valuables. And all her bag are always lined with fun fabrics! This particular bag is a bright, fun turquoise shade, with fun zipper pulls, a removable long strap and lined with a printed blue and white fabric.

Her bags are a splurge for a lot of us, but if you're looking for something more in your price range, check out her wallets and camera cases, made in a striped pattern with different shades of leather. The leather isn't vegan friendly, but for all others, the leather will guarentee that these bags will last you a long time, and leather always gets better with age!

Today's item was just too fun not to post! The perfect item to wear during the summer months, this fun corset dress comes to you from Mariquez.

This "Cocktail Candy Multicolor Flower Barbie Corset and Skirt Dress" is actually a corset and a skirt inspired by Barbie and all things candy colored. The airbrushing makes the colors unique, and the faux flower embellishments are just perfect! It would make a daring choice for a tea party, or you could even display it on a dress form.

I think it should also be noted that Mariquez is a very young (but talented!) designer, and her shop is just full of colorful, detailed and unique items, like pendants, and millefiori cuffs!

It's day 7 of cupcake week, so this is the very last cupcake post I'm doing for a while... I think I've fulfilled my year's requirement for cupcakes. It's turning all of my ads into cupcake ads!

And here is part one of today's epic cupcake finale!

It comes to you from whimsicalcollections. I saw this listing for the first time today, and it took me about 2 seconds to decide whether or not to put it up here. It absolutely had to go up because:
A. It's adorable.
B. It's unique. How often do you see a cupcake chandelier?

This "Whimsical Cupcake Nursery or Playroom Chandelier" is one of many crazy cool and unique chandeliers, that would make a great conversation piece, and the different options in themes means that you have lots of choices in terms of style and colors. This one is fun because each arm is different, and the bows on the lampshades make it extra adorable. It was so fun to look through their shop, and the teacup and bunny chandeliers are a couple of my favorites.

Don't forget to stop by later to see part 8 of my week long cupcake extravaganza! I don't know about you, but I almost never want to see a cupcake again... almost ;)

Woo, we're really starting to come into the finish here on the epic cupcake week! I do have to play catchup though, and do the last two cupcake days in one tomorrow since I skipped a day. I had my last final due today for my last semester of college, and had graduation events going on today, and the big commencement ceremony tomorrow!

But I'm back on track (yay!). And and with an awesome item none the less. It comes to you from ZombifiedCreations. Who has the most adorable zombie cupcake pincushions ever. Yes, you heard me right! Sounds like an odd combination, but I've had this guy in my radar for a few days now, and come on - there's no such thing as too many pincushions.

Zombi The Evil Cupcake Pincushion is the size of a normal edible cupcake, but has crazy amounts of awesome that a regular cupcake could never possess, no matter how hard it tries. My favorite part is the contrast between the pretty teal flowery lace and the "crazy eyes" made out of what I think is a combination of buttons, nuts and washers. Crazy cupcake eyes are lethal, because you never know whether he's looking at you or not... *shifty eyes*

And the ultimate best part? At these prices, they're a steal! Seriously, if nobody buys them soon I might be acquiring a small army of Evil Zombi Cupcakes. Which might be dangerous. So if you don't hear from me for a few days... send out a search party! And tell them to stay clear of the cupcakes; something nobody wants to hear!

And stay tuned for tomorrow, the ultimate cupcake day! After that I'll of course be going back to posting a wide variety of items :D

If you've been following along, you'll know that today is day 4 of cupcake awesomeness! And today's daily dose is cream filled!

These little cupcake earrings come to you from roscata. Her shop full of handmade tiny food is right up my alley! She incorporates her tiny food into magnets, jewelry, and cell phone charms.

And these cupcakes are famous! Any self respecting person recognizes that signature white squiggly line of frosting. And these "Hostess Style Chocolate Cupcake Earrings" are small and subtle, for those of you who don't want accessories that scream "I'm wearing cupcakes!" to the entire world.

And I spotted many other wonderful little treats in roscata's shop like adorable snowcone charms, sushi magnets, and the bacon and egg necklace is to die for! Oh the list goes on. Makes you want you want some individually wrapped snack cakes, doesn't it?

Welcome to Day 3 of cupcake awesomeness! Today will teach us that not all cupcakes can be fun and happy. Some are pitiful. And discouraged. Like "Sheldon the Pitiful Discouraged Cupcake Brooch."

Sheldon comes to you from "Bittersweeets," one of my very favorite Etsy shops. She makes handsewn felt food with adorable little faces and "bitter" personalities. Her shop includes foods from avocados and peapods to pancakes and cookies. You can get them as brooches or magnets. And now she offers pin back button with photos of her bitter sweets.

And I couldn't resist including Sheldon's story from Bittersweeet's Etsy listing, it was so funny and explains why Sheldon is so bitter...

"He is feeling upset because after countless hours spent constructing a diorama of the pyramids made of popsicle sticks, he tripped and fell on top of it, shattering into a million wooden shards. He is saddened not only for the tiny pharaohs who now be homeless, but also because he glued his fingers together making it. Not to mention he had to consume exactly 329 fudgsicles in the process. And fudgesicles make his teeth hurt." -Bittersweeets.

So please, adopt Sheldon. And help him successfully build pyramids out of popsicle sticks. Or card houses if you will. It'll make him feel a lot less bitter :D

I wasn't planning on it until now, but I hereby declare this week CUPCAKE WEEK on my blog! Everyday through Saturday will be a new ridiculously awesome cupcake item from Etsy!

Today I though I'd continue the fun with some real cupcakes! I'm very excited to have found a vegan cupcake shop on Etsy that I never knew existed!

These "Chocolate Covered Strawberry Vegan Cupcakes" come straight to you from thecupcakemint. I think I may have actually gasped outloud when I saw these, they look so delicious, and the photo looks so great. I definitely appreciate thecupcakemint's fine photography skills, as they make her cupcakes look even more delectable. Chocolate cake... strawberry buttercream frosting... the chocolate drizzle is ganache... and there's even sprinkles and candy on top!

There's lots more cupcake selection in thecupcakemint's shop, and I even saw some listings for cookies and cinnamon rolls as well! All 100% dairy free. And they're not just for vegans! They'd totally be worth a try for vegetarians and omnivores as well!

First of all, I apologize for the sporadic updating. I know that the whole "Daily Dose" thing has been kind of a lie the past few weeks, but bear with me while I attempt to graduate (NEXT WEEKEND! WOOO!). I'm currently looking for something really super sweet for a Ridiculously Awesome post this evening.

Second of all, I would like to invite all of you to follow me on Twitter! I'm at http://twitter.com/vanessamichelle. And yes I do follow back. I especially love to follow Etsians on Twitter as well. Makes me feel more at home over there!

Third of all, I'm hoping to get approved for Project Wonderful ads in the next few weeks, and get those up here once I get through this whole school thing and can devote all the time I want to awesome posts! If you're interested in advertising on PW, keep me in mind! I'm planning on having the ads in that awkward white space up there ^ where my "featured item" is. I really don't like that space, and I don't have much to put up there. Hence the "awkwardness." I tried going through the HTML to find a way to get rid of it. And I could, but it didn't move my blog posts up so I just left it there. Anyways, PW says for a blog they would like you to have at least 30 quality posts so they can accurately evaulate your site. With this one I'll be at 15, but in a couple weeks I should be good to go :D

Off to make french toast and look for more riciduously awesome items for the upcoming week!

<3
Vanessa