Disney realized a lot of women want fairy-tale princess weddings like the ones seen in their animated movies, and a couple years ago, they began selling wedding, bridesmaid, and flower-girl dresses based on Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, Snow White, and other princesses. Now, they’re taking the dream one step farther with a line of wedding and engagement rings.

For $1,200 to $6,000 (not including the center stone, known as “semi-mounts” in the biz), Prince Charming can propose with a ring that corresponds to a Disney heroine, created by Kirstie Kelly for Disney for Mouawad. Personally, we’re not sure we want to live out the “happily ever after” fantasy: Disney princesses wear pretty gaudy rings. [Kirstie Kelly for Disney by Mouawad via Luxist]

Khloe Kardashian co-hosted “The View” this morning and, sadly, was not her usual firecracker self. Please don’t let marriage dull this bitch down! Anyway, Khloe showed off the BOULDER her new husband Lamar Odom gave her when he proposed, and Sherri nearly wet herself. Honestly, 9 carats? That is just too big. What are you trying to prove with a diamond as big as that. It’s tacky. Also, isn’t her finger tired from carrying around all that weight?

Sometimes, I read an advice column and learn something that will help me avoid doing something regrettable. When I read a Social Q’s question and answer that will appear in this Sunday’s paper, I wondered how a person could be so stupid. J.S. in Brooklyn, NY, bought a woman he had been dating for two years a $16,000 engagement ring after she sent him a photo of the ring and threatened to end their relationship if he didn’t give it to her. After he had the ring made, she told him she was committed to another man. We’re not really sure what went down, but it seems a little strange for two people to be together for years and one of them to be “committed” to someone else. Anyway, J.S. wants to know whether, since jewelers tell him the ring has limited value since it was custom made, his ex-fiancée should share in the financial loss.

Dude should have seen the problems coming and never bought her the ring in the first place. In his letter to Social Q’s, he admits that this ex-fiancée disapproved of the mediation he and his ex-wife used for their divorce.

Want to enjoy one night out without terrible pick-up lines, “accidental” groping, and lame dudes? Now, Mstaken.com sells an engagement ring (for $50) to avoid unwanted clingers. As the site instructs, “Slip on the ring—a little bright lie that says you’re married to the man of your dreams (whenever he gets here). When the coast is clear, stash your secret weapon in your keychain. Next time an unwanted suitor lurks near, tap your inner vixen and remember: you’re Ms. Taken!” One teensy problem? According to the guys at the blog Bar Stool Sports, wearing ring bling may actually encourage the unwanted suitors to pursue even more! Ah, the creme de la scum. Maybe Mstaken.com should sell pregnant body suits instead.  [Bar Stool Sports]

Anyway, check out the company’s hilarious response to Andy Samberg’s “Saturday Night Live” digital short, “Jizz In My Pants,” called “Puke In My Mouth.”

Times are tough around the world, and we’re all cutting back in some area of our life. In Japan, one common cost-cutting measure seems to be diamond engagement rings. The percent of men who bought engagement rings will slip from 1993’s 80 percent to just 50 percent this year, according to estimates from the Yano Research Institute. Some couples are deciding to spend more on wedding bands, or to buy watches or other jewelry rather than investing in a rock. Certainly, people shouldn’t purchase engagement rings they can’t afford, but do you think it’s even necessary for a man to propose with a ring? We asked three women for their thoughts.

A New Zealand man wants to dispose of an engagement ring he gave to a woman who spurned him. Anthony Gardiner, 29, couldn’t return the ring and didn’t want to sell it, so he came up with the novel idea of a treasure hunt. “I met this girl I thought was pretty cool, bought a ring, turns out she wasn’t as keen,” said Gardiner to the Dominion Post newspaper. Anyone who wants to hunt for the diamond ring, valued at NZ$5,000 ($3,268), needs to be in Wellington, New Zealand, this Saturday. He will post clues to the ring’s location via his Twitter page on Saturday at 8 a.m. local time. Gardiner says he’ll post clues all day, but if the ring isn’t found by the end of the day, then he’ll start posting directions. Some would wonder why he doesn’t just hold onto the diamond ring until he meets the right woman. “Obviously, it’s been a pretty unlucky ring for me,” Gardiner said. But he hopes the lucky treasure hunter is someone who has “found a cool chick and who wants to give them something they normally wouldn’t be able to afford.” [Reuters]

Who am I to argue with the Madison Avenue suits who coined the phrase “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”?

If only diamonds were all we believe them to be. The violence resulting from the diamond mining and trading industry is, in a word, tragic. And, as it turns out, diamonds aren’t even as valuable as we’ve been told.

Your marriage proposal is meant to be romantic. It’s something you’re supposed to remember for the rest of your life. Well this couple will never forget how they got engaged. Reed Harris was trying to be sneaky when he hid an engagement ring in his girlfriend’s Frosty milkshake from Wendy’s. But when she gulped the sweet treat down fast, the ring was lost down her throat and headed for her stomach. X-rays confirmed the ring was chillin’ in her stomach—a bag of prunes and high fiber cereal later, she finally had her rock. But this isn’t the only unusual thing that’s happened to engagement rings and wedding bands. After the jump, five more weird stories that will remind you to never hide something valuable in food.

Valentine’s Day is the second-biggest time of year for wedding proposals, but the average amount spent on an engagement ring is expected to drop 9.8 percent this year, down to $2,900. Well, hard times don’t have to mean forgoing a ring altogether. Whether you want a real (but tiny) diamond, or something that looks like a diamond, you have options, even if you or your love are just scraping by. Remember, it’s not about the ring, well, unless you’re a Diamond Digger.

H Samuel, a jeweler in the U.K., is trying to get male engagement rings to take off as more women are proposing to men in these modern times. Their Tioro ring, made from titanium and featuring a tiny diamond, goes for about $120, which is waaaaaaay cheaper than most engagement rings for women. “UK women are no longer waiting until the man pops the question,” said an H Samuel employee. “We are equals in the work place and in relationships and we make our own decisions. Now this ring is a clear message to everyone that a man is to be married.” Do you think a woman who proposes should offer her man a ring? [Telegraph UK]

I’m at my parents’ place this week, visiting my family for Christmas. Shortly after I arrived, my mother presented me with an engagement ring. The ring belonged to my great-grandmother, who got married 80 years ago in the fall of 1928. This past summer, when I last saw my mom, I told her my boyfriend and I were talking marriage, and I asked if she could get the ring out of the safety deposit box so I could try it on at Christmas. Eager to see me married ASAP, she was more than happy to comply.

Well dang, I never thought I would be so lucky as to personally weigh in on this debate! The Frisky presented both sides to this conundrum way back when, but The New York Times decided to voice their opinion in this weekend’s Wedding section (what a downer for all the rejoicing couples whose weddings were celebrated in the announcements!). Many disputes over the true “ownership” of an engagement ring have taken the couples to court, but Joana Grossman, a Harvard Law Professor who has written on the topic says, “People can spend an exorbitant amount of money on rings they cannot afford and then it is not uncommon for them to break up. But the rings are not usually worth enough to offset the cost of litigation.” I wonder if there’s a corrolation between how much a guy spends on a ring and the likelihood that the engagement will be broken—like a guy with a Porsche probably has a small penis, a guy who’s spends, say, $20,000 on a ring is more likely to dump you because he’s trying too hard to prove he’s ready for marriage. Or something.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s say your relationship status suddenly went from “HAPPILY ENGAGED” to “HEARTBROKEN AND IN LIMBO”. In addition to how absolutely crappy you might feel, your ring finger probably feels a little naked too, without the presence of its previous occupant, aka your engagement ring. Even if you’re not one of these suffering souls, there’s no reason why a lady can’t buy herself her own damn ring to wear on, yes, her left ring finger. After the jump, 10 rings that say “I love you, self” better than any rock.

As the whole world knows by now, Lindsay Lohan was spotted last Thursday wearing a diamond-encrusted, heart-shaped ring on her left ring finger, fueling rumors that she plans to marry girlfriend Samantha Ronson. Celebrity engagements—and, more importantly, celebrity engagement ring—fascinate us commoners. Because we live vicariously through our favorite celebs, and we’re not ashamed to admit it, dammit! So we decided to take a trip down memory lane to ogle the most notable engagement rings in history.

Our limited knowledge of jewels tells us this is a cushion cut diamond with a gold band. Purdy. [Costume Institute Gala, New York, 5/5/08]

A husband and wife were tidying up their villa at Disney World in Orlando, and the husband accidentally threw away his wife’s engagement, wedding, and five-year-anniversary rings. Oops. But those devoted Disney employees donned protecteive clothing, searched through trash, and found the rings! “That’s not the first time we’ve gone through trash — oh, no,” said Drew Weaver, the executive housekeeper at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. “We don’t always find things. Many times we come up empty. But we didn’t this time.” [AP]

Last week, we discussed who gets the ring if an engagement is broken off. But what do you do with the ring if you get to keep it? It’s not like you can wear it on another finger—engagement rings are just a little too distinctive-looking. Well, Dita Von Teese took her diamond from former husband Marilyn Manson and had Christian Dior make it into an even more gorgeous ring. “It’s nice; it’s big. I feel like I suffered greatly for that diamond, and it needed to be reborn into something better.” [NY Times]