The Power of Cute: Why Collecting Cute Things Is Good For You

 
I shared my opinion about the Power of Cute and a recipe for molded lemon pear salad today with Axios Seattle and it got picked up nationally. Is that how you found me? Welcome to my webpage - best viewed on a computer, it connects you to my posts on finding delight in everyday life that I started in 2007, has my links to my books, a podcast interview. Lots of layers of information to look through.

When I first moved to Seattle, I went to a cookie exchange with 3 dozen gingerbread men and brought a darling gingerbread house tin to transport the cookies I got at the exchange home in. The people I met appreciated the gingerbread cookies I made, but it was cute tin that got all the attention. When asked if I had just bought it, I said that I had owned it for at least 10 years, and then added, "But cute is forever."

When I encourage people with this phrase I mean a few different things. Cute is Forever means that something that you immediately love and respond to will make you happy every time you see it no matter how long you have it, so it is absolutely worth it to own it. Another 5 years have passed since I took my tin to that party and it still gets great happy reactions from people.

Cute is Forever is also about pleasing yourself. I know that storage space is limited and we have to prioritize what stays and what goes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a stash of cute things for a season of your life and then when the time is right sell or donate them to make room for the next batch of wonderful. We need bright spots in our lives. Finding Delight in your life is equivalent to a steady stream of music, flowers, sugar, color. The beauty of every day life is endless. And part of that formula is the power of cute.

Another example of the Power of Cute works can be seen in this edible lemon pear bunny. It’s cute. It’s delicious. You’re curious. That’s powerful. I puree canned pears, half & half, water and lemon Jell-O and freeze it into a bunny mold and once frozen, I set one the edge of each individual salad plate holding a gorgeous lettuce salad. Guests can’t believe how cute it is. How delicious it is. They won’t forget it. I’ll have the mold forever and I can bring delight whenever I want to. That is powerful to. The mold could be of flowers or anything really. I found this one at a local craft store. Life takes planning and effort. We may as well make it cute.

Frozen Lemon Pear Bunny

• 15 oz can of pears, in lightly sweetened juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 oz box of lemon Jell-O powder
• 1 cup of Half & Half (can be Fat Free)
• 1/4 cup water

Pour the juice from the can of pears into a saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Take off the heat and add the lemon Jell-o power and stir until dissolved. In a powerful blender, pulverize the pears. Stir in the cold half & half. When the hot lemon Jell-O mixture has cooled a few minutes, stir the cold mixture into the lemon Jell-O mixture. Place your silicone molds on a tray to catch any spills and to aid in transport. Pour the mixture into the molds until almost full. Place the tray in a level spot in your freezer. Freeze at least 3 hours.

Unmold about 20 min before you are ready to serve.

The Power of Cute: A True Story that Proves my Theory

I can prove my theory about "The Power of Cute."  I believe that things that can be cute, should be cute.  I know from experience that people respond to beautiful colors, pretty pictures, unexpected touches.  

The power of cute is when you add a touch that people notice and appreciate, even value more because of the effort you made.  Cute is free.  It is the difference between making cookies in the shape of a watering can, instead of a circle.  The cookie cutters cost the same, the effort to make a cookie is the same, but one harnesses the power of cute; the other does not.

Okay, my story...

Because I make Delight Totes (day bags that feature my magazine covers), I have the artwork I created for many gorgeous magazine covers. Here are some displayed on the wall in my studio.

I decided that the Delight covers would make awesome luggage tags.  I printed them to fit inside small laminated pouches and included only my name and phone number on the other side.  They turned out really...cute.

When Dan and I were leaving on our trip to Dallas last month, we had 4 suitcases and 2 carry on bags.  I put my new Delight luggage tags on in a hurry and when I pointed to a bag and asked Dan, does that one "have a tag" he said yes.  When we got to the airport, I noticed that it did indeed have a tag, it was just an ugly old red plastic one that he had written on with a Sharpie pen to update the phone etc.  Not cute, but it was accurate and would do the job.

We checked our 4 black non-descript bags: 3 with a Delight tag, 1 with an old tag.  The polar vortex snowstorm was in full steam that day and we couldn't fly out.  Some flights did make it out (it was -14 degrees), but it took us three trips to the airport to finally get on a flight (that actually took off) for Dallas.

When we got to baggage claim in Dallas, we were looking for our 4 bags that had been "in the system" for 4 days without us.  The computer said that they had made it to Dallas days before we did.
Baggage claim had at least 300 bags in rows and sections waiting to be claimed.  It was a mess.  We walked up and down each row and couldn't find any of them.  Alarmed, Dan went to the luggage claim woman and showed her our claim checks and the "arrived in Dallas" printout.  She looked at the name on the paperwork and said, "I know where they are!" and rushed into the little glass office.

She returned rolling the first of 3 bags.  The only bags she had pulled aside and kept in her office were our 3 bags, tagged with Delight.  We thanked her, but said their was still one missing.  She was surprised and helped us look bag-by-bag through the other 300 pieces of luggage.  We finally found the 4th bag (tagged with the plain tag) among the masses of bags. We were relieved, but I couldn't get over the fact that the Power of Cute had given three of our bags such special attention.

Same black bags.  Same flight.  Same "priority yellow sticker."  The only difference was my pretty luggage tags.  They somehow sent a message to this women that I cared about my bags and the contents.  They "stood out" to her and she treated them accordingly. 

That is the Power of Cute. 

Cookies: The Power of Cute

Look how cute he is!  And he doesn't even have a chocolate chip eye or hooves yet!  This gingerbread moose is a perfect example of the power of cute. 

Much like a sound byte is a memorable moment in a speech or presentation, a  simple but cute cookie can leave a lasting impression at a party.

Think I'm joking?  I know this from experience.  One night I took a plate of snowflake cookies to a book club meeting.  I made a simple powdered sugar frosting and frosted the snowflakes in different shades of blue - starting with white and every few cookies, I'd add a drop of blue food coloring to make the frosting a shade darker.  Plain sugar cookie dough, Plain frosting, blue food coloring.  Simple, but beautiful. 

This was at least 8 years ago and I every so often someone in the group reminds us of those beautiful cookies, the most recent mention was last month!  It makes me feel good to know that something I baked gave them a moment of delight.

The power of cute is keeping it simple.  Gingerbread is brown.  Moose are brown.  That is all you need to know to make an impact. If I recall, I found the moose cookie cutter in a set sold at IKEA.