Innovative and unique ideas always find their place in ongoing trends. Amongst all the unique beautification items, one that has come up is the switchboard stickers. These small, fun-sized flower stickers are perfect to go with your switchboard and completely transform the place. They can be used to refresh the look of any space- be it your hostel room, bedroom or even the living area! Look out for your match in this list of some great ideas of flowery switchboard stickers. <bulletContentEmbed name="B074X9B3HQ" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B074X9B3HQ_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Top Pick" msid="78564355" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B074X9B3HQ</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B074X9B3HQ_body"><bulletContentRow name="B074X9B3HQ_5101951739306495"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Creation Vinyl Flowers Switch Board Sticker</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Ideal for all kinds of places, be it bedroom, children's room, living room or kitchen, these stickers go well with any kind of décor. These are waterproof and non-toxic and adhere to the wall surface. All you need to do is peel the pre cut sections off the backing papers. Vibrant colors bring about an aesthetic appeal. These stay on the wall for a long time and are easy to clean.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B074X9B3HQ_0667737675713976"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Waterproof, non toxic flower stickers to match your walls.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07MTGYG8H" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07MTGYG8H_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Editor&amp;#39;s Pick" msid="79316902" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07MTGYG8H</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07MTGYG8H_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07MTGYG8H_6164279895830595"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">StickersYard Tulip Flowers Wall Sticker for Light Switch ( Switchboard Stickers )</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Let your home or office speak the language you want &amp; reflect the personality you are. Create the aura and vibrancy of your character by letting the walls speak on your behalf. These wall Stickers for switchboards will add meaning to your rooms, filling them with colour and vibrancy. They would not only instil good vibes and thoughts but also spread positive energy in you and the people around you.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07MTGYG8H_2108582603673479"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Self adhesive, matte finished, high quality vinyl based cut out wall sticker.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B075QGD72J" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B075QGD72J_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Popular Pick" msid="81774881" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B075QGD72J</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B075QGD72J_body"><bulletContentRow name="B075QGD72J_9508544254887069"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Creation Vinyl Flowers Switch Board Fridge Wall Sticker, 23.62 x 29.92 x 0.39 Inches, Multicolour</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">This is a set of five switchboard stickers from Decals Creation. The pack contains different flower stickers which look extremely beautiful and adds a fresh and lively vibe to your room. These stickers are easy to apply and can be maintained without any hassle. They have a matte finish which looks extremely great.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B075QGD72J_9388110128878333"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Easy to use switchboard stickers.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B0774WVCWB" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B0774WVCWB_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Must Have" msid="78564371" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B0774WVCWB</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B0774WVCWB_body"><bulletContentRow name="B0774WVCWB_5020135561014474"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Pixel Print Vinyl Flowers Switch Board Sticker</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Ideal for all kinds of rooms, Pixel Print Vinyl Flowers Sticker brings in a vibrant vibe to the room, going exceptionally well for children’s rooms. These waterproof stickers are easy to apply and durable. Works best with smooth walls and can be really impressive when placed right by the switchboards.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B0774WVCWB_9073389722644034"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">These are matte finished stickers that give an elegant look.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07MY77GNZ" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07MY77GNZ_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Also Consider" msid="78564361" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07MY77GNZ</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07MY77GNZ_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07MY77GNZ_2612664131049582"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decorvilla PVC Vinyl Switch Board Wall Sticker</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">If you’re on the lookout for a unique and fancy set of flower stickers that can be used on switchboards as well as other areas, this is just the product for you. Add this to your switches to brighten up your walls since these stickers are on point for the job. It is multicolored, made of PVC vinyl. It is waterproof and non toxic.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07MY77GNZ_6130092863607697"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Flower stickers to be applied on smooth walls and switches.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed>

Best switchboard stickers for home in India

Who doesn’t like to decorate the walls of their home? But the idea seems too hassling and many give up on their wishes as not everyone can get themselves expensive paintings, lightings, and other decorative fixtures. So how do you fill-up the emptiness of the walls in your house? Beautiful nature inspired wall decals, which are also known as wall stickers, can be used as a great alternative as decor options. These decals with nature’s essence will light up your home space and add freshness to your space. We’ve listed some great decal options to choose from so you can accessorise and upgrade the empty walls of your home. <bulletContentEmbed name="B07DD5J87W" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07DD5J87W_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Trending" msid="78043247" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07DD5J87W</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07DD5J87W_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07DD5J87W_7580033866193222"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Design StickersKart Wall Stickers Tree with Birds and Cages</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">With a coverage of 140 cm x 110 cm when stuck over a wall, this lovely decal will add nature’s warmth into your room. Made from PVC Vinyl material, this decal is just an ‘easy-peel, easy-stick’ accessory for the house decor. Just peel the pre-cut pieces, follow the numbering and paste the stickers. One must care that the wall on which this product is placed is free from any dust, other contamination &amp; moisture. This waterproof decal must be pressed after sticking over a wall to eliminate any bubbles.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07DD5J87W_7586261895123238"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Brown Decal With Birds, Cages &amp; Trees Designs</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B01CQRQM2E" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B01CQRQM2E_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Recommended" msid="78043266" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B01CQRQM2E</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B01CQRQM2E_body"><bulletContentRow name="B01CQRQM2E_2057698954228357"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Design 'Flowers Branch' Wall Sticker</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">This glorious and blooming decal comes in a matte finish, and its multicolours in pinks and greens will instantly add much life to your room. This eco-friendly decal covers a wall area of 155 cm x 115 cm. The product is recommended to be used on a clean, grease-free &amp; moisture-free wall for best results. Eliminate air bubbles with a second-press over the decal after sticking. Simply follow the numbering while pasting the sticker pieces.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B01CQRQM2E_1474552859903266"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Eco-friendly Colourful Decal With Floral Design</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07WJV4N2W" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07WJV4N2W_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Popular Choice" msid="78043279" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07WJV4N2W</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07WJV4N2W_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07WJV4N2W_9542448876163371"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Amazon Brand - Solimo Wall Sticker for Living Room (Ride through Nature), Multicolour</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">This vibrant decal is meant for walls, tiles and other smooth surfaces. The wall coverage you get from this sticker is 140 cm x 100 cm. The cycle, the tree, the road and the birds in this particular decal design are perfect for the kid’s room, living room or any space as per your wishes. Follow the instructions on the sticker to easily stick all the pre-cut pieces on an area. Clean &amp; tidy surface will enable smooth sticking results from the decal and if there’s any contamination on that surface, the sticker may come off.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07WJV4N2W_0122348386302329"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Multihued Decal With Ride Through Nature Pattern</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B019T1F79O" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B019T1F79O_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Also Consider" msid="78043306" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B019T1F79O</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B019T1F79O_body"><bulletContentRow name="B019T1F79O_1867047446771520"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Design 'Flamingos and Bamboo at Sunset' Wall Sticker</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">This design is particularly popular amongst couples as the flamingos, the bamboos and the sunset ignite a romantic feel into the picture. The pinks and the oranges in this decal design can lift up anyone’s mood in an instance. This environment-friendly design covers 150 cm x 125 cm area on a wall or surface. It is advised not to stick this product on a wet, dusty or oily surface. Instructions and numbering have been provided for easy sticking experience of this decal design.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B019T1F79O_7427825891544057"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Colourful Decal With Flamingo Couple &amp; Nature</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07WJTTWKW" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07WJTTWKW_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb> <div type="image" title="Top Pick" msid="78043326" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07WJTTWKW</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07WJTTWKW_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07WJTTWKW_8463147320773208"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Decals Design Wall Sticker For Living Room Peacock Birds Nature</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Peacocks are the most vibrant birds with the beauty of innumerable colours on their wings. This multicoloured toxin-free PVC Vinyl sticker is going to transform your home space into an immersive nature sightseeing sanctuary. You get 100 cm x 60 cm wall covering with this decal, which must be placed only on a clean and oil-free surface. Reader instruction is a part of the pack for easy placement of the decal.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07WJTTWKW_5886138037211870"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Multicoloured Peacocks In Nature Pattern</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed>

wall sticker for home wall décor in India

A child's room should be vibrant and filled with happy colours- yellow, green, blue, etc. Of course, you could keep it sober and elegant, but that's no fun! You could spruce it up with some funky and colourful wallpapers. There are loads available in the market today. We've curated a list of some fun ones that you can consider for your child's room. <bulletContentEmbed name="B08Z3PB15P" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B08Z3PB15P_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Waterproof Material" msid="90440146" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B08Z3PB15P</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B08Z3PB15P_body"><bulletContentRow name="B08Z3PB15P_4333952527021047"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Wolpin Wall Stickers <keyword id="471858" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wallpaper" source="Orion">Wallpaper</keyword></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Hello Kitty might be old but it's still loved by kids all over today. This Hello Kitty wallpaper is sure to brighten up your kid's room. Available in 2 colours, this wallpaper is easy to stick on the walls; you could do it yourself. It's waterproof and is available in 2 sizes. It's made from eco-friendly material and is also oil resistant, so any stains can easily be wiped off.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B08Z3PB15P_2163726260555457"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">It is convenient to apply and clean.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B08SHYHN7Y" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B08SHYHN7Y_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Self Adhesive" msid="90440259" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B08SHYHN7Y</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B08SHYHN7Y_body"><bulletContentRow name="B08SHYHN7Y_4835430133015712"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Paper Plane Design <keyword id="13466424" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wallpaper-for-kids-room" source="Orion">Wallpaper for Kids Room</keyword></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Unicorns are the new craze among children. With all the cartoons and children's sitcoms focusing on the magical creature, your child will enjoy having this in their room. It's got self-adhesive and can be easily stuck on the walls. You could put it up in the kid's room, playroom, or anywhere else in the house.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B08SHYHN7Y_2666818428735391"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">The unicorn design should uplift the look of the room.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07YX6BJ85" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07YX6BJ85_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Oil-Resistant" msid="90440344" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07YX6BJ85</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07YX6BJ85_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07YX6BJ85_7885211468585195"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Wollzo Kids Room Wallpaper</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">During early learning, kids learn about the moon, sun and stars. This wallpaper is perfect to make all of that come alive. It's got a beautiful design of space - planets, stars, moon, satellites, and much more. You just have to peel it and paste it on the wall. It's high-quality, oil resistant wallpaper that can be easily cleaned.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07YX6BJ85_6301457699578940"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">The waterproof and heat-resistant material should make the wallpaper last long.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B08Q2XP3P7" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B08Q2XP3P7_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Geometric Design" msid="90440471" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B08Q2XP3P7</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B08Q2XP3P7_body"><bulletContentRow name="B08Q2XP3P7_7279324446495571"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Amazon Brand - Solimo PVC Self-Adhesive Wallpaper</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">A little more elegant and expensive, this one is ideal for older children. It's got an abstract, geometric 3D design that will add a contemporary touch to the room. A sea blue and white wallpaper, this one will add a constant brightness to the room. You can stick it yourself and be sure that it will not come off easily.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B08Q2XP3P7_8475147506430050"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">The self-adhesive property makes it convenient to apply.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B07FDXW3R8" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B07FDXW3R8_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Multicoloured" msid="90440546" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B07FDXW3R8</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B07FDXW3R8_body"><bulletContentRow name="B07FDXW3R8_4117481227899590"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">PRINTELLIGENT Wallpaper</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">You can get a number of rolls of this wallpaper depending on your wall size; there are many combo packs available. This one's a floral wallpaper that has a forest/garden look. It's a multicoloured wallpaper that's got cute little birds and flowers on it. Your child is going to love it. It's waterproof and easily cleanable.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B07FDXW3R8_5039389993580963"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">The floral and garden look design should enhance the look of the room.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed> <bulletContentEmbed name="B08SJBK6XQ" columns="1"><bulletContentHeading name="B08SJBK6XQ_head"><columnHead col="1"><columnHeadThumb><div type="image" title="Animal Print" msid="90440629" hostid="261"></div></columnHeadThumb><columnHeadTitle>B08SJBK6XQ</columnHeadTitle></columnHead></bulletContentHeading><bulleteContentBody name="B08SJBK6XQ_body"><bulletContentRow name="B08SJBK6XQ_6811150017956524"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1">Paper Plane Design Wallpaper for Kids Room</bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">Kids see animals in the park and in their storybooks, and parents love to teach kids about different farm animals. So, it's really cool when all these animals are on the walls of your child's room, right?! This wallpaper has an animal design featuring a number of animals- giraffe, lion, monkey, zebra, and many more.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow><bulletContentRow name="B08SJBK6XQ_8780117463061147"><bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowHead col="1"></bulletContentRowHead></bulletContentRowHeading><bulletContentRowBody><bulletContentRowCell col="1">If you are looking for a wallpaper with waterproof material, this one is the option for you.</bulletContentRowCell></bulletContentRowBody></bulletContentRow></bulleteContentBody></bulletContentEmbed>

Check out these wallpapers to uplift the look of your kids room

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e33430d5bc79c063173df37-1024/gettyimages-169815537.jpg" alt="costco exterior" />FREDERIC J. BROWN/Getty Images<ul class="summary-list"><li>I used to avoid Costco at all costs, but my husband is frugal, so he's a devotee of the bulk retailer.</li><li>It pains me to admit it, but he's turned me into a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thought-wasnt-costco-person-until-friend-changed-my-mind">Costco connoisseur</a>, too, and there are six things I won't buy anywhere else.</li><li>Fresh flowers, men's dress shirts, and anti-aging products are among my Costco must-haves.</li><li>You can use the <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-hub/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_01312020_rmc_costco_hater&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow">Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi</a> to earn 2% back on eligible in-store and online purchases.</li></ul>I used to hate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-membership-what-employees-want-to-say-2018-4">Costco</a>, like avoid-it-at-all-costs hate it. But my husband tends to err on the side of cheap - I mean frugal - so it's one of his favorite places to shop. As a result, I have found myself perusing the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-i-always-buy-at-costco-because-im-getting-the-best-deal">bulk products at our local Costco</a> on many a Saturday. As much as it pains me to admit it, I've now become a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thought-wasnt-costco-person-until-friend-changed-my-mind">Costco connoisseur</a> of sorts. I even have a few lesser-known items I purchase almost exclusively at Costco. <h2>Furniture </h2>Shopping for furniture can be a tough sell. Either you purchase something cheap that looks beat up in two years, or you spend a fortune on a high-end brand that isn't guaranteed to last either. Around 16% of millennials have moved in the last year, according to the <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">Pew Research Center</a>. So spending a lot of cash on furniture at this stage in life probably isn't the best financial choice, since it could get damaged in the move or not work in your new living space. When we moved into our current home, we desperately needed more seating in our family room. Our space was bigger and we had a weird, awkward corner to fill. I'd been scouring the internet for an affordable armchair for weeks when my husband casually suggested Costco. At first, I discounted the idea. But it actually had several affordable options that would also match our current couch and loveseat. We ended up springing for a linen-colored armchair with stud detail for less than $200. It's been almost two years, and that chair has held up surprisingly well.We also constantly field questions from friends on where we purchased it. Their faces when we proudly proclaim, "Costco!" are always priceless.The <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-hub/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_01312020_rmc_costco_hater&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow">Costco Anywhere Visa</a> earns 2% cash back on in-store and online purchases and has no annual fee. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-anywhere-visa-card-review">See Business Insider's review of the Costco Anywhere Visa card for more</a> »The exact chair we have is no longer available, but here's a similar <a href="https://www.costco.com/mckinley-club-chair.product.11757038.html">option</a>. Compare the $185.99 price tag to an upholstered, linen-colored <a href="https://www.crateandbarrel.com/mimi-vegan-lambskin-chair/s148444">chair from Crate and Barrel</a> for $999 and I think you'll agree that the Costco chair is worth the gamble. <h2>Fresh flower arrangements </h2>We've all been there. You forgot your mom's/mother-in-law's/grandma's birthday and you don't have the time to order a last-minute gift. Enter Costco's online floral department. From a classic 50 long-stemmed roses for just $39.99 (yes, really) to artsy arrangements of wildflowers, sunflowers, even event-specific arrangements, the floral department is surprisingly wide-reaching for a bulk wholesaler retailer. Another bonus? Costco even has next-day business delivery for those of us really behind the curve. Compare the price of <a href="https://www.costco.com/50-stem-red-roses.product.100389001.html">50 long-stemmed roses from Costco at $39.99</a> to those from another online retailer, like 1-800-Flowers, and you might be in for a bit of sticker shock. Forty-eight long-stemmed roses from the latter <a href="https://pwa.www.1800flowers.com/florist-delivered-long-stem-red-roses-161777?page=product&amp;collectionCategoryId=400065018&amp;collectionPath=%2Froses">rings in at a staggering $249.99</a>.Even when you consider the cost of an annual Costco membership, which starts at $60 a year, you're still coming out ahead. After all, a rose by any other name ... well, you get the idea. <h2>Holiday cards</h2>I grew up watching my mom send Christmas cards to friends and family year after year, and we always loved looking through the stacks of cards we received in return. It's a tradition I've continued with my own family, and I'm not alone. According to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/12/family-christmas-cards/578506/">data from the Greeting Card Association</a>, Americans send 1.6 billion cards each year around Christmas.But that doesn't mean I want to spend a ton of money, especially right around the holidays when spending is already at an all-time high. Enter Costco. Surprisingly, Costco has tons of options for holiday, Christmas, and even New Year's cards. (I've also sent birth announcements from Costco, but that's another story.) Plus, Costco offers many of the same upgrades higher-end retailers offer, like a matte finish, embossed foil options, even return-addressed envelopes. Last year, I paid $75 for 75 embossed foil holiday cards with return addressed envelopes. If I had ordered a <a href="https://www.minted.com/product/foil-stamped-holiday-cards/MIN-P3Y-HFS/effervescent?color=A&amp;greeting=holiday&amp;shape=default">similar option</a> from popular online stationery retailer Minted, it would have cost $160 for 75 cards, for a total savings of nearly $100.<h2>Anti-aging products</h2>Experts say that one of the best things you can do to combat the signs of aging is to start early using a quality product. But I'm also young and starting a family, so I don't love spending hundreds to do so.Luckily, Costco offers various anti-aging products from respected brands like SK-II, Kate Somerville, Perricone MD, and Caudalie, at rock-bottom prices. For example, a <a href="https://www.costco.com/perricone-md-face-finishing-&amp;-firming-moisturizer-4.0-oz.product.100487045.html?langId=-1&amp;krypto=Bw3uvc4sydEY6Bny8ezVLz5FNQy92XuW6IKrxV23QLaSUQMo2mZpJ7XQqRtAyp0RCrcu%2FWyNIZsY4Bv4oL4p8RWNOBZl4eOsThzxYhskx%2FJD1n0RSj1JGM2KXSy2T2mdRDg1Jt2d5ubkoKhSYu686AN8Nv4f3DG1YNqUr0oTZh0ENs4waFnGcKi%2FYe2gdRb8mP0BzNcS%2Fs%2BFsqEcYnOpTlYj9kyWWmdOzly4v26sauRTRK6afE0J1dT0LgoFxUvb">4-ounce jar of Perricone MD Face Finishing and Firming Moisturizer</a> is just $54.99 at Costco, while a <a href="https://www.ulta.com/high-potency-classics-face-finishing-firming-moisturizer?productId=xlsImpprod19011039&amp;sku=2532500&amp;cmpid=PS_Non!google!Product_Listing_Ads&amp;cagpspn=pla&amp;CATCI=pla-79336018710&amp;CAAGID=17964619350&amp;CAWELAID=330000200001499532&amp;catargetid=330000200000191403&amp;cadevice=c&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA66_xBRBhEiwAhrMuLbzuz62aoRc858yN8z17qzdUl7hecOBknvIJjM-grmGheu65j0xNTxoCCFMQAvD_BwE">2-ounce jar</a> of the same product retails for $69 at Ulta. The only issue with relying on a bulk retailer like Costco for your skincare needs is that its inventory often changes, and it doesn't always offer the same products season-to-season. But, all the more reason to stock up.<h2>Carter's clothing for kids</h2>If you have kids, you know how fast they grow out of things. In fact, I have several bins of only-worn-once clothing in my home. That's why I always buy my son's clothing and other gear on sale. While I used to shop at Baby Gap and Carter's, I started to notice something on my bi-monthly trips to Costco: It sold current-season Carter's clothing in-store, usually discounted by at least a few bucks. For example, this set of six <a href="https://www.costco.com/carter's-infant-bodysuit%2c-green.product.100494905.html">dinosaur-themed bodysuits</a> by Carter's is just $9.97 at Costco, while a <a href="https://www.carters.com/carters-baby-boy-bodysuits/V_1H356710.html">nearly identical set</a> (of five) retails for $14 at Carter's. Don't know why you'd need so many bodysuits for such a tiny human? Just wait. <h2>Kirkland men's dress shirts</h2>This one you've probably heard of. The men's dress shirts from Costco's in-house brand, Kirkland, have a great reputation - and with good reason. They're affordable, offer a variety of prints, and are available in traditional, tailored, and big and tall sizes. Another bonus? They are wrinkle-free. Sold. When you compare the <a href="https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-men's-traditional-fit-dress-shirt%2c-red-mini-check.product.100531643.html">$18.99 price tag</a> to a <a href="https://www.ralphlauren.com/men-clothing-dress-shirts/classic-fit-gingham-shirt/456048.html?pdpR=y&amp;dwvar456048_colorname=Royal%2FWhite&amp;cgid=men-clothing-dress-shirts&amp;webcat=Men%2FClothing%2FDress%20Shirts">similar dress shirt from Ralph Lauren</a>, which retails for $89.50, it's not even a contest - even if you catch the latter on sale. This is especially true if your husband or significant other doesn't care about labels, which mine doesn't. It almost makes braving the crowds and carrying your Costco haul out in awkward, falling-apart cardboard boxes worth it, am I right?<h3>Earn 2% back on eligible purchases: <a href="https://thepointsguy.com/card-hub/costco-anywhere-visa-card-by-citi/?utm_campaign=bi_01312020_rmc_costco_hater&amp;utm_source=referral" rel="nofollow nofollow nofollow nofollow">Click here to learn more about the Costco Anywhere Visa</a> »</h3><ul class="read-more-links"><li>More <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/yourmoney">personal finance</a> coverage</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-open-high-yield-savings-account-now-interest-rates-down">4 reasons to open a high-yield savings account while interest rates are down </a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-open-wealthfront-cash-account-savings">It took less than 10 minutes to open a high-yield cash account with Wealthfront and earn more on my savings</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-buy-a-house-with-no-money-down-home-loans">How to buy a house with no money down </a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-to-save-money-in-high-yield-savings">When to save money in high-yield savings</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-rewards-credit-cards">Best rewards credit cards</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-to-get-life-insurance-you-havent-thought-of-yet">7 reasons you may need life insurance, even if you think you don't</a></li></ul>Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/qantas-airways-flying-worlds-longest-flight-2019-12">What it's like to ride the world's longest flight</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/m9AXZzdg-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

6 of the best things to buy at Costco, from someone who used to hate it

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1551904003606000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGicoaJ_dTNpkDbIWqxa6BV9RjxNw">Insider Picks</a> writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. <keyword id="79969" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider">Insider</keyword> Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://goto.target.com/qGkzn" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ce417c3021b4c4940380b26-1200/olive and june nail stickers.jpg" border="0" alt="Olive and June nail stickers" data-mce-source="Target" /></a>Target</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>I've always had a hard time painting my own nails, and I tend to smudge my professional manicures as soon as I leave the salon. But I've recently found a foolproof option in <a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Olive &amp; June's nail-art stickers</a>.</li><li>The Los Angeles-based nail-care company has partnered with Target to bring its signature, cutesy aesthetic to the entire country via its Nail Art Stickers. Each pack of 36 nail decals has a summer-ready theme, from the florals of the <a href="https://goto.target.com/yxE2D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Bloom set</a> to the watermelon slices in the <a href="https://goto.target.com/QxzjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fruit Salad set</a>.</li><li>The stickers are super easy to use and affordable, too (<a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">each pack of 36 decals is just $7.50</a>). They make even my at-home manicures look good - and that's saying a lot.</li></ul>If you have good nails, you are officially "An Adult."At least, that's what goes through my mind whenever I see someone with the perfectly manicured hands I wish I had. But alas, I'm a chronic nail biter with a potent combination of impatience and clumsiness … meaning, my nails are rough around the edges and my polish is smudged and/or chipped most of the time. Judging solely by the state of my manicure, I'd forgive you for assuming I was a pre-teen who just got ahold of her first bottle of polish. How ironic, then, that a childhood staple - a sticker pack - is the thing I now rely on for the kind of polished, smudge-free manicure that makes me feel like I have my life together. Or at least, makes me look like I do.All credit goes to Los Angeles-based nail-care empire Olive &amp; June, which recently partnered with Target to launch<a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> six limited-edition sheets of nail stickers</a> designed to help you nail the whole nail-art thing with little to no effort. All you do is peel and stick, and voila. Mani magic achieved. Trust me - if my at-home attempt at nail art looks good, yours definitely will, too.<a href="https://goto.target.com/LYoKO" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ce41971021b4c08a52674c9-1200/olive june nail stickers 4.jpg" border="0" alt="Olive &amp; June nail stickers 4" data-mce-source="Target" />Target</div></div></div></a>Cute, hand-drawn nail designs (think flamingos, flowers, and fruits) are what Olive &amp; June is best known for, as any of its 200,000 Instagram followers will tell you. Previously, this signature look has only been possible for Los Angeles locals or vacationing out-of-towners through the company's three physical salon locations. But thanks to its newest collaboration, which is shoppable online at <a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Target</a> and at every Target store nationwide as of May 19, Olive &amp; June's Instagram-chic aesthetic is now available to everyone. "Our in-salon experiences make our clients happy every time they step inside the salon," founder Sarah Gibson Tuttle tells Business Insider. "Bringing that happiness to the world and truly delivering beautiful nails to everyone is our ultimate dream. Meeting the at-home girl where she loves to shop in real life - Target! - felt really good as our first step outside of our salons and website."Since Target is pretty much synonymous with affordable, <a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">each sticker pack</a> clocks in at $7.50 (so, significantly cheaper than paying for a manicure at a salon) and contains an impressive 36 nail-art decals each.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/at-home-manicure-nail-products-on-a-budget" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6 inexpensive products I use to give myself a salon-grade manicure at home</a><a href="https://goto.target.com/5Bm5n" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ce41858021b4c4e0a5eabf8-1200/olive and june nails 2.jpg" border="0" alt="Olive and June nails 2" data-mce-source="Target" />Target</div></div></div></a>The designs are playful and summer-ready, from the delicate floral illustrations of the <a href="https://goto.target.com/yxE2D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Bloom Nail-Art Stickers</a> to the rainbow-colored hearts featured in the <a href="https://goto.target.com/qGkzn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rainbow Bright set.</a> There's also <a href="https://goto.target.com/kPQax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lovely Day</a> (flowers and rainbows and four-leaf clovers), <a href="https://goto.target.com/QxzjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fruit Salad</a> (watermelon slices and strawberries), <a href="https://goto.target.com/5Bm5n" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My BFF Is A Llama</a> (llamas and cacti), and <a href="https://goto.target.com/LYoKO" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cabana Crush</a> (palm trees and pineapples). But why choose? Even if you stock up on all six packs - that's a whopping 216 decals, by the way - it'll only cost you $45. A small price to pay for limitless un-smudgeable manicures, if you ask me."I have <a href="https://goto.target.com/QxzjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fruit Salad</a> on my nails right now," Gibson Tuttle says. "It's the newest, so I like it best right this very moment." While the founder is partial to the fruity pack, I find myself drawn to the daisy designs featured in the <a href="https://goto.target.com/DMAyq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lovely Day set</a>. On a backdrop of nude nails, the look feels fresh and '60s-inspired. That's right: I don't even apply nail polish before applying the nail art stickers. Does it get any more low key than that?Next on my to-try list are <a href="https://goto.target.com/QxzjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">these green cacti cartoons</a>, which I'll place on top of hot pink nail polish for a little extra pizzazz. That being said, there's no need to change your base color every time you're ready for a new design. "I am always putting different stickers on my nails with no top coat, so I can trade them in and out without affecting my mani," says Gibson Tuttle. If you do like to color-coordinate your nail-art stickers with your polish shade, though, you're in luck: <a href="https://goto.target.com/kPQo0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cult-favorite polish brand Essie is getting in on the action</a>, too, offering Target customers the opportunity to mix-and-match nail art and polishes like the pros. "We are thrilled to partner with Olive &amp; June and Target to offer a curated assortment of fun, vibrant polishes and stickers, perfect for creating summer nail art," Greg Hui, VP of marketing for Essie, tells Business Insider.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-nail-polish-remover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The best nail polish remover you can buy</a><a href="https://goto.target.com/QxzjY" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ce418c0021b4c456d5bc122-1200/olive and june nails 3.jpg" border="0" alt="Olive and June nails 3" data-mce-source="Target" />Target</div></div></div></a>In Target stores, you'll find these Essie polishes merchandised alongside the new Olive &amp; June decals, so you don't even have to think about which polish shade will look best with your favorite watermelon slice nail art. <a href="https://goto.target.com/r1eaB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essie's Fiji </a>was made to work with the Olive &amp; June pink flamingo stickers, while the dandelion-yellow shade of <a href="https://goto.target.com/jjDea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essie's Avant-Garment</a> works with any of the rainbow-hued hearts in the Rainbow Bright pack. "I love Fruit Salad as the pop on a pink, like <a href="https://goto.target.com/r1eaB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essie's Pinks and Roses</a>," Gibson Tuttle adds.This merging of Olive &amp; June and Essie makes creating the perfect at-home mani more effortless than ever before, which is precisely the point, according to Gibson Tuttle. "'Beautiful Nails For Everyone' is our dream," she says. "We are on a mission to introduce women everywhere to their best nail life."Take it from this woman - one who's always been embarrassed of her too-short, not-cute, always-smeared manicures - <a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Olive &amp; June's nail stickers </a>are key to living your best nail life.<h3><a href="https://goto.target.com/3MXev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shop Olive &amp; June's limited-edition nail-art sticker packs at Target.</a></h3><a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/insider-picks">Subscribe to our newsletter.</a> Find all the best offers at our <a href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/">Coupons page</a>. Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks">Insider Picks</a> team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

This cult-favorite Los Angeles nail salon has launched its first nail-art stickers at Target - and they're all under $8

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Kate Bast is a mom of two and an influencer.</li><li>She says simple crafts and repurposing items you already have can keep kids entertained.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/thebastfam/">Kate Bast</a>. It has been edited for length and clarity.When you're a mom, sometimes a few minutes of entertainment for the kids makes all the difference. It can allow you to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/impressions-after-week-drinking-coffee-for-first-time-2019-12">drink your coffee</a> while it's still hot or use the bathroom uninterrupted — things only parents understand the luxury of. If you're trying to get work done while the kids are home this summer, keeping them entertained is a way to stay productive and somewhat sane.Thinking of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/family-doesnt-enroll-kids-in-summer-camp-do-unstructured-play-2023-4">new activities all the time can be draining</a>, but I'm here to tell you you don't have to be a crafty or artistic parent to keep your kids engaged and entertained this summer. There are simple ways to do it without spending money on new toys or giving in to screen time demands. Here's how.<h2 id="96bca308-10ca-4e45-8f22-cc65ac549daa">Use crafts at just the right moment</h2>If I spend a half hour or so of quality time with my 4-year-old, it can really change the mood of the day. She feels seen and often spins into her own world to continue being creative even after our activity ends.I like to start the week with two or three <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/easy-fun-craft-ideas-at-home-childhood-nostalgic">simple craft projects</a> at the ready. When the mood feels heavy, or we need a pick-me-up, I bring out the crafts.<h2 id="566c7cf3-e918-4b59-8c71-7680d271a980">Use items you already have around your house</h2>There's nothing worse than trying an activity only to realize that you don't have everything you need or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/home/best-craft-supplies">buying craft supplies</a> that you only use once. That's why I emphasize simple crafts with things you already have around the house, like<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C5tSXs9xYNu/"> washable window paints</a> made with dish soap, flowers, and paint.<div type="image" title="Mom painting kid's nails with Elmer's glue nail polish" height="968" width="1290" msid="111024886" hostid="261" sizebytes="25514"></div>Most parents have Elmer's glue around, which is the perfect base ingredient for adventure. Toddlers and preteens alike love making peelable nail polish or homemade window clings.<h2 id="79df2cd6-e46a-4921-90c9-765f76da8226">Repurpose your kids' favorite toys</h2>Sometimes, seeing a familiar toy in a new setting can spark creativity. Take <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/parenting/eric-carle-magna-tiles-collection-review">magnetic tiles</a>, for example, which most of us have lying around. Why not use them to<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4JEWczSEal/"> decorate your metal garage door</a>? You could cut stickers in half and put them on the tiles, creating<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzeS8E0JW2S/"> a matching game</a>.Stuck inside on a rainy day? Construction paper and painter's tape can make<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0uScYpvkC-/"> tunnels for toy cars</a> that will keep kids entertained for ages. Kids absolutely adore these simple spins on familiar activities.<h2 id="cdc83b20-308f-4e78-985a-5ad710a64e9a">Encourage independence</h2>We all want our kids to entertain themselves more. While there's certainly a learning curve with age, I've found that even tots can be encouraged to stay occupied with a little challenge. For example,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0PqcktSFGA/"> use strips of painter's tape</a> to make marks at different heights on the wall. Challenge your child to use building blocks to make a tower that tall.Older kids can use tech for inspiration. I love the app<a target="_blank" href="https://brickit.app/"> Brickit</a>, which scans your <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-bought-fewer-toys-except-lego-millennials-plastic-clutter-2024-3">Lego bricks</a> or other brick building blocks and shows kids how to make new creations using what they already have.<h2 id="b080b2ab-9738-4de1-b84f-5f04f95692fe">Don't be afraid to recycle ideas</h2>One of the hardest parts of parenting is finding new ideas — whether for dinners or activities. It's fine to let that pressure go. Kids, especially young ones, love repetition. My daughter loves making<a target="_blank" href="https://www.elmers.com/blog?cid=Mellow%20Mallow"> Mellow Mallow</a>, a homemade fluffy slime that turns into a fidget. There's no limit on how often she'll do it. Best of all, as she gets more familiar with an activity, she's able to do more by herself, while I take care of her infant sister.<div type="image" title="Closeup image of girl making some slime in back yard" height="2000" width="3000" msid="111024884" hostid="261" sizebytes="149852"></div>This summer, you'll be surprised about what you have in your house that you can reinvent. These activities are accessible to anyone, and they'll leave you feeling like a superstar parent.

I'm not a crafty parent and used to dread summer. I learned 5 easy ways to keep my kids entertained when school is out.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I took a five-day trip to <keyword id="11964070" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="portland" source="Orion">Portland</keyword>, <keyword id="11946286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oregon" source="Orion">Oregon</keyword>, that cost me a total of $577.67.</li><li>Staying in a sprinter van, which we also used for transportation, helped cut down costs.</li></ul>Portland is known for "<a href="http://www.keepportlandweird.com/">keeping things weird</a>," and it has so much to offer visitors of all types.Filled with parks, microbreweries, and coffee shops, Oregon's largest city has been hailed as one of the US's <a href="https://www.insider.com/greenest-us-cities-2018-5">most eco-friendly destinations </a>and <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/food/2019/10/portland-is-the-most-vegan-friendly-city-in-the-country-vegfest-turns-15.html#:~:text=1%20city%20for%20vegans%20and,ranking%20by%20the%20website%20WalletHub.">best places to eat for people with plant-based diets</a>.I've been to Portland a few times and was excited to return during a 10-day <keyword id="11899226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="road-trip" source="Orion">road trip</keyword> with my friend in her parents' <a href="https://www.storytelleroverland.com/2022-beast-mode-4x4/">sprinter van</a>. We spent five days exploring Portland before driving down the <a href="https://www.insider.com/pacific-northwest-pictures-make-you-wish-you-lived-there-2019-4">Oregon Coast</a> on our way back to California. I kept track of my expenses during our stay, which ended up costing a total of $577.67.Here's what I did, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-much-van-life-costs-in-a-week-2022-3">how I spent my money</a>, during my five days in the City of Roses.<h2>Day one: We ate Vietnamese food, played in the park, and had a cookout — $35.90</h2><div type="image" title="ashley probst sprinter van" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372294" hostid="261" sizebytes="246130"></div>I woke up around 10 a.m. on our first day in Portland. Luckily, parking was free since my <keyword id="11896628" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="travel" source="Orion">travel</keyword> partner's cousin let us keep the van outside their home.After some of my friends arrived, we walked through the Roseway neighborhood to the bustling Sandy Boulevard for lunch at the Vietnamese eatery <a href="https://www.mekharestaurants.com/">Mekha Restaurant</a>.I ordered fresh spring rolls ($8.95) for the table as well as Phnom Penh tofu noodle soup ($13.95). I also got the Sandy Drink cocktail ($8) and Thai tea ($5). In total, the meal cost me $35.90.<div type="image" title="ashley probst laying in the grass surrounded by tarot cards" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372295" hostid="261" sizebytes="304854"></div>From there, we walked to the nearby <a href="https://www.portland.gov/parks/wellington-park">Wellington Park</a>, where we frolicked through the grass, made flower crowns, played games, and took photos.On our walk, we stumbled upon a couple of boxes containing free items. I found <a href="https://www.insider.com/hiking-trails-worth-traveling-for-2018-3">hiking boots</a> that fit me perfectly. The discovery was perfectly timed considering I hadn't brought my boots, and the group made a spontaneous decision to explore <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/mthood/">Mount Hood</a> the next day.<div type="image" title="ashley probst van cookout, plate with sausage and portato on the right" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372297" hostid="261" sizebytes="201294"></div>That evening, we had a cookout in front of the van using the groceries we all brought. We ended the night with a <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-trivia-board-games-2018-12">game of Jenga</a>.Before bed, I noticed that my face had <a href="https://www.insider.com/everyday-things-that-cause-breakouts-2018-1">started breaking out</a>, which was likely caused by a combination of stress, hormones, exposure to a different climate, and nights spent sleeping in the van.<h2>Day 2: The group drove to Mount Hood for the night — $174.18</h2><div type="image" title="mount hood summit with road and car in foreground" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372299" hostid="261" sizebytes="245074"></div>Around 11 a.m., my friend cooked us a <a href="https://www.insider.com/healthy-breakfast-foods-2018-8">hearty</a> breakfast of scrambled eggs, grilled onions, bell pepper, and kale. We needed a quick caffeine kick, so we packed up our vehicles and drove back to Mekha Restaurant for Vietnamese coffee and Thai tea ($6). <a href="https://www.safeway.com/">Safeway</a> was across the street, so we walked over to buy groceries and divided our list to minimize our time in the store. My focus was protein, so I grabbed eggs ($3.79), refried black beans ($3.29 per can), and Impossible meat ($7.99). I also needed toiletries, like travel-size toothpaste ($2.19), mouthwash ($2.49), face moisturizer ($21.99), and pimple patches ($7.99) for my breakout. <div type="image" title="the inside of ashley probst sprinter van, dog on cushion on lower right side" height="3024" width="4032" msid="92372300" hostid="261" sizebytes="994528"></div>Then, we stopped at <a href="https://rosecityliquor.com/">Rose City Liquor</a> to replenish our booze supply with two pints of whiskey ($29.90). In total, I spent $88.92 on groceries and alcohol.There was one more stop to make before driving up to Mount Hood: the gas station. At Fred Meyer, we used my friends' fuel points and spent $85.26 for a half-tank of diesel. <div type="image" title="Ashley Probst campaite with mountains in the background" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372302" hostid="261" sizebytes="255310"></div>We made our way to Mount Hood, the <a href="https://www.travelportland.com/region/mount-hood/#:~:text=Standing%20at%2011%2C239%20feet%20(3%2C425,peak%20in%20the%20Cascade%20Range.">highest point in Oregon</a>, around 3 p.m. Within an hour, we were looking for the <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-campsites-in-the-world-2018-7">perfect campsite</a> and eventually found a beautiful open space with a fire pit and a view of the summit.We tried to have an early night, but by the time we had dinner, finished dessert, and played a round of a game called "<a href="https://www.werenotreallystrangers.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw14uVBhBEEiwAaufYx_wEcGUcShS4iQjnP9CSbgBQ-hFzzdDOUW5H8LG2B4HUE2z9CG3jsxoCwH8QAvD_BwE">We're Not Really Strangers</a>," it was already 1 a.m.<h2>Day 3: We spent the day hiking before heading back into the city — $22</h2><div type="image" title="ashley probst hiking on left with boots in foreground, waterfall on the right" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372303" hostid="261" sizebytes="276956"></div>My friends needed to get an early start on their drive back to northern Washington, so we were awake before 7 a.m. We wanted to do an easy hike before heading back into the city and ended up on the <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/tamanawas-falls-trail">Tamanawas Falls Trail</a>, located on Mount Hood's eastern slope, by 10 a.m. We set out on the moderate route along Cold Spring Creek, and I finally made it to the end after about an hour and a half of walking.We took a lunch break to eat the <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-and-worst-sandwiches-to-eat-according-to-chefs">almond butter and huckleberry jam sandwiches</a> we packed before spending another hour and a half completing the trail. <div type="image" title="ashley probst selfie on the left, sandwich in front of friend on the right" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372304" hostid="261" sizebytes="245538"></div>By that point, we were exhausted so we headed to our home base around 4 p.m. to relax for the rest of the evening. We were tempted to go out for dinner, but neither of us had the energy. Instead, we ordered burgers from <a href="https://www.veganjunkfoodpdx.com/">Vegan Junk Food</a> ($22) and made it to bed before midnight.<h2>Day 4: We worked during the day and then had a night out on the town — $125.09</h2><div type="image" title="tacos on lap in takeout container, laptop in the background" height="2828" width="3770" msid="92372306" hostid="261" sizebytes="1126606"></div>I'm a professional tarot reader, so I spent the fourth day of our trip working from the van.My friend and I started getting hungry around 1 p.m. but since we had plans to go to happy hour, we didn't want to eat too much beforehand. The verdict was fish tacos from <a href="https://www.muchasgraciasmexicanfood.com/locations/oregon/portland-oregon/">Muchas Gracias Mexican Food</a> ($10).Following a busy work day, we left for happy hour at <a href="https://victoriapdx.com/">Victoria Bar</a> around 4:15 p.m.At the restaurant, I ordered <a href="https://www.insider.com/vegan-alternatives-for-popular-recipe-ingredients-2018-7">vegan "chicken" strips</a> with Parmesan-herb fries ($11) and the Inigo Montoya cocktail ($13). We ended up splitting the bill evenly between three people, so I paid $27.<div type="image" title="vegan &quot;chicken&quot; strips with fries underneath" height="3022" width="4030" msid="92372308" hostid="261" sizebytes="1310654"></div>I also discovered a pop-up vending machine called <a href="https://www.magicboxvending.com/">Magic Box</a> and couldn't resist getting a mystery magic bag ($7.10) as well as a witchcraft kit ($10). I preferred the latter, which contained a tealight, incense, herbs, crystals, and matches.After happy hour, we dropped off the van and took an Uber to downtown Portland ($18.91) for another round of drinks.We were ready for a light snack and another cocktail, so we started walking and came across <a href="https://luclackitchen.com/">Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen</a>, where we shared coconut prawns ($8.25) and garlic string beans ($7.50) and each ordered a cocktail ($11). <div type="image" title="Ashley Probst's friend smiling in front of three cocktails" height="3024" width="4032" msid="92372310" hostid="261" sizebytes="811518"></div>We split the bill evenly, so my total came to $18.88 (plus a $3 cash tip). I got one more drink ($13.20) before we moved on, so all in all, I spent $35.08 at Luc Lac.After we left the restaurant, we didn't want the night to end and also needed to use the restroom, so we set out in search of a bar. We ended up at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=113638178668871">Yamhill Pub</a>, a quiet dive bar where we promised to get a round of beers ($17 for three drinks) in exchange for access to their bathrooms.It was a late night, and we didn't get back to the van until 2 a.m.<h2>Day 5: I splurged on a facial and edibles — $220.50</h2><div type="image" title="Mississippi Marketplace in Portland, Oregon" height="3024" width="4032" msid="92372311" hostid="261" sizebytes="1647764"></div>Since my skin was breaking out, I booked a 60-minute custom holistic facial ($120) at <a href="https://www.bloomingmoonspa.com/">Blooming Moon Spa</a>, which offers organic skincare services using cruelty-free products. I also bought a small red calcite crystal ($5), which I placed on my chest during the treatment for its grounding energy, and a sticker ($4). After tipping my esthetician, I spent a total of $155, which I thought was well worth it.From the spa, I walked over to Mississippi Avenue and popped into <a href="https://paxtongate.com/">Paxton Gate</a>, a store that carries ethically sourced taxidermy, fossils, bones, and crystals. I didn't end up purchasing anything, but one of the most intriguing displays I saw was a two-faced calf.<div type="image" title="taxidermy two-faced calf" height="3024" width="4032" msid="92372313" hostid="261" sizebytes="830446"></div>Mississippi Marketplace, a food center with various food trucks, was right across the street. I opted for a latte from <a href="https://www.bloodbuzzpdx.com/">Bloodbuzz</a> ($5.50) and a sushi burrito from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TeppanyakiHut/?ref=page_internal&amp;mt_nav=1">Teppanyaki Hut</a> ($12). Marijuana <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana-states-2018-1">has been legal</a> in Oregon since 2015, so we made a final stop at <a href="https://nectar.store/">Nectar,</a> a dispensary that sells locally grown cannabis. There was a sale on edibles that day, so I ended up buying four packages of <a href="https://wyldcanna.com/">Wyld gummies</a> ($12 each). At that point, our time in Portland had come to a close. We hit the road around 2:30 p.m. to start driving down the Oregon Coast.<h2>My trip total came out to $577.67 — here's the breakdown</h2><div type="image" title="ashley probst climbing on the side of the van" height="900" width="1200" msid="92372315" hostid="261" sizebytes="173900"></div>Accommodations: $0 Food &amp; drinks: $218.74 (including tips)Activities: $220.10Transportation: $104.17Toiletries: $34.66Highs: Home-cooked meals, Mount Hood, facialLows: Gas prices, my skin breaking outI budgeted $100 per day, so I ultimately did spend a little more than I anticipated (only by about $14 per day). And that's without paying for accommodations.An Airbnb or <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.insider.com/things-you-should-never-do-in-a-hotel-2019-12&amp;sa=D&amp;source=editors&amp;ust=1655837937801498&amp;usg=AOvVaw2yw57BjIXraaezVxFPUXq7">hotel</a> would have cost at least $500 for the five days we were there, so I'm grateful that my friend's parents let us borrow their sprinter van for free. The van was also our main mode of transportation to and from Portland. So even though gas was expensive, we balanced out the cost by walking a lot and only driving when it was really necessary.Additionally, we saved <keyword id="11918408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="money" source="Orion">money</keyword> by bringing groceries with us and cooking a few meals. Though I rarely regret spending money on food and drinks, I would've liked to spend less money on <a href="https://www.insider.com/drinks-to-always-and-never-order-at-a-bar-bartender-2022-3">alcohol</a>.My biggest expense was the <a href="https://www.insider.com/reasons-to-get-a-facial-often-2018-4">facial</a>, but the cost was worth it to leave the city feeling rejuvenated after breaking out early on in the trip. I'll undoubtedly return next time I'm in Portland.Looking back on my time in Portland, my favorite moments were all free, like our day at the park, our camping excursion, and the quality time we spent with friends. That will always be priceless.

I spent 5 days in Portland, Oregon, for less than $600. Here's what I did and how I spent my money.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Similar to humans, <keyword id="63237" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="bananas">bananas</keyword> are facing a pandemic. </li><li>Nearly all of the bananas sold globally are just one kind called the <keyword id="317893" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cavendish">Cavendish</keyword>, which is susceptible to a deadly fungus called Tropical Race 4, or <keyword id="2184493" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Panama-disease">Panama Disease</keyword>.</li><li>If not stopped, Tropical Race 4 could wipe out the $25 billion <keyword id="11750825" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="banana-industry">banana industry</keyword>.</li></ul>Following is a transcription of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>:Narrator: The world's most popular banana may be on the verge of extinction.Fernando: Similar to humans, bananas are also facing a pandemic.Narrator: Ninety-nine percent of bananas exported to developed countries are just one group called the Cavendish. And the Cavendish is vulnerable to Tropical Race 4, or Panama disease, a fungus that's now ravaging banana farms across the globe.Fernando: So now you can compare, this is Tropical Race 4 in a <keyword id="7005851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cavendish-banana">Cavendish banana</keyword>. Then this plant looks very healthy.Narrator: One scientist recently developed a line of Cavendish that is resistant to TR4, but it was genetically modified.Fernando: In Europe, the GMs are under regulation, so we cannot use it.Narrator: So scientists like Fernando had to start from scratch to find a solution. And they're working against the clock. Because if TR4 is not stopped …James: It would wipe out Cavendish.Narrator: And it's already happening.Antonio: This is an area of contagion. About 500 plants have been uprooted. There is no silver bullet. You have to attack it on different fronts because there is no other way to contain it or limit its spread.Narrator: Globally, we're facing the collapse of a $25 billion Cavendish industry. So how did we get here? And can we save one of the world's most consumed fruits before it's too late?You probably know the Cavendish banana.Fernando: You can find this type of banana in every supermarket around the world.Narrator: They're so popular because they're yummy, they look nice, and they ripen as they transport.James: It's high-yielding, so it's got quite a thick skin, and so it travels well and tastes pretty good. It comes in its own package.Narrator: But there's a problem.Fernando: They are sterile. They don't have seeds.Narrator: No seeds means Cavendish bananas are clones of each other. So the only way to propagate them is in vitro or by taking new growths, called suckers, from the base of an older plant. But since they're all genetic copies, Cavendish are really vulnerable to disease.Fernando: The domino effect. If you have everything wrong with just one clone, one disease can kill everything, plant by plant.Narrator: That's exactly what's happening with TR4, one of the deadliest plant diseases out there. The fungus doesn't spread to humans, but it does eventually kill the banana plant so no more fruit grows.Scientists guess the fungus probably started somewhere in Southeast Asia in the '90s and quickly spread across the globe. Then in 2019, it hit Latin America. Combined with the Caribbean, that area grows 75% of the world's bananas.Jose: At first it was somewhat of a shock because Fusarium wasn't even close to our continent, and all of a sudden it appears in our province of La Guajira, one of the most important places in Colombia for banana production.Narrator: To make sure the fungus doesn't spread, farms across Colombia have implemented biosecurity measures. Eva Norte 2 was one of the first farms in the country to detect TR4. Workers wash down and disinfect the underside of any car that comes in, just in case there's infected soil hiding in the treads.Antonio: Anything that we are wearing that is in contact with soil can become a way to transfer the fungus. Workers leave their shoes here. They turn around and put on an overall and put on the rubber boots with which they will enter the farm. Here on the left we consider this the dirty zone, and on this side is the clean zone. It's the clean zone because it is disinfected, it is controlled as you go in and out of the farm.Narrator: Antonio's team built cement paths throughout the farm. So on their way to harvest, workers aren't walking on open soil.Antonio: And we have seen that the cement paths can drastically reduce the amount of soil that sticks to our boots.Narrator: Once they've reached the area ready to be harvested, workers walk through a sanitizing foot bath made of ammonium.Antonio: We have a footbath for every 35 to 40 hectares of the farm. Where there is an outbreak, we place additional footbaths to cover the entrance and the exit to those areas with outbreaks.Narrator: Out in the field, Workers measure the banana fingers to make sure they're ready to harvest. They're usually ready about 12 to 13 weeks after the fruit stem shows up. One worker cuts down a 65-pound bundle while the other catches it and carries it to the cableway.That cableway system brings all those banana bunches to the packaging plant. First, workers sanitize the bunches with chlorine.Antonio: In order to remove any insects that could still be there, like spiders.Narrator: Then they check the bananas for quality and any signs of Fusarium damage. They cut off and throw bushels into a huge tank. That bath not only preserves the bananas, but washes off any of the latex that naturally occurs on the peel. The bananas get cut into smaller bunches of five to seven.Antonio: After that, we put a liquid on the crowns of the banana bunches, which helps to protect them during their boat journey.Narrator: Next come those famous stickers.Antonio: We weigh each tray and then pack them into boxes. We weigh each tray and then pack them into boxes.Narrator: Workers wrap the banana carefully so they don't bruise. That wrapping has holes in it so the bananas can ripen as they travel. No more than four hours after the bananas are harvested, those boxes end up on pallets loaded onto trucks.Antonio: In this case, we have an order of 960 boxes of 3 pounds each, and 960 boxes for Walmart.Narrator: The bananas are trucked to the nearby port, where they're moved onto ships. This shipment's headed to the US. With equipment, bananas, and people moving along this global supply chain, it's easy to see how the fungus could spread.If TR4 does sneak into a farm, the Colombian government has laid out strict guidelines for containing the fungus.Antonio: We had an intervention here in week 26 of 2019. This was the second case [of Fusarium] in the Eva Norte 2 farm.Narrator: That means they found symptoms like ...Fernando: The yellowing of the leaves. The splitting of the stem.Narrator: Once TR4 is identified in a plant, you can't just kill that one plant. The fungus goes about 10 feet deep into the soil.Fernando: Once the pathogen is in the soil, it's almost impossible to eradicate.Narrator: So you have to kill off all the plants in that area.Antonio: We have had to eradicate 137 hectares of productive land. Those were the plants that were removed because of that one plant that was showing Fusarium symptoms.Narrator: To keep operating the rest of the farm, Eva Norte 2 followed the government's three-zone plan.Antonio: In A, which is the red zone, the zone closest to the plant with symptoms, soil is injected.Narrator: The injected herbicide kills all the plants in Zone A.Antonio: On top of that, we add some urea to the soil and cover it with a tarp.Narrator: That tarp's so birds won't land on the fungus and spread it around. There are also canals around the zone to keep any water away from the infected area. In Zone B, called the buffer zone ...Antonio: Plants are also injected so that we have a barrier between the affected area and the area that is being harvested.Narrator: Finally, in Zone C, plants are allowed to grow, but they're constantly monitored for signs of TR4.Jose estimates biosecurity has cost this farm as much as $5 million since 2019. So they're pricey, but the measures are working at keeping the fungus at bay.Jose: We have managed to contain it. The provinces of Magdalena and Cesar are free of Tropical Race 4 Fusarium at this moment. Antonio: There has been no decrease in productivity up to now.Narrator: These biosecurity measures have contained the fungus in Colombia and kept it from spreading to Ecuador, the largest exporter of bananas in the world. But fungus can wipe out an entire fruit variety if not stopped. We know because it's happened before.In the early 1900s, a banana called Gros Michel was the most popular. But by the 1950s ...Fernando: One strain of the Panama disease wiped out the whole production of Gros Michel.Narrator: Luckily, Cavendish was resistant to that first strain. So it took over as the banana of choice. The problem was banana companies built their entire supply chains around this one Cavendish variety. In 2019, they exported 20 million bananas and supported millions of jobs globally. But now, the Cavendish is also vulnerable.Fernando: History repeats itself now with a Tropical Race 4 and the Cavendish.Narrator: Cooking bananas like plantains are also at risk for TR4.Fernando: A risk for food security, because the plantains are a staple food in Latin America, in Africa, and many other countries. They are part of our daily diet.Narrator: So yeah, the newest race of Fusarium is scary for both Cavendish and plantains. But this time around, we have advanced <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>. Researchers across the globe are working toward one goal.Antonio: The idea is to find plants that will resist Tropical Race 4.Narrator: This guy actually invented a banana that did just that. Back in 2019, Dr. James Dale announced that his team had successfully injected the DNA from a resistant banana into a Cavendish. And it worked.James: We found the solution in the line of Cavendish which appears to be completely resistant to TR4. The thing we haven't done yet is a taste test. And that's because they're GM. They look, smell, feel exactly the same as every other, but we've only changed one gene.Narrator: But no one would buy his miracle banana because it was genetically modified.Jose: At an international level, genetically modified varieties are not a solution. Whether it is the final consumer or the distributor, those that buy fruit don't accept them.Narrator: In the EU, most member countries have either partly or fully banned GMOs. In the US, they're allowed but feared. One argument against GMOs is that these modified plants would quickly spread their genes and kill out biodiversity. But with bananas, that's not a problem.James: The genes don't move because they are sterile. You can grow a GM banana next to a non GM banana for 50 years and the gene will not move from under the other. Incredibly frustrating. There's a solution, but it's a scientific solution, but not a political solution.Narrator: So scientists had to go back to the drawing board, using what they learned from James to play the non-GMO game. Fernando is a breeder for KeyGene, a genetics company in the Netherlands. And he thinks the best way to get around GMO regulations is through traditional breeding, meaning you take two different types of bananas - the Cavendish and one that is resistant - and you essentially have them mate. And their kid is hopefully resistant to Panama disease, but still tastes good like Cavendish.Fernando: Crossbreeding, or traditional breeding, is something that happens every day in nature. So the bees are pollinating the different flowers with other flowers. So that's what we are doing here. We are acting as bees.Narrator: Fernando has found a few resistant bananas to cross with Cavendish, but ...Fernando: Most of them are not even edible bananas, they are bananas that are full of seeds, like this one.Narrator: And to cross those with a Cavendish is hard.Fernando: They are sterile, very difficult to breed. It's not impossible. So you can try to cross, but you need to do it many, many, many times to get only a few seeds.Narrator: For James to make that first GMO banana, it took him ...James: Nearly 10 years since our first field trial.Narrator: For those future bananas that are traditionally bred, it'll take just as long.Fernando: It will take lots of years because the life cycle of the banana is quite slow.Narrator: But the longer it takes to traditionally breed a resistant Cavendish, the more the disease spreads. And the more strains of Fusarium could be released. Fernando says there's a bigger-picture way to attack this problem: diversity. Take tomatoes for example. You go to the grocery store, and there may be 10 or more different types of tomatoes: cherry, vine, beef, Roma. That's diversity. So if one tomato gets in trouble, it won't be a huge loss. Fernando and his colleagues have the same vision for bananas.Fernando: We have red bananas, pink bananas. Why not try to incorporate that into the market so that you can go to the supermarket and have a complete bench of different options of bananas that you can choose.James: There are hundreds of different banana varieties around the world. A friend of mine collected one up in Papua New Guinea that he said, if you didn't know it, you think you're eating a strawberry. Yeah. So amazingly different flavors.Narrator: And diversity would also help farms.Fernando: But if you have different types of bananas grown together, probably one banana will be more resistant than the next one. So that one can stop the spreading of the disease to the next plant.Narrator: So why haven't companies diversified? Because it's too expensive and complicated to change a $25 billion industry built around a monoculture. So until a solution is found, these biosecurity measures will have to be the short-term fix for keeping the <keyword id="347529" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Big-Business">big business</keyword> of bananas alive.Jose: There is life before and after Fusarium. It also made us open our eyes about many needs the industry had that we were not addressing.

Why the world's favorite banana may go extinct, and how scientists are trying to save it

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5875763cf10a9a283f8b5293-1998/lola36.jpg" alt="lola lola michael garganese marijuana brand" data-mce-source="Lola Lola" />Lola Lola</div></div></div>A candy-colored pack of marijuana joints from <a href="http://lolalola.com/">Lola Lola</a>, with its quirky characters splashed across the box, looks more like a prop from a Katy Perry music video than drug paraphernalia.Its quirky, good-vibes feeling is exactly what creator Michael Garganese, Jr., is going for."We wanted to create something that you would feel comfortable leaving accidentally on your kitchen table. If Mom or Dad finds it, the conversation you get to have around that package is very different than if they find your black sack [of weed] under the bed," Garganese says."It's like, 'Honey, what is this?' 'Well, Mom, that's the way that cannabis is sold these days.'"Lola Lola hops on a trend in the marijuana <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> industry in which growers meticulously brand their bud. Garganese, a former employee on Google's advertising team, explains that in a post-prohibition era, it's no longer enough to slap a sticker with an arbitrary strain name and potency on a bag of ganja. Lola Lola aims to reinvent the smoker's experience through eye-catching design.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58757674f10a9a99348b6f55-2004/lola60.jpg" alt="lola lola michael garganese marijuana brand" data-mce-source="Lola Lola" />Lola LolaLola Lola has fun with the presentation of its concentrates.</div></div></div>The San Francisco-based startup grows its marijuana on a farm in northern California and makes its own products, from oils for vape pens to heart-shaped concentrates, a waxy material that contains highly concentrated amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in weed.Lola Lola's three-pack of pre-roll joints, hand-packed with "connoisseur quality" flower, is the company's best-selling item, according to Garganese. It typically retails for $20.The packaging is both sophisticated and delightful, with 3D-modeled drawings of animals - including a shark jumping rope and an elephant with wings like a bird - adorning the boxes. The company's whimsy is what Garganese believes sets it apart on dispensary shelves."We really saw an opportunity to contribute to the industry by figuring out a way to elevate and enhance the overall experience of buying and using cannabis," Garganese says. "... We want people to feel free to be who they want to be and do the things that they want to do.""If you like to read, when you use our products, we want you to have more fun reading. If you like to write music, we want to be your partner in writing the best music that you can," he says.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/587576d2f10a9a13018b7c0f-1779/lolalolawanderlodge01.jpg" alt="lola lola michael garganese marijuana brand" data-mce-source="Lola Lola" />Lola LolaMichael Garganese, Jr., stands in front of a Lola Lola-branded bus.</div></div></div>Garganese's path to cannabis is anything but traditional.He left his home state of Nevada in 2012 to join a social media marketing startup, Wildfire, but <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/31/google-acquires-wildfire/">it was aquired by Google</a> shortly before his move. Garganese ended up with a gig at the tech giant, where he says he learned an important lesson that shaped his entrepreneurial future."I worked for those two companies whose primary goal everyday was to make sure the employees were happy and the people using their products were happy," he says. "I really saw the value in relationships and the difference it makes to go a little further to treat people right."Two years later, Garganese's father, Michael, Sr., convinced his reluctant son to enroll in a four-day intensive workshop at Oaksterdam University, the country's first marijuana business trade school located in Oakland. The elder Garganese was considering launching a pot startup.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/587577a2f10a9a6c008b7b96-2000/lola61.jpg" alt="lola lola michael garganese marijuana brand" data-mce-source="Lola Lola" />Lola LolaRolling papers from Lola Lola feature the company's quirky animal mascots.</div></div></div>"During those four days, something clicked inside me," Garganese says. "I had this voice inside me saying, 'Everything you've ever been told about this plant was just a complete lie.'"He felt a calling to the industry, he says, so he left tech and accepted a job on a marijuana farm in Mendocino County, where he set out to learn everything he could about pot.Today, you can find Lola Lola products in 50 dispensaries in California. Garganese hopes to take the company nationwide as more states welcome the drug's regulation. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-colorado-bud-breakfast-2016-9">We went inside a Colorado 'Bud &amp; Breakfast' where you can legally smoke marijuana</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="U5N24yMTE6XIhAhYSvE-l810FGPM76Nv" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'U5N24yMTE6XIhAhYSvE-l810FGPM76Nv',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

This 26-year-old went from selling ads at Google to creating a stunning marijuana product line

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Chris C. Anderson" title_caption="This cosplayer, dressed as Boba Fett, does not mess around." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525a39a469bedd5821d28f01-960/cosplay-bobafet-star-wars-nycc.jpg"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525a39a469bedd5821d28f01-1200-924/cosplay-bobafet-star-wars-nycc.jpg" border="0" alt="cosplay bobafet star wars NYCC" /></a>Chris C. AndersonThis cosplayer, dressed as Boba Fett, does not mess around.</div></div></div> If you are in New York City this weekend, you may see Link in line at McDonalds or Sailor Moon on the subway. New York Comic Con kicks off the ninth year of the annual comic book and entertainment convention, and the cosplay is sure to be impressive.
Surely by now you've heard the word cosplay tossed around, but do you really know what it is, or how much the hobby costs?
Literally speaking, cosplay is the combination of the words "costume" and "play." Cosplayers, the people who partake in cosplay, dress as their favorite characters from comics, video games, anime, manga, movies, and television.
The <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mec/summary/v001/1.winge.html" target="_blank">best supported origin story</a> on the Internet says that in 1984, Nov Takahashi, founder and writer for the anime publishing company Studio Hard, was sent to Los Angeles to cover the World-Con science fiction convention. He was impressed by the fans' costumes and the elaborate displays at the masquerade, and when he returned to Japan, he coined the term to describe what he saw.
Today, cosplay is a favorite ritual of Comic Con attendees. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nycc" target="_blank">Business Insider attended last year</a>, and we saw dozens of Batmen, Iron Men, and Wonder Women, in addition to niché costumes, like characters of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nycc-what-every-teen-is-wearing-2013-10" target="_blank">Japanese manga series "Attack on Titan"</a> and '90s throwbacks like Freakazoid and Hey Arnold.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Business Insider/Melia Robinson" title_caption="" You="" shall="" not="" pass.="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54330781ecad046b55f96aef-960/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-gandolf.jpg"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54330781ecad046b55f96aef-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-gandolf.jpg" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay gandolf" /></a>Business Insider/Melia Robinson"You shall not pass."</div></div></div>
The costumes vary greatly in intensity. Some crafty cosplayers get resourceful and repurpose clothing and props they already own. For instance, to cosplay as Katniss Everdeen of the "Hunger Games" franchise, all you need is a black t-shirt, green cargo pants, lace-up boots, and hair tied into a braid. You can buy a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;field-keywords=mockingjay%20pin&amp;sprefix=mockingjay+p%2Caps&amp;rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amockingjay%20pin" target="_blank">Mockingjay pin</a> replica for as little as $4 and use brown eye shadow for dirt smears.
Other cosplayers may choose to purchase their costumes from an online store, like <a href="http://www.milanoo.com/" target="_blank">Milanoo</a> or <a href="http://www.cosplayhouse.com/" target="_blank">Cosplay House</a>. On Milanoo, prices range from $21 for a Dragonball Z jumpsuit on clearance to $197 for a black latex catsuit.
For those who want to go above and beyond and create something entirely unique, they can commission costumes from specialists, many of whom operate their businesses on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/?ref=si_home" target="_blank">Etsy</a>. You send a description of what you want, pictures of the character for clarity, your measurements, and any special customization requests.
In the world of cosplay, you frequently have to decide between three requirements: "Time, quality, or money. You can only have one," said Iggy Tissera, a professional cosplayer and panelist at last year's "<a href="http://nycc13.mapyourshow.com/5_0/sessions/sessiondetails.cfm?ScheduledSessionID=18A8C7C7" target="_blank">I Have No Sewing Machine, But I Must Cosplay!</a>" presentation. "If you want it to be well made, it's going to take a while and it's going to cost you."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider/Melia Robinson" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b7aecad047833d28f06-960/nycc-comic-con-cosplay.jpg"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b7aecad047833d28f06-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay.jpg" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay" width="800" /></a>Business Insider/Melia Robinson</div></div>
Lindsey Celak, who led the panel as Sexy Indiana Jones, described a "sticker shock" experience a few years ago when she wanted to be Giselle, of Disney's animated movie "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Widescreen-Edition-Amy-Adams/dp/B0011U52EC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1381633726&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=enchanted" target="_blank">Enchanted</a>." She requested a price quote from a commissioner - asking for specific, high-quality materials and hand-embroidered flowers - and discovered it would cost $850.
"If you're going for accuracy [of the character], you're going to pay for it," Celak said. "Close enough usually suffices." She instead purchased a lace costume from "one of those 'Made in China' sites" and says it's held up splendidly since.
For cosplayers, the experience is nearly always worth the stress of choosing a costume and dropping the dough. It's an opportunity to be a hero, princess, or otherworldly creature.
"It takes courage to put on a costume and go into public," Tissera said. "But we're celebrating the characters that we love and embracing our fandom."

An Introduction Into The Wild World Of Cosplay

25. The VW Beetle's Dark Past

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ba2bcbddcee305d298b53a0-2400/fb-messenger-m-suggestions-2x1 1.png" border="0" alt="fb messenger m suggestions 2x1 (1)" data-mce-source="Samantha Lee/Business Insider" />Samantha Lee/Business InsiderNecip Fazil Ayan and Laurent Landowski.</div></div></div><ul><li>Facebook is on a mission to help people who speak different languages understand one another.</li><li>It's using M Suggestions, its virtual assistant in Messenger, to translate real-time conversations, and has just added support for French.</li><li>Business Insider spoke to Facebook employees working on the project about the tech behind it, and its potential to radically affect online communication.</li></ul><hr /> In 2015, virtual assistants were the Next Big Thing.Every major tech company had one, from Apple's Siri to Amazon's Alexa and Google Now, which would later become the more fully fledged Google Assistant. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/26/facebook-is-adding-a-personal-assistant-called-m-to-your-messenger-app/">Facebook entered the space in August that year with the announcement of M</a> - a chatbot that lived inside its Messenger app, and which users could ask for just about anything, from hiking recommendations to help buying flowers. But while the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant have exploded over the last few years, finding their way into everything from fridges to cars, M - in its original incarnation - was never widely rolled out to Facebook's users. Instead, it morphed into M Suggestions - an AI enhancement that hovers inside users' Messenger chats with their friends, and offers contextual suggestions based on their conversations - from making payments to initiating video calls. These recommendations have historically been relatively incremental - send a funny GIF! Attach a sticker! - but Facebook is now leaning hard into translations in Messenger, and using M Suggestions as the engine to do so.It's by far the most significant application of the technology behind M Suggestions to date - one that has the potential to radically reshape how hundreds of millions of people communicate in real-time on Facebook. Business Insider spoke to some of the team at Facebook working on the project, to learn more about the tech underpinning the ambitious project and their vision for its future."At Facebook we have a lot of different cultures and a lot of diversity in our team ... we are all speaking different languages, and we know how frustrating it can be not to be able to communicate ... in your own languages," said Laurent Landowski, a Facebook product manager. "So being able to also really provide M Suggestions for translation to the world is something that we're super proud of."<h2>M is an AI assistant that lives inside other conversations</h2>Every time you send a message to a friend via Messenger - assuming it's not an encrypted "Secret Message" - it's being scanned by Facebook.That doesn't mean an actual Facebook employee is reading it, of course. Instead, Facebook's automated systems are parsing the message, trying to understand the intent of the message. This effort is partly underpinned by the tech Facebook acquired when it bought natural language startup Wit.AI back in 2015; cofounder Landowksi is now the product manager of M Suggestions at Facebook. If one of Facebook's AI neural net models identifies the message between you and your friend as something it can add context to, M Suggestions will automatically spring into action. If you mention a song, it might prompt you to play it on Spotify; if you're discussing multiple potential activities in a group, it might suggest creating a poll.And it learns over time what different people utilize it for, and caters its responses accordingly; the version of M that a GIF-addict sees will be very different to what appears for someone who is more restrained in their messaging.When it comes to quick replies - suggested responses M offers users in conversations to save them time - it even uses users' conversation histories as a training data to teach the AI how they speak, making the responses ("yes" versus "yeah" or "yep" or "yah") sound authentically like their voice.Its unique positioning - inside users' existing conversations with other people, rather than dedicated human-to-AI chat windows - means it risks being invasive or jarring. As such, Facebook has moved slowly adding suggestions to M, Landowski said. "We have been working on trying to improve and really focus on the delight and relevance as opposed to the number of suggestions we could be suggesting."He added: "It is super easy to lose user trust."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ba278fc1982d835008b600c-2400/flowen.png" border="0" alt="Flow_EN facebook m" data-mce-source="Facebook" />Facebook</div></div></div><h2>Translations aren't easy - but the pay-off is huge</h2>M Suggestions has thus far offered fun enrichments to conversations, but it's hardly transformative. Where that changes is translations.Facebook has provided language translations on its core social network for years, first via traditional phrase-based translation techniques before migrating to a more advanced AI-powered neural net translation system in August 2017. However, users who wanted to be able to talk across language barriers in real time were out of luck until earlier this year, when Facebook launched the first Spanish-English translations in Messenger, underpinned by M Translations. The company followed it up with the announcement this week that it was adding French.While Facebook positions Messenger at least in part as a way to stay in contact with the people users are closest to, translations opens it up to assisting people who may never have interacted before - like in Marketplace, Facebook's peer-to-peer sales platform. "You see more and more ways where translations can be applied, not only in your personal messaging but also like in the Marketplace, buyer-and-seller-type of messaging, that can unlock a lot of further opportunities for use," said Landowski, a native French speaker from Paris.But translation isn't easy. Languages are always changing and shifting, evolving as slang becomes common parlance, and the problem is especially acute on an informal, real-time platform like Messenger. Facebook's language team has an "active taskforce working to adapt its models to the type of data that Messenger provides, said Necip Fazil Ayan, head of Facebook's language and translation technologies team."This is one of the hardest problems we have to deal with while working on translations at Facebook, and it's not a solved problem, making our systems more robust to informal language including slang," he said."It's a dynamic language right, and people keep inventing stuff ... my best example instead of just saying 'happy birthday,' [they] start introducing lots of P's or Y's or I's all over the place."Facebook's unprecedented digital archives of billions of users' public and private conversations means it has a vast dataset with which to train its AI - but some languages have more material available than others. "One of the biggest challenges we're dealing with, both in terms of language understanding and translation perspective, is the set of what we call 'low resource languages.' As you can imagine, all the machine learning models require a lot of data to become accurate ... and we don't have that luxury for a lot of the languages we are dealing with," Ayan said.And then there's the issue of bias. AI systems are only as good as the data they are trained on, and when there are human biases built into the data, it can creep into the results. "Our data is biased ... we are actively working on this at Facebook ... in machine learning this is a very hot area and it's a very difficult area, and it's going to take a while cleaning up the data from that type of bias or learning where the bias is." But for all the challenges, automated real-time translations offer Facebook a way to have a have a fairly profound effect on the way people around the world communicate. "I really don't want language to become a barrier when people are expressing their opinions or when people are trying to reach other people to get different perspectives," said Ayan, a native Turkish speaker who grew up in the country."So that's the dream, we are going to break down the language barriers and that's my personal mission here."<h2>'It's hard from an AI perspective to be able to create a fully automated assistant that can do everything'</h2>Facebook now describes the original version of M as an experiment, one that provided valuable insight into the kind of things users utilise chatbots for but was never intended as a competitor to Siri et al, and never scaled beyond 2,000-odd users in the Bay Area. (In contrast, more than 100 million people interact with M Suggestions a month as of November 2017, a spokesperson said.)"It's hard from an AI perspective to be able to create a fully automated assistant that can do everything,"Landowksi said, "We basically realized that people, especially in Messenger, they really want to focus on the communication [assistance that M offered] ... it was really about trying to be where they are, which is their actual conversations. Instead of talking to an assistant directly it was all about focusing on the communications."But there have been rumours circulating for months about Facebook building a smart speaker in the vein of the Amazon Echo of Google Home, with a voice-controlled AI assistant built in.It was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-wont-launch-portal-smart-speaker-f8-2018-3">a no-show at Facebook's annual F8 conference in May 2018</a>, but speculation was bolstered after a reverse engineer <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/21/17765530/facebook-speech-recognition-aloha-voice-testing-app">found references hidden in Facebook's code for an "Aloha" voice feature</a>."We're exploring everything," Landowski said when asked about whether Facebook was currently looking at speech recognition."Speech is also an interesting way to actually interact with an assistant. We cannot comment more on exactly what we do and what we test, but definitely we are working and trying to improve this."Contact this reporter via Signal or WhatsApp at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a non-work phone, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at <a href="https://twitter.com/robaeprice">@robaeprice</a>. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-new-iphone-xr-xs-max-september-2018-9">Watch Apple unveil the new iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/bCaTKO6Y-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

Facebook scrapped plans to have AI order you lunch and book vacations. Here's an inside look at how a slick translation feature shows Facebook now has a more ambitious goal

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/525a1716eab8ea243fd9e460-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-ghostbusters.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay ghostbusters" width="480" style="float: right;" />Business Insider/Melia Robinson</div></div>If you were in New York City this weekend, you may have seen Link in line at McDonalds or Sailor Moon on the subway. Maybe photographs of costumed individuals flooded your Instagram or Twitter feeds.
Surely by now you've heard the word <keyword id="1609400" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cosplay">cosplay</keyword> tossed around, but do you really know what it is, or how much the hobby costs?
Literally speaking, cosplay is the combination of the words "<keyword id="31537" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="costume">costume</keyword>" and "play." Cosplayers, the people who partake in cosplay, dress as their favorite characters from comics, video games, anime, manga, movies, and television.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider/Melia Robinson" title_caption="Batman and the gang showed up, sans Ben Affleck." class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/525a286669beddde7bd28efa-960/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-justice-league-batman-robin.jpg"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/525a286669beddde7bd28efa-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-justice-league-batman-robin.jpg" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay justice league batman robin" width="480" style="float: left;" /></a>Business Insider/Melia RobinsonBatman and the gang showed up, sans Ben Affleck.</div></div>The <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/mec/summary/v001/1.winge.html" target="_blank">best supported origin story</a> on the Internet says that in 1984, Nov Takahashi, founder and writer for the anime publishing company Studio Hard, was sent to Los Angeles to cover the World-Con science fiction convention. He was impressed by the fans' costumes and the elaborate displays at the masquerade, and when he returned to Japan, he coined the term to describe what he saw.
Today, cosplay is a favorite ritual of Comic Con attendees, and this weekend in New York, the fans came out in droves. We saw dozens of Batmen, Iron Men, and Wonder Women, in addition to niché costumes, like characters of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nycc-what-every-teen-is-wearing-2013-10" target="_blank">Japanese manga series "Attack on Titan"</a> and '90s throwbacks like Freakazoid and Hey Arnold.
The costumes vary greatly in intensity. Some crafty cosplayers get resourceful and repurpose clothing and props they already own. For instance, to cosplay as Katniss Everdeen of "Hunger Games"-a popular choice this weekend-all you need is a black t-shirt, green cargo pants, lace-up boots, and hair tied into a braid. You can buy a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;field-keywords=mockingjay%20pin&amp;sprefix=mockingjay+p%2Caps&amp;rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amockingjay%20pin" target="_blank">Mockingjay pin</a> replica for as little as $4 and use brown eye shadow for dirt and grime smears.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider/Melia Robinson" title_caption="Her Dragonball Z cosplay probably cost more than the polyester version available online for $21." class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b94eab8eae343d9e46b-960/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-dragonball-z.jpg"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b94eab8eae343d9e46b-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay-dragonball-z.jpg" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay dragonball z" width="480" style="float: left;" /></a>Business Insider/Melia RobinsonHer Dragonball Z cosplay probably cost more than the polyester version available online for $21.</div></div>Other cosplayers may choose to purchase their costumes from an online store, like <a href="http://www.milanoo.com/" target="_blank">Milanoo</a> or <a href="http://www.cosplayhouse.com/" target="_blank">Cosplay House</a>. On Milanoo, prices range from $21 for a <a href="http://www.milanoo.com/Dragonball-Kakarotto-Cosplay-Costume-p59358.html" target="_blank">Dragonball Z jumpsuit</a> on clearance to $197 for a <a href="http://www.milanoo.com/Classic-Black-Latex-Catsuit-p260922.html" target="_blank">black latex catsuit</a>.
For those who want to go above and beyond and create something entirely unique, they can commission costumes from specialists, many of whom operate their businesses on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/?ref=si_home" target="_blank">Etsy</a>. You send a description of what you want, pictures of the character for clarity, your measurements, and any special customization requests.
In the world of cosplay, you frequently have to decide between three requirements: "Time, quality, or money. You can only have one," said Iggy Tissera, a professional cosplayer and panelist at <keyword id="1899024" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-York-Comic-Con">New York Comic Con</keyword>'s "<a href="http://nycc13.mapyourshow.com/5_0/sessions/sessiondetails.cfm?ScheduledSessionID=18A8C7C7" target="_blank">I Have No Sewing Machine, But I Must Cosplay!</a>" presentation. "If you want it to be well made, it's going to take a while and it's going to cost you."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Business Insider/Melia Robinson" title_caption="Iggy Tissera, Lindsey Celak, and Chris Troy strike a pose after wrapping up their NYCC panel on how-to cosplay." class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b7aecad047833d28f06-960/nycc-comic-con-cosplay.jpg"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/525a1b7aecad047833d28f06-1200-900/nycc-comic-con-cosplay.jpg" border="0" alt="nycc comic con cosplay" width="480" style="float: right;" /></a>Business Insider/Melia RobinsonIggy Tissera, Lindsey Celak, and Chris Troy strike a pose after wrapping up their <keyword id="1899022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NYCC">NYCC</keyword> panel on how-to cosplay.</div></div>Lindsey Celak, who led the panel as Sexy Indiana Jones, described a "sticker shock" experience a few years ago when she wanted to be Giselle, of Disney's animated movie "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Widescreen-Edition-Amy-Adams/dp/B0011U52EC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1381633726&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=enchanted" target="_blank">Enchanted</a>." She requested a price quote from a commissioner-asking for specific, high-quality materials and hand-embroidered flowers-and discovered it would cost $850.
"If you're going for accuracy [of the character], you're going to pay for it," Celak said. "Close enough usually suffices." She instead purchased a lace costume from "one of those 'Made in China' sites" and it's held up splendidly since.
For cosplayers, the experience is nearly always worth the stress of choosing a costume and dropping the dough. It's an opportunity to be a hero, princess, or otherworldly creature.
"It takes courage to put on a costume and go into public," Tissera said. "But we're celebrating the characters that we love and embracing our fandom."

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