We have a winner!

First, a big THANKS to everyone who entered the Good Gravy! Giveaway.  All the "comment about anything" entries were truly fun to read and were great little tid bits to get to know more about my blog friends! 

Now, onto our big winner:

I'm glad that Mr. Hairy Chest can brighten anyone's day.  Ha ha!  Leigh Anne, please contact me directly at hello{at}goodgravydesigns.com for details on claiming your prize.

Speak & Spell vs. Dolls with Wigs

I've noticed a few of my favorite blogs lately have been independently making references to nostalgic 1980s-era items from toys to television shows, discussing "321 Contact," friendship barrettes and a slew of old-school Fisher Price toys. So, it seemed apropos when I recently came across this electronic gem as I dropped Wavey off at preschool:

I'm not sure if it even works (I didn't have time to test it out), but I might go back and try it out. 

Wavey wasn't sure what to make of it.  I guess if it's not glitzy-glammy like today's toys, she's hardly interested.  I mean, this creepy-voiced oversized device can hardly compete with her latest obsession with these Barbie-esque dolls whose schtick is to trade wigs amongst one another.  THAT to me is creepy.

PS: Today is the last day to enter the Good Gravy! Giveaway.  Perhaps your comment-about-anything entry can be about how when you were a kid, you were scared of Mr. Speak & Spell's voice, too?

Get your craft on: Fabric covered flower pot

Not willing to let ModPodge get the best of me (ahem), I tried another glue project recently.  Inspired by this tutorial, I bought a paper flower pot and decided to make a little pencil holder for Wavey.

I don't really need to go step-by-step here other than stating the obvious that I used MP to glue the fabric to the pot.  So easy that even I can do it.

You'd be proud that I even notched the fabric that folds in before gluing it all down.  A feat of crafting patience for me:

Here is a do-as-I-say/not-as-I-do moment:  See that big blob of MP?  I should have smoothed that out.

And the final product!

Look how excited Dora is for me!

PS: Tomorrow is the last day to enter the Good Gravy! Giveaway.  Entering is easier than washing MP out of your wedding ring.  Trust me on this one.

Cookie monster

I'm not a big keep-in-the-house kind of cookie person, but be still my little cookie heart when it's Girl Scout cookie season.  Aside from my main problem of consuming way too many in a sitting, I tend to forget (or put out of my mind is more like it) how many boxes I'm racking up from various cookie-pushers.  On delivery day this year, it became apparent I ordered way too many...again.  A dozen boxes total!  Here's my reasoning:

1.  Those boxes are incredibly small.  One weensy box just won't cut it around these parts.  Not to mention, I tend to give away the majority of my loot so it's not like we're really eating ALL the cookies.

2.  At only three-something dollars a box and cute little scout blinking her big eyes, I have a hard time ordering just one.  Now, take that and multiply the feeling among the regular four or so scouts who willingly take advantage of this well-known fact.

3.  Samoas and their toasted coconut-y goodness.  Enough said.

What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?  And don't say the shortbread kind.  Eck.


PS: Don't forget to enter the Good Gravy! Giveaway.  Maybe your entry could be a comment as to why you possibly love shortbread cookies because of your lack of tastebuds?  :)

A good gravy! giveaway {closed}

It's giveaway time again!  This time around, the prize pack includes a free 10-piece personalized flat note card set AND 10 custom address labels to round out your stationery suite. 

Here's how to enter:

Simply leave a comment about anything. That's right: anything. How the weather is where you live, what you ate for dinner two nights ago, how you pretended to love that sweater your Aunt Mabel gave you for Christmas but secretly have let your cat walk all over it, etc.  The choice is yours. 

Oh, and if you decide to become a follower (or already are) that can count as two entries...just leave a comment seperately to announce our little union.


Details, details, details...
+ Contest ends at 9:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, February 25. The winner will be announced on Friday, February 26.

+ Up to two entries per person allowed; one if you leave a comment, and a second if you comment separately to tell me you became (or already are) a follower.

+ Winner will be chosen at random using the random integer generator.

Good luck!

Growth chart from Tiny Sprouts

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to post yesterday, but I've been sick.  Nothing fancy, just the regular winter cold, but after a week of dealing with it I was pretty worn out.  But, the sunshine in my day was when I received the Gravy Kids' personalized growth chart order from the ever-adorable Tiny Sprouts!

Obviously, I haven't had a chance to hang it just yet, but after I kick this cold thing, it's on my list.  I love the handmade qualities of Tiny Sprouts products as well as the great primary colors they offer.  I can't wait to start charting!

Art or crime scene? You decide.

The Gravy Kids' great-grandfather turns 90 this week and we wanted to give him something special from the kids.  I had seen a project a while ago which shared how using ModPodge and tissue paper on canvas created really great texture.  That is, "great texture" at the expense of my sanity.  File this one under "never again."

First, I gathered my materials:

Next, I slathered MP on the canvas first and then put the tissue on top, coating it once again:

What you won't see next is the part where the dye on the tissue bled EVERYWHERE.  I was getting pretty frustrated, especially when this kept happening, too:

Once it was dried, I was disenchanted by the whole "great texture" which just looked like a giant mistake in my book.  But, I carried on and had the kids put red paint on one hand to stamp the canvas.  I'm usually a fan of high-contrast colors like the bright blue and red, but I thought that it all turned out somewhat gruesome looking:

Poppy will still love it.

Watching paint dry

Patience isn't exactly a hereditary virtue I've passed along to my kids.  Case-in-point when I stumbled upon Wavey using a toy hairdryer to "speed up" the drying process of her painted project:

That's a lot of cupcakes

My weekend consisted of fulfilling stationery and custom orders (my very favorite), including a request for an extraordinarily large order of 500 cupcake toppers to celebrate a company's 175th anniversary. 

Barbie agrees that you just don't see many companies around these days achieving such an accomplishment. 

Little sister who?

I caught a bit of flack last week for not featuring any photos of my sister.   This was not intentional, but it's not my fault that there are few photos kicking around of her as a kid.  The perils of being a third- and last-born child, I'm sure.  Being a first-born with mountains of photos, I just cannot relate.  Ha!  So, I present to you my mystery-sister Emily in all her 1980s-era little kid cuteness:

I'm really hoping this was a "quick, smile before you go to Easter services!" photo or else I'll have little explanation for why I'm wearing a huge bow on my way to school.

This was the last day of Emily using a crib.  From the size of her, it was most likely a wise choice because she probably was already climbing out of it since the mattress was set so high.  If you look behind my brother's shoulder, check out the insane amount of bite marks on the railing.  Mmm, lead paint.

We're hanging out with some childhood friends in this photo who often stayed at our house for a few hours after school.  I'm not sure how effective of a stroller-pusher I could have been on those ill-laced rollerskates, but Emily seemed to be enjoying herself.  I, on the other hand, look like a real treat with my tongue sticking out and socks pulled up to my knees.

Fun with finds

I love "fun finds" and the blog world is full of them. I've also been on the receiving end of being named a "fun find" with the freebie Valentine's Day printables, and I'm so grateful for the support. In the vein of returning the "fun find" karma, here are two great things I'd like to share:

I'm a necklace kind of girl. And isn't this necklace I purchased from Stella & Dot over the holidays just lovely? The S&D jewelry is certainly delicious and stylist Jen Schultz is always looking for stylists to join her national crew. Right now, Jen is offering a $15 credit on purchases over $50 when you order directly by emailing her at sodakjen{at}gmail{dot}com.

And, check out this great giveaway from Two Little Tots! Melissa is offering a free crayon roll-up design with free shipping to one lucky winner through her blog.  I can attest that these roll-ups are loved but have caused much stir among the Gravy Kids who insist on pestering each other by mixing up the order of the crayons. 

For the record, the fun finds featured here are generated from the goodness of my little gravy heart and are not paid placements.  Just keeping it straight-laced and sharing the fun.

Smurfs + Chicken

I have a facination with people who put stuffed animals in the back dash of their cars.  Not the kind where it's clear a kid tossed a My Little Pony behind them; I'm referring to the carefully crafted menageries, usually consisting of a row of stuffed bears, unicorns and/or dolls. 

When choosing just the right stuffed animals to feature in the rear-window, what do you imagine is the thought process?  "I'm going to position Mr. Boo-Boo here so he faces outward to the driver behind me, and then they'll be pleased to see my affinity for displaying toys."

Now that I've mentioned it, you'll see these little rear-window stuffed animal scenes EVERYWHERE. 

Meanwhile, I wish I knew the story behind this car's message which I came across in the grocery store parking lot:

In case you can't read it through my dirty windshield, it says, "I {heart} smurfs + chicken."

Weird, yet funny.

Damask bridal shower invitation

Oh, I love a classic damask motif.  I recently completed this bridal shower invitation which included a personalized thank you card using a sparkling sapphire and slate gray color palette. 

Personal information has been modified for privacy.

I've been working up some ideas for my 2010 spring line, with the damask motif possibly making a flat note card debut.  Do you think if I launch the spring line now, the season will arrive sooner?  With snow in this week's forecast, it's only wishful, futile thinking. 

Hello there, stinky

While cleaning out the basement, I found another magazine that was from my Nana's house.  The ads are circa 1971 and are as hilarious as they are dated.

I'm not sure Hairy Chest here should be so confidently describing his plans for non-deodorant use:

If I'm even concious at 11:00 p.m. - let alone concious enough to be playing chess with some dude in polyester pants - I question if a heaping glass of grapefruit juice would be my #1 snack choice:

And finally, while I get that color printing technology at the time didn't exactly make for deliciously accurate colors, I can't help but to be skeeved by not only the off-color reproduction of these food items, but also the staging:

Because nothing says "yum" like an ice cream dish full of greasy spaghetti or a big container of raw meat next to a sloppy joe.

At least they're tasty

Really, NECCO?  "Tweet me?"  You've officially jumped the shark.

Okay, folks: there's just one full weekend left until Valentine's Day.  Get your craft on with Good Gravy! freebie Valentine's Day printables, and check out these other great ideas:

+ White chocolate popcorn from Make and Takes (via 30Days)

+ Valentine's Day book wreath from Flower Patch Farm Girl (via Paper Crave)

+ Be mine embroidery pattern from Bad Bird's (via One Pretty Thing)

+ Heart-shaped pot holders from Martha

From the archives

I rummaged through some old photo albums to share a few gems from my early childhood which straddled the late 1970s into the 1980s.  Ready?  Ready!

I like how my brother is in some medieval contraption we used to call a "walker." And see that yellow laundry basket I'm sitting in?  I STILL OWN IT.  The basket is probably chock-full of lead, mercury and BPA to remain as durable today as it did in 1980.

I'm about two and a half years old in this photo.  Maybe my cheeks had some sort of magical static electric pull to make my brother's hair stand up like that?

I was on the fence about sharing this photo (I'm about eight years old) because of my insanely bad mouse-teeth.  But then I realized that it's because of them that I think this photo is so funny.  Good lord, my teeth were atrocious!  Thanks to great orthodontic work, I've been mouse-teeth-free since 1992.  I wish I could report similar good news about the improvement of my hairstyle, but at least I'm not sporting massive round fabric clips anymore.

Fun with charts and graphs

Last week, another blog author said something along the lines of "I don't read magazines, I read blogs."  I'm finding this to be more and more true for myself.  While I still keep up with local and national news via print and web, I do enjoy the occasional "fun" site and Indexed is no exception.

(Image source)

Its author Jessica describes her work of illustrating ideas "relationally without resorting to doing actual math."  I really enjoy her mix of humor, social commentary and just plain silliness.

A few of my favorites:

(Images source)

PS: What's that you say?  You want another shot at winning some Good Gravy! personalized stationery?  Check back soon for more details!