After a couple of years of avoiding Body Shop like the plague (you can alter cheekbones!  Who knew?), I decided it was high time I included my big, scary pumpkin-like head in a self-sim.  I'm a Leo, and tend to lean towards Knowledge or Romance aspirations (translation:  man-whore who reads).  Turn-offs would be stink, fat, or unemployed (BV); Turn-ons would include fit, red hair, black hair, charismatic or logical sims (BV), and Russians.  Er, that is, uh, "hats."

I have all expansion packs, but they're patched, so the dreaded Pets bug shouldn't affect anyone, should they suffer a lapse of momentary insanity and decide to move me into their neighborhood.  I made me as a Young Adult, in case you're like me and send most of your sims to college, but you can enroll him and drop him out if you want to proceed to life as a regular adult (similar to what happened to real Craig; I'm still bitter about only having four Want slots in real life).

Custom Content:

Eyes by IcedMango at Mod the Sims 2.

Outfit and mesh (included) by Funny at Pimp My Sims.

Eyebrows are not included, but are by Rose Sims.  I couldn't find the exact brow when I went looking for it to include.  I asked Rose for permission to upload it, but after about five minutes I got impatient (told you I'm a Leo) and decided to remove it from the download.

Skintone used is JWilson5's modified Louis skintone, xhairy black light skin.  I didn't include it in order to keep the file size small (I live in the Twigs, which are like the Sticks, but smaller, and have no access to broadband), but you can find it here.

The hair used is the Caesar cut from Seasons, but any short brown or black hair should look okay.

The sim is packaged with the square grey-tinted Maxis glasses (which are very close to the ones I wear in real life), but I took them off for the snapshot so you can see my squinty little eyeballs.  Rat on head sold separately.

Just a little mid-size house I threw together whilst experimenting with the roof slope angle cheat.  I wanted to create one of those houses where the roof looks like an inverted checkmark.  I'm particularly happy with the raised dining area.  The second bedroom would have been less cluttered, but my Sims had twins.  What can you do?

It's got two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, and includes an orchard and greenhouse.  The one-tile pet bed is NOT included in the download, but can be found at Sim Wardrobe.  It requires Seasons EP.

Custom Content:
Custom walls and floors courtesy of Kate, Brighten, and Happymoonbelly at Parsimonious and Solana at Pimp My Sims.

"Atlanta" bedroom, "Princess" bedroom, and "Fae Willows" bathroom furniture courtesy of Kate at Parsimonious.

"Blue Glass" living room, dining room, study, and bathroom sets courtesy of Phelana at Meshkiste.

I had never made extensive used of the "Storybook" build items that came with OFB, so I decided to make a house using them almost exclusively.  What's nice about it is that you can completely change the look of the house with minor effort, since the Storybook items come in a range of colors.  I was really pleased with the result, and have used the house for several of my families.  It's great for creating a subdivision of similar homes with different colors.

Please note that the house comes unfurnished.  I decided to do it that way in order to create a smaller download, and to let people decorate and furnish it however they want.  I've included some gameplay shots of different families to show how I've decorated different homes.

The house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a basement and an attic.  It sells for a little over 24,000 simoleons.  It's quite roomy, and great for either a family with children or two families to share.

Custom content:
I used mostly Maxis stuff, but there are some custom walls and floors from Parsimonious.

This home requires OFB and Seasons.

With the addition of Bon Voyage, I've started designing some vacation homes.  This one is a rustic cabin in a wooded area with fishing access.  It has two stories and a basement, two decks, and two bedrooms.  This is intended for use as a Lake Area vacation home, but can be used as a regular residence.  It sells for around 75,000 simoleons.

Custom Content:

Dead leaf ground cover by McTrick at McTrick's Place.

Unsigned "moist terrain."  If this is yours, let me know so I can credit you.

Custom walls and floors by Kate and Christine at Parsimonious.
Custom objects (except for fridge) by Kate.

Custom old-time fridge by Hed at Southleigh Simdustries.  I can't find a link to this site, but he gives permission to share the object in the object description.  NOTE:  I'm unsure if this fridge will use the "Stock" and "Leftovers" options that came with Seasons.

I have all expansions, but this should be compatible with any.  The pillars I used in the deck came with Bon Voyage.

The pre-made Maxis dorms are pretty much a joke, so I tried my hand at designing a dorm that would actually be fun to live in.  When I was at college, I always thought it was hilarious how much neater the women's floors in the dorms were compared to the men's, so I thought I'd address that in this dorm.  The women's wing is all light and designeriffic, while the men's wing looks like the quarters for the boiler operators on the Titanic.  The dorm has space for eight students, has two large bathrooms, a common rec/study room, and a cafeteria.  The dorm is designed to look best on a desert campus, but as the screenshot shows, can be retooled with a minimum of fuss for other environments.

NOTE:  You may have to experiment with changing some of the kitchen items to make a cafeteria worker appear.  I'm still not sure which Maxis items create a cafeteria worker.

Custom Content:
Custom objects by Kate at Parsimonious.

Custom windows from "Eclectic Expressions" collection by Macarossi at Mod the Sims.

Custom walls and floors by Kate, Christine, and Boo at Parsimonious.

This requires Seasons EP, as well as, well, University.

I decided to recreate the tacky splendor of my youth with this gaudy, garish homage to the tackiest decade of them all.  This community lot includes a roller rink, bowling alley, bar, and restrooms.  It really works well if you have a lot of 80's MP3's in your "New Wave" music folder.

Custom Content:
One wall and floor from Parsimonious (creator unsigned).

Note:  as this includes the roller rink, it is Expansion-specific.  If you don't have the roller rink in your game, there's not much point in downloading this lot, unless you really, really like eye-gouging neon colors.

I wasn't really satisfied with the downtown lots, and Kate at Parsimonious came up with such a beautiful restaurant set that I decided to create a fancy-schmancy restaurant of my own.  It includes a bar and an outdoor café.  If your sims want to purchase it as a business, it sells for around 136,000 simoleons.

Custom Content:
Walls, floors, and original objects by Kate at Parsimonious.

I used Clean Pack Installer, so there shouldn't be any hacks or mods to make puppies cry.  I have all Expansion Packs (patched), but it should work fine in your game, as long as you have Nightlife.