When is it most productive to use Twitter? What’s the best day of the week for retweeting? Well, a picture really is worth a thousand words so I’ll let David McCandless’s visual do all the talking.

I found Apture while reading Inc.com’s “30 Under 30” article. It’s such an amazing tool for bloggers that I have to share it. Ready for a little demonstration? By the way, this might not work if you’re using a feed reader; you might want to click back to the actual post.

First, you can embed links that pop out an info window, like the ones I posted above. Click the links to see what I mean. The benefit here is that you give readers an informational snippet without them leaving your website.

Secondly,  you can embed an object along with tons of other content in the form of thumbnails.

• As the main object, I chose this awesome picture I took of the French Quarter from the rooftop lounge of our hotel.
• The first thumbnail below that is an image of crawfish bubbling away in a huge pot right on the sidewalk of the French Quarter. Click on it and it’ll pop right out.
• Then, click the next thumbnail to read about the Omni, the hotel we took the rooftop picture from.  The Omni Royal Orleans has the most incredible staff.
• The third thumbnail shows you the most amazing plantation on the Mississippi. Two rows of giant oaks lead to a plantation built in the 1800’s. It’s breathtaking.
• Then, another cool pic of Londy and the St. Louis Cathedral in the background.
• Next, you can read a Wikipedia article about creole food, which is the only reason we went to New Orleans!
• And lastly, Mother’s Restaurant, where we gorged ourselves with po-boys, crawfish étouffée, jambalaya and bread pudding.

As you can see, this tool is a beautiful and clean way to add a gallery of content to your blog and give visitors more information without having them leave your website.

Other content options include YouTube videos, which play right on the pop-up window, along with documents, audio files, articles, and even google map locations.

It’s free to download and very easy to install so go have some fun. If you need help of have questions I’m happy to help!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who collects useless vacation crap. For years, my junk of choice was shot glasses. I bought one on every vacation I went on until I realized how terribly tacky dozens of shot glasses looked on my shelf. But as tacky as they looked, I couldn’t bear to throw them out. So here’s my DIY project for useless junk, which added up to approximately 30 shot glasses.

Ingredients: 1 hurricane vase, 1 pack LED lights, 30 shot glasses (feel free to substitute w/ junk of your choice)

Start by placing the end of the LED string on the bottom and gently laying the shot glasses on their side in all directions. To get an extra burst of colorful light, I inserted some of the lights inside the shot glasses with the prettiest colors. Pile them up and you’re done! I placed mine on a shelf and it currently serves dual purposes – ambient light and a book end.

Night & Day Shot Glass Lamp

I also like to grab business cards from every restaurant I eat at, so I’m in the process of dreaming up an new DIY project to take care of that mess as well. More on that soon! Happy DIY-ing!

I never thought I’d love animal print on a house. Inspiring isn’t it? I would love to know who lives in these houses (check out the other 11).

These two jewelry displays by Kate from Design*Sponge are probably the most creative I’ve seen. Both require some elbow grease but the results will be worth it.

1. Wood Carved Bust

2. Hidden Jewelry

So get to work and send me pictures of your creations. I’d love to post them!

Don’t be so quick to dismiss your abilities.

Genius = Artist = Linchpin = an individual who can walk into chaos and create order, someone who can invent, connect, and make things happen. A Linchpin is someone who isn’t afraid to stand out or to share her gift with the world. And more importantly, it’s someone who’s willing to break the rules.

So can you be a linchpin? Seth thinks we all can.

“The linchpins among us are not the ones born with a magical talent. No, they are people who have decided that a new kind of work is important, and trained themselves to do it. I’ve never met someone who had no art in them, though it’s buried sometimes.

The Old American Dream: keep your head down, follow instructions, show up on time, work hard, suck it up…you will be rewarded.

The New American Dream: be remarkable, be generous, create art, make judgment calls, connect people and ideas…and we have no choice but to reward you.”

Believe me when I say, you NEED to read this book. If you’re not convinced yet, check out Seth’s 2.0 Media Tour.

Sometimes a change in perspective can breathe new life into an object. I flipped my jewelry tree on its side for a more artistic look.

It might not hurt to try and approach everything from a different angle.

These two products take DIY to a fun, new level. As a little girl, I used to come home from school, drop my backpack by the door and run to my coloring table. I could see these two projects bringing back some great memories…

1. Color Your Own Dress : : by Berber Soepboer & Michiel Schuurman

2. DIY Recyclable Shower Curtain from Ty – not only is this a fun DIY project, but it’s also green! Ty made this shower curtain out of #2 plastic, which is recyclable and doesn’t grow mold the way your vinyl one does. Only $33!

Do I sense a new trend?

What can make Facebook better? Imagine your fans having the ability to buy products right from your Facebook stream. Resouce Interactive will soon introduce Off The Wall, an “ecommerce experience for brands and their fans on Facebook. Off the Wall allows Facebook users to purchase products directly from a brand or user stream without leaving the Facebook environment.

via The Social Path

How Off the Wall works: A brand posts an item for purchase as a status update to
its Facebook page. In turn, fans can purchase the product directly from their
live feed, news feed or the brand`s wall. They can also share this status update
with their friends and its ecommerce functionality is maintained wherever it
appears in Facebook.”

Imagine the possibilities…

I needed inspiration for creating a jewelry display…who knew there were so many options?

Hang jewelry on pretty knobs and hooks…

@ Mustard and Sage

@ Decor Amor

Hang jewelry up in empty frames and shadow boxes…

@ Decor Amor

@ Express Night Out

@ Apartment Therapy

Display jewelry in tiny teacups and pretty cake stands…

@ Lavender & Lillies

@ Decor Amor

@ Lavender & Lillies

See instructions @ Ask Dzing

Spare room in the closet? Here are a few options for storing your jewelry if you have the extra space…

@ Peach & Pearl

See instructions @ Bromeliad

More fun ideas include this great repurposed shutter and nature-inspired branches…

@ Little Daisy Chains

@ Apartment Therapy

@ Gadora Wilder

Two more fun ideas for displaying jewelry…

@ Material Girls

@ Recyclart