Gift ideas, News From Here, Cartoons
April 24, 2022
In This Issue:
Updates From My House
Gift Ideas + Art to Download
Cartoons
Updates From My House
What The Dog Has Been Up To
I said the word “walk” the other day (not in relation to the dog) and then I looked over and saw this.
I was like, “No! I’m not talking about you!” But it was too late. JJ was already dreaming, and dreaming BIG. He wanted that walk, and he started barking.
Now that he's learned English, I need to come up with some other word for “walk.” I can’t spell it out, either, because he knows that trick.
What Claire Has Been Up To
Meanwhile, in other home-related news, my daughter Claire got her driver’s license, so now she suddenly enjoys running random errands.
The other day she drove to the grocery store and returned with… a coconut. “I bought it as a snack,” she explained.
Remind me not to put her in charge of the weekly food shopping.
After all the hammering and chaos of trying to break into it, she took one tiny bite and said, "Nope. Don't like it."
Good times.
Gift Ideas and Art to Download
Here’s a round-up of gift ideas that you can use for Mother’s Day, or any occasion.
Cards by The Onion on Shutterfly
You've probably heard of the satirical news organization The Onion. Well, now they have a line of cards for sale on Shutterfly—and they’re quite funny.
You can even customize the cards with your own pictures and text boxes if you want -- either on the front or inside of the card.
If you want to buy one of the cards, click on the "Personalize" button and go from there. If you decide not to add any photos of your own, that's fine. You might get a notice that one of the customizable areas is blank, but that's OK.
Monocle Necklace
You know what a monocle is – it’s a corrective lens that you put in front of one eye. Like this chap here:
Well, I recently saw a friend of mine who was wearing a monocle as a necklace. It looked really cool, and she would just lift it to her eye when she needed it (for example, when reading a menu).
It occurred to me that this could make a fun gift. If you search monocle necklace, you’ll find a lot of options.
Favorite Things Basket
Another idea is a “Favorite Things” gift basket. You can either give this on your own or involve other family members or friends.
First step: Spend some time thinking about things you really love. Maybe pay attention over the next few days to the items you regularly use. Then buy a couple of those things (or each person buys one thing, if you're doing this with other people), and assemble a basket for the gift recipient.
Some examples: A book, a water bottle, treats or other food, slippers, a blanket, lotion, clothing, beverages, kitchen items, a portable speaker, etc. It can be anything. Personally, I might do a Calvin & Hobbes book because I love that cartoon.
Then you tell the recipient: "Here are some of our favorite things, and we think you might like them too." It's exciting because the receiver will get things they never even thought to ask for.
Relaxation-Themed Gift
I’m going to help you out with this next one. I created some art (below) and you can give someone.
I wanted to give you options, so the first image you see here is a piece of paper that's 8.5x11 inches. You can download it, print it, then cut out the art pieces you want to use--depending on the size you need. You'll see there's one 5x7 image and three square images that are 3x3 inches. Click on it to download.
By the way, I created a blog post with information about downloading files, if you want instructions.
Or if you just want the art file itself, here it is (click to download).
And here are the separate inhale/exhale images, if you want those instead.
You can either frame the art, or get crafty and make something of your own. One idea is to cut out the picture, glue it to a stick, then put it in a little potted plant. Like this:
That plant seems to want to get away from the art, but you get the idea.
Or you could frame it and give it along with some stress-relief lotion and a head massager, or a similar item.
Humorously Specific Gifts
Something else to consider: If your gift recipient likes something (TV show, hobby, athletic activity, band, etc.) you can probably find a really specific and amusing product at a website like Redbubble, Threadless, Tee Public, Etsy or similar website.
For example, my husband likes this TV show, so I searched online for products related to the show. I ended up getting him a t-shirt with a humorous line from the show. It was so random, and pretty much an inside joke, but that's what made it fun.
Customized Notes
Or, if you want to create a customized note, here are some templates you can download and use. Two are for Mother's Day and one is for general use. Click on them to download.
These are Mother's Day coupons you can fill in. Good gift for kids or teens to give.
And here's the general one you can use for anyone:
And if all else fails, you can always drive over to the store and buy your gift recipient a fun snack.
Cartoons!
Several of my cartoons were included in this article from HuffPost about sibling relationships. Also, I posted a new Bowl Game story based on the words Determined Dragon Serving Afternoon Tea.
And now, here's a look at the most popular cartoons over the past month. The first one is about a huge email faux pas. Maybe you've been caught in a "Reply-All Storm"? I experienced one couple months ago.
And this next one is based on Claire, who loves to dream big... at least for a few minutes at a time.
You could say it's her signature move. Here's a cartoon I did when she was little.
Mind you, this is the same kid who did this:
And this:
All right, everyone, that's it for this month. Dream big. Remember to breathe. And whatever you do, don't reply all to a huge group email.
I will see you here next month!
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