Casting call

My arm wasn't healing with use of a soft cast, so I'm now the proud owner of this bad-boy for the next several weeks:

The story of a injured ligament isn't as fun as coming up with some clever line to strangers who ask about the cast.  I've considered changing the story to that one time I was in a super ninja fight, or how I busted it falling off a bar stool.

Anything is better than "I got rear-ended big time by an elderly driver.  In November.  And yes, it still hurts."  Feel free to share an outlandish story idea I can use while out and about this weekend.

My dark roast secret

I'd like to shake the hand of the marketing geniuses who said to themselves one day, "I bet there are nutballs out there who would love the taste of burnt pretzels..."

...because I am that nutball.



I {heart} burnt toast, too.  And I know that's not normal.

Is "poo" with two O's?

Wavey has been practicing her writing skills.  And these are the gems she's turning in:

For the birds

A great client of mine asked me to design a sign for a baby boy shower she was hosting and offering birdseed favors to guests. 

I'm all for functional favors, and her idea to hang them from a potted tree branch was so clever.  Love this idea!

Smells like kibble

We've been tossing around the idea of getting Griffin a race car bed for his 3rd birthday next month. But why shell out that kind of dough when the kid insists on bunking in the dog's bed?

{please excuse the bad cell phone pics}

Brownies + Pound Cake = FAIL

I love brownies.  I love pound cake.  And this is about how I got super ahead of myself thinking that the two could ever be friends.  Because they are not. 

Trust me and don't waste your time.

Since my super-popular post about the very delicious Brownie-Covered Oreos, I thought that the marriage of my two favorite cake-like items would be a hit. 

Unfortunately, they turned on me as a monstrosity of a weirdly textured fake dessert.

Look away.  They're hideous.

Free DIY Printable: St. Patrick's Day gift tags

Oh, come on now.  Just because you may or may not be Irish doesn't mean you can't spread the luck around a little. 

Personally, I'm half-Irish but will celebrate the holiday in whole.  And you should, too, with my latest Good Gravy! free DIY printable St. Patrick's Day gift tags in the polka dotted motif that's popular these days. 

Click here to download, and go forth to find yourself some [Yucky] Charms cereal and green food dye.

Want more St. Patrick's day printable goodies?  Check out the Good Gravy! pillow box designed last year.

I'm pumped

I've apparently been so wrapped up in custom orders lately that I hadn't updated the blog (shame on me!) or notice that my kids abandoned all toys and resorted to playing with junky air pumps.

Not-so-easy unicorn

You may remember the gifted tiger "painting" I received over the holidays. The joke has carried on that only a paint-by-numbers unicorn could possibly surpass the awesomeness of El Tigre.

So I bought one with great enthusiasm...

...and then cursed the blatant mislabeling of "quick and easy" when the directions looked like this:

And this:

I have a better chance of finding an actual unicorn and riding it into the sunset than finding time to paint this so-called "easy" project.

Will this cancel my policy?

Which of the following do you think my local insurance agent dislikes the most?

A) That his photo is part of every mailed marketing piece to his customers?

B) That our children go to the same school and this is the Valentine's Day card his daughter will receive?

or

C) That he ever met me?

Thanks for Nothing Thursday

While I don't usually do a "Wordless Wednesday" that a lot of folks do (hence, today being Thursday...), I decided that today - and today only - I will enact my own "Thanks for Nothing Thursday." 

As in, "My big sister got to see the "Disney's Princesses on Ice" show without me and all I got was this stupid, lopsided (yet so incredibly expensive that my mother wondered if it's dipped in real gold) crown.  Thanks for nothing."

Smells like BPA and dirty socks

Last year, I posted a picture of my brother and I playing in and around a yellow laundry basket that I still own today.

Some families pass down fine China dish settings to their children.  Mine likes to pass down laundry baskets:

Thank goodness that rickety/rusty baby walker contraption my brother sat in is long gone.  Along with his ill-fitting hat.

Brownies + Oreos = Heaven

I love brownies.  I love Oreos.  And this is about how my friend Karen introduced me to the most amazing marriage of chocolately desserts. 

Get yourself these two ingredients (plus whatever the box of brownies needs, such as oil, eggs, water):

Okay, this next photo is less-than-appealing, but all you do is make the brownie batter per the box's directions and then coat the cookies:

Grease a muffin tin VERY WELL and then put your coated cookies into the pan:

Bake about 12-16 minutes at 350 and let cool in the tin before jimmying out with a small spoon.

I've eaten about 13,000 of these.  Since Sunday.  Heaven help me.

Want more brownie goodness?  Check out the Bonjour Family's Valentine's Day gift idea!

Moment of obvious

A note from school regarding the deadline for Valentine's Day cards:

Tiny bites!

Can we talk about how adorable these little bite-sized treats are?! 

I ran across the Skipping Skones bake shop via Etsy this week and cannot get enough of how phenomenal their craftsmanship of these little goodies are.  Along with the "Hello cupcakes" shown above, here are a few other favs...

Turn your frown around pinapple upside-down cake:

Teeny tiny pie bites:

{photos source}

Home sweet home

Starting in 2004 (and continuing endless finish work through present day), we've poured blood, sweat and tears into constructing an addition on our home. 

Now that the house at least looks decent from the outside, I sent Lindsay from Paint Me a Picture some exterior shots and she created this adorable custom painting of our home:

I am in love with the painting.  Lindsay's work is amazing!  Check out her affordable shop today!

Curse of the errant marker

When Griffin called me from the other room asking where I kept the baby wipes, I should have known better than to think it was because he was interested in changing his own diaper.

At least green jives with orange.