Oh googley eyes, you make stuff come alive
April 26, 2016 3:22 PM   Subscribe

I have purchased a package of 500 pairs of self-adhesive googley eyes in various sizes. Help me figure out what in my house to stick them on.

I already have all the glasses in the cupboards, all the bathroom drawers such that the knobs look like noses, and all the fruit in the fruit bowl.
posted by KathrynT to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (84 answers total) 89 users marked this as a favorite
 
A friend of mine has loads of them -- of varying sizes -- on the front of her camera. Very reliable way to get a genuine, spontaneous smile out of anyone she points it at.
posted by metaBugs at 3:27 PM on April 26, 2016 [32 favorites]


Above horizontal drawer pulls, so the pull looks like a mouth.

Above bathroom nozzles so nozzle looks like a nose.

TV remote controls?

Lamp shades?
posted by slateyness at 3:27 PM on April 26, 2016


Every. Single. Item. in your fridge.
posted by Jade Dragon at 3:29 PM on April 26, 2016 [12 favorites]


Response by poster: Oh my gosh I'm doing the self-opening garbage can RIGHT NOW.
posted by KathrynT at 3:29 PM on April 26, 2016 [17 favorites]


Does your front door have a knocker? I think it should! Even the regular knob would be good though.
posted by teremala at 3:33 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


On your mirror, right where standing in the right place would give YOU googly eyes.
posted by easily confused at 3:33 PM on April 26, 2016 [7 favorites]


A nightlight would be nice. Your toaster. The toilet when you lift up the lid. All your plants. Your USB wall plug. Roomba. Light switches.
posted by jeather at 3:34 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Oh, do you have HUGE ones? If so, dryer and front-loading washer.
posted by jeather at 3:35 PM on April 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


Inside your bathroom mirror, to scold anyone who peeks.
posted by teremala at 3:35 PM on April 26, 2016 [11 favorites]


I have a solar-powered globe that's spinning away and really needs eyes on it. I don't suppose you have one.

(If you check the Metafilter user agreement you'll see you're legally obligated to provide photos.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:35 PM on April 26, 2016 [19 favorites]


Open some things, packages of razors, inside of the aspirin bottle, stuff that you won't find immediately, like the Christmas or other holiday decorations. And take some shopping.

This ask makes me so happy.
posted by theora55 at 3:36 PM on April 26, 2016 [17 favorites]


If you have a dog or cat, put googley eyes on their butt. Just long enough to take a picture and post it here, of course.
posted by moonmilk at 3:41 PM on April 26, 2016 [10 favorites]


On your stapler.
posted by kendrak at 3:50 PM on April 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


At my house, they're on every spice jar with the biggest ones on my pepper grinder.
posted by mochapickle at 3:53 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Free them. They don't want to be confined to your house, they want to go out into the world and make everyone's life just a litle more weird.
posted by Jacqueline at 3:53 PM on April 26, 2016 [53 favorites]


underwear.
posted by calgirl at 3:55 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Obligatory.
posted by furnace.heart at 4:03 PM on April 26, 2016 [22 favorites]


I superglued a whole bunch to a cashmere sweater moths had gotten to, and it's better for it. Plus I rattle like maracas when I jump up and down.
posted by tapir-whorf at 4:08 PM on April 26, 2016 [8 favorites]


A friend of mine got a bunch of googly eyes a while ago and determined that the winner was hir Kitchenaid.
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:16 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Do you have a Roomba? Please do this! Or a pool cleaner? Normal vacuum would be acceptable. Brooms! Dustpan and brush. Your all-seeing cleaning army!
posted by t0astie at 4:22 PM on April 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Back when I had a desktop computer I had a pair of googly eyes at the top, on either side of the camera. It was good.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 4:24 PM on April 26, 2016


Response by poster: you guys my house has SO MUCH PERSONALITY now

keep em coming though, my daughter has just discovered ONE set of eyes and as soon as she finds the second she's going to go apey trying to find them all
posted by KathrynT at 4:25 PM on April 26, 2016 [13 favorites]


Response by poster: Sadly we do not have a Roomba. And yes, pictures will be forthcoming.
posted by KathrynT at 4:26 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Gotta go with shoes and any random photos around your house. Ooo scissors! Heh.
posted by Crystalinne at 4:29 PM on April 26, 2016


Unroll the toilet paper a little bit, apply googly eyes, roll back up.
posted by Ostara at 4:48 PM on April 26, 2016 [12 favorites]


One of my kids had a tshirt with a skeletons doing stuff on it, so I sewed googly eyes into their empty eye sockets - do you have tshirts with faces that might be improved?
posted by glitter at 4:48 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


The tips of Oxford/converse shoes!
posted by mmmbacon at 4:49 PM on April 26, 2016


Response by poster: Some of the highlights so far

this may be the greatest idea I have ever had
posted by KathrynT at 5:00 PM on April 26, 2016 [54 favorites]


House plants
posted by sciencegeek at 5:01 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


on the handles of toothbrushes and hairbrushes, so they jiggle when you brush

house/car keys

on a bar of soap in the bathroom

all over the inside of the shower
posted by belladonna at 5:10 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


The WiFi router. I once had one with googley eyes and it made me laugh every time I looked at it.
posted by zachlipton at 5:11 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


framed pictures of your family
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:11 PM on April 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Me!
posted by googly at 5:15 PM on April 26, 2016 [27 favorites]


Do you have a seven-year-old niece or nephew? Discreetly donate 100-200 of them.
posted by yclipse at 5:19 PM on April 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


Seriously, a carton of eggs with appropriate expressions drawn around googly eyes cannot be underestimated as a giggle-maker.
posted by ninazer0 at 5:19 PM on April 26, 2016 [6 favorites]


Faces on packaging.
posted by BoscosMom at 5:42 PM on April 26, 2016


On the slight chance that you have anatomy charts lying around at your house.
posted by gingerbeer at 5:56 PM on April 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


So one time aubilenon brought treats to a meetup and well, there might've been googly eyes on them.
posted by rtha at 6:00 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Seconding plants because the world is a better place with this.
posted by gollie at 6:05 PM on April 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


These toys need extra eyes.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:19 PM on April 26, 2016


Someone wrote an ask a while back about putting googly eyes on their wife's tomatoes growing in the garden. I have always thought that would be brilliant. Surely there are some places on a car's dashboard that could benefit as well...
posted by leslies at 6:20 PM on April 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


Definitely the eggs need some googly eyes.

This is amazing, and I'm totally doing it to my sister's house when I babysit next week.
posted by ktkt at 6:40 PM on April 26, 2016


This might be good for inspiration!
posted by h00py at 6:45 PM on April 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: My daughter opened the cabinet full of glassware staring at her and SHRIEKED. My husband gets home any minute now. I have applied googley eyes to his stash of canned chili, which he eats for lunch on the weekends, so that's a gift that will keep on giving. Sadly we have only one egg left so the egg thing will not be as effective as it would otherwise be.

I now desperately, desperately wish I had gotten the enormous set of 7" eyes and epoxyed them to the front grill of our ancient pickup truck.
posted by KathrynT at 6:49 PM on April 26, 2016 [30 favorites]


> I now desperately, desperately wish I had gotten the enormous set of 7" eyes and epoxyed them to the front grill of our ancient pickup truck.

Please, please do this.
posted by gingerbeer at 7:03 PM on April 26, 2016 [9 favorites]


Well now that you've given me the idea I might just do it to my truck. Where does one find giant googly eyes?
posted by Jacqueline at 7:13 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


You don't need big googly eyes, just do a bunch. Spider style.
posted by clockwork at 7:19 PM on April 26, 2016 [9 favorites]


I want my truck to be whimsical, not horrifying
posted by Jacqueline at 7:41 PM on April 26, 2016 [21 favorites]


What about shoes?
posted by jeather at 7:51 PM on April 26, 2016


Buy the enormous ones! So much fun. I put them on my two front windows at halloween. I also have the big ones that go on a christmas tree.

Look up #vandaleyes on twitter and tumblr. Look up googly eyes on pinterest as well.

Light switches so the switch is the nose. Above the showerhead.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:58 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Pro tip: you can normally buy packages of the non adhesive ones at dollar tree. I frequently use them with low tack adhesive dots in bars and restaurants (on surfaces that won't get damaged like dive bar bathroom stalls and laminated menus.)

I also occasionally post have a nice day type flyers around my hood including googly eyes. I've also left notes in mailboxes about nice flowers and chalk sidewalk art.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 8:02 PM on April 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


Please, do the coffee pot. There should be at least ONE set of eyes open in the morning.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:08 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Where does one find giant googly eyes?

Like the answer to this question will ever not be Amazon
posted by KathrynT at 8:31 PM on April 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: BlueHorse, I did the teapot, which has the added advantage that now the spout is suddenly a trunk.
posted by KathrynT at 8:48 PM on April 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


I carry stick-on googly eyes with me at all times! Pro tips:

Have some around when you're going someplace where there will be annoying ads at eye level. This is maybe easier for us in New York City, and particularly in my neighborhood where there are many overly-photoshopped concert posters for musical acts. I leave them all in a more Muppety state than I found them.

If you have a child who is old enough not to put things in their mouth, applying the googly eyes to the child him/herself is highly, highly recommended.

Googly eyes on bare knuckles make for some great puppetry opportunities at a moment's notice.
posted by gusandrews at 9:03 PM on April 26, 2016 [8 favorites]


Also I am pretty sure a more soulful answer to "where can I find giant googly eyes" is Archie McPhee
posted by gusandrews at 9:05 PM on April 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


... Now I'm considering putting googley eyes on *my* ancient pickup truck!
posted by rmd1023 at 4:12 AM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


The oranges are hilarious
posted by gt2 at 5:02 AM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Large googly eyes + $1 can of play doh = VERY HAPPY CHILDREN
(make sure they're old enough not to choke, or else make sure to use giant eyes too big to choke on)

I'd sneak them onto the glass of framed family photos at a funny friend's house, without mentioning it, see how long it takes them to notice the change (make sure adhesive won't wreck anything, maybe use mac tac or painter's tape so it comes off easily)

Slip them into magazine ads in the doctor's waiting room

This is really funny! Your little pink lamp with the big mouth is the best
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:23 AM on April 27, 2016


I'm not going to suggest weird places to put googly eyes, but I am going to suggest to you that you read the Generation V (or American Vampire) series by M.L. Brennan. For one thing, I really like it. But for another thing, in the third book one character goes around sticking googly eyes on her friend's stuff. From what I recall, she put eyes on all the eggs in the fridge, on the toothbrushes, on the ceiling over his bed, and in the MIDDLE of a roll of toilet paper.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:57 AM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


> All your plants.

> House plants

> Seconding plants because the world is a better place with this.

Indoor Gardening Tips From A Man Who's Very Scared Of Plants (Christopher Walken)
I don't feel comfortable around this plant whatsoever. [some kind of potted wildflower with googly eyes on it] Whoa, what a relief! You see. I made eye contact. [signals to his eyes with two fingers] I feel like I know where I stand with this plant. What a load off. I don't know if I've been clear about this, but the whole concept of eye contact -- hugely important to me.
QFT.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:43 AM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


I'm a big fan of the men's and women's signs on public bathrooms. They have stick figures, and those stick figures were *blind* before I got there.
posted by talldean at 8:48 AM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Vandal Eyes - googly eyes on everything
posted by filthy light thief at 8:50 AM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Confession: I have a pair of 3/4" googly eyes in my shirt pocket right now! Later today I have to go replace the ones on a campus busstop sign where I enlivened the school mascot on April 1, and which were only stolen last week. (And the pair that I stuck on the door of the local horror/Lovecraft bookstore are still there!)

This is to say, you must put them everywhere and anywhere. Put them where you will see them constantly, and where they won't be discovered for a day (the freezer) or a month (the front of someone else's baseball cap in the closet). Put them on things that move (toys, the DVD player above its tray) and things that don't. Put them on your own stuff for a secret smile and on other people's things for a surprise!

I stuck them on pictures throughout the "wall o' photos" at home, and wish I had left them up for longer than I did.

Last, I made a few pair with small rare earth magnets on the back, which failed to adhere to local signs, but which would make anything hanging on your fridge a lot more fun.

Goddamn do I love googly eyes.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:03 AM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]


Vacuum cleaner! Paper shredder!
posted by bink at 9:05 AM on April 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Note to mods: PODCAST FODDER.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:06 AM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Googly eyes as musical instrument (self-link)
posted by moonmilk at 9:28 AM on April 27, 2016


A friend covered a bellydance belt and bra with googly eyes.

It was wonderful.
posted by TigerB at 10:02 AM on April 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: OK, a friend of mine pointed out that commercially available novelty googley eyes are probably not up to handling the harsh environment they would be subjected to when mounted on the front of a truck. I wanted to put that information here to help forestall disaster in case someone else thinks it's as delightful as I do.

Impact-resistant industrial strength googley eyes could definitely be fabricated; there are plenty of places online that will make you acrylic or polycarbonate domes in whatever dimensions you require, including shallow-depth bubbles, and it wouldn't take a lot to fasten such a dome to a white polycarbonate backing with a thick black plastic circle inside. Sadly, the pricing ($35-$65 per dome depending on size and material) puts it out of my personal budget range for a whimsical auto decoration. . . but maybe not out of yours.
posted by KathrynT at 10:13 AM on April 27, 2016 [13 favorites]


Impact-resistant industrial strength googley eyes could definitely be fabricated...

And to think, MetaFilter still doesn't have a store...
posted by wenestvedt at 12:07 PM on April 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Relevant to your interests: Petition: Install Googly Eyes on Mr Trash Wheel in Baltimore
posted by rmd1023 at 1:00 PM on April 27, 2016 [5 favorites]


Our cat used to eat Go Cat, and occasionally I would stick googly eyes onto the cat photo on the box, which transformed a boring daily chore into a guaranteed laughing fit every morning
posted by gin and biscuits at 10:28 PM on April 27, 2016 [1 favorite]




EVEN BETTER!
posted by rmd1023 at 10:36 AM on April 28, 2016


Response by poster: Helpful tip: if you put googley eyes on all your glassware, be sure to remove them before putting them in the dishwasher. Otherwise the next time you go to clean out the filter, it will be staring back at you like some kind of many-eyed eldritch god.
posted by KathrynT at 12:23 PM on April 28, 2016 [28 favorites]


KathrynT: "BlueHorse, I did the teapot, which has the added advantage that now the spout is suddenly a trunk."

I bought a teapot once specifically because it looked googly-eyed (pattern of spots with darker spot inlaid, and it does look like a cross-eyed elephant when you look at the spout)

Have you seen the glow in the dark googly eyes? Because those are fun in the dark!
posted by caution live frogs at 1:04 PM on April 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


Surprise your husband tonight. You know what I mean.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:53 PM on April 28, 2016 [17 favorites]


Can your husband do a naked handstand?
posted by yesster at 7:43 PM on April 28, 2016 [3 favorites]


For the record: googly eyes on a man's nuts is one of the funniest things, EVAR...if you find that sort of thing funny and can arrange for it to happen.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:17 PM on April 28, 2016 [4 favorites]


Oh my god, this is the BEST. My sister's boyfriend did this when she went away for a few days, but not to the same extent. You are truly a googly genius.

It's been a few months and she is *still* finding them - think ahead. What won't you be using for a few weeks/months?

Definitely cluster a bunch of small eyes on something.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 6:54 AM on April 29, 2016


OK, a friend of mine pointed out that commercially available novelty googley eyes are probably not up to handling the harsh environment they would be subjected to when mounted on the front of a truck. I wanted to put that information here to help forestall disaster in case someone else thinks it's as delightful as I do.

Could install them on the dash underneath the windshield.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:46 AM on April 29, 2016


Do you have a cat?
posted by jeather at 7:30 PM on April 29, 2016 [12 favorites]






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