DesignSwan.com saved Christmas

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

My daughter loves Legos. So, in my usual "do before I think it through" mode, I make up my own Advent calendar idea. I buy a couple big boxes of Legos and decide to give them to her as little Lego structures for 24 days. I even make up these fun little clues (and they rhyme!) that tell her where I've hidden them each morning:

Today you don’t have to look far.
I’m hiding inside a cookie jar!
If you don’t see me in one, try the other
Just don’t eat the cookies without asking mother!

Now we're 17 days into it. She has a Lego Christmas tree, a few different Santas, a Lego reindeer, a little kitty, giraffe, elephant....then I start to run out of ideas. She gets a Lego chair. And a pathetic little Lego house. I'm getting desperate....what will I make for tomorrow?!? I do some web searches, but come up short on anything that won't take 10 hours and another trip to the Lego store. But I don't give up. I keep looking. Finally an image search on "simple Lego designs" gets me to The Site That Saved Christmas (aka DesignSwan.com).

No, they don't provide step-by-step directions on how to make a Lego butterfly out of three 2x8s and six 1x4s, but they do showcase some innovative product designs, some of which happen to be Lego-inspired. After knocking out 3 simple Lego critters that mirror these playful memory keys and an extra figure inspired by the simplicity of the designs, I found myself spending hours browsing the amazing photography, funky product designs, and interesting artwork this site showcases.

I was a both drawn to and repulsed by the creepy Alien Skeleton Bar but thoroughly entranced by some stunning photos by Mark Mawson and Jennifer Squires Ross . I also lost an hour of sleep browsing pages of fun food art, unusual fruit bowls, and brass-knuckle inspired designs. It's the Willie Wonka's of eye candy.

So, relieved that my design slump was over and my daughter's Lego Christmas was saved, I signed up for their newsletter, stashed away the final few days of advent Lego figures, made a cup of tea, and browsed some more.