A Year of Logo Fun

I have been reflecting on a lot of serious things that happened in this last year, but there is one thing that — most definitely — was not. Those of you who subscribe via feed readers or email don’t always see some of the stuff I do direct on the blog’s design, but over the past year, I decided to have a little fun with the logo. With each new holiday or season (or just whenever I felt like it), I changed things up to give my little duckling some personality.

Speaking of, did we ever decide on a name for this guy? I can’t even remember.

When I redesigned the site, I picked out a brand new logo to go with:

It was simple, and that’s part of the reason why I liked it so much. But it also meant I could do random things to it just for fun, like last December when I made him into Duckling Santa (which happens to be the same one that’s up on the site now):

December

In January, I gave him a party hat and confetti, but kept the snowflakes — even though it hardly ever snows here in Georgia, at least the site was festive!

January

Whenever there was a good opportunity, I kept the idea going. Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. I tried to take the “less is more” approach with most of them. ;)

February

March

Easter/April

(I know Easter was in March, but it was cute, so I kept it)

By the time my birthday and summer rolled around, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do regarding holidays, so I went with a more seasonal approach to last a few months (and not to mention, I spent a lot of that time outside and away from my computer anyway):

Summer

Football/Fall

And by December, we were right back to where I started!

It was kind of a silly exercise, but it was also a fun way to flex my creative muscles whenever I found myself hitting a design slump (it happens, and sometimes there’s not a lot you can do about it except push through!) and to see who noticed and left comments about it. A few of you really seemed to like it, so I think in 2017, I’m going to keep it going with some new ideas. They might get a little more obscure if I feel like having an inside joke or two, but I hope at the very least, it brought a few more smiles this year. Have a good one tonight, and I’ll see you all in the new year!

The post A Year of Logo Fun appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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A Year of Logo Fun published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/

A Year of Logo Fun

I have been reflecting on a lot of serious things that happened in this last year, but there is one thing that — most definitely — was not. Those of you who subscribe via feed readers or email don’t always see some of the stuff I do direct on the blog’s design, but over the past year, I decided to have a little fun with the logo. With each new holiday or season (or just whenever I felt like it), I changed things up to give my little duckling some personality.

Speaking of, did we ever decide on a name for this guy? I can’t even remember.

When I redesigned the site, I picked out a brand new logo to go with:

It was simple, and that’s part of the reason why I liked it so much. But it also meant I could do random things to it just for fun, like last December when I made him into Duckling Santa (which happens to be the same one that’s up on the site now):

December

In January, I gave him a party hat and confetti, but kept the snowflakes — even though it hardly ever snows here in Georgia, at least the site was festive!

January

Whenever there was a good opportunity, I kept the idea going. Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. I tried to take the “less is more” approach with most of them. ;)

February

March

Easter/April

(I know Easter was in March, but it was cute, so I kept it)

By the time my birthday and summer rolled around, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do regarding holidays, so I went with a more seasonal approach to last a few months (and not to mention, I spent a lot of that time outside and away from my computer anyway):

Summer

Football/Fall

And by December, we were right back to where I started!

It was kind of a silly exercise, but it was also a fun way to flex my creative muscles whenever I found myself hitting a design slump (it happens, and sometimes there’s not a lot you can do about it except push through!) and to see who noticed and left comments about it. A few of you really seemed to like it, so I think in 2017, I’m going to keep it going with some new ideas. They might get a little more obscure if I feel like having an inside joke or two, but I hope at the very least, it brought a few more smiles this year. Have a good one tonight, and I’ll see you all in the new year!

The post A Year of Logo Fun appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

A Year of Logo Fun published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/

A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank

If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years, you’re probably aware of our holiday baking tradition. It always takes place in Mom’s kitchen, all of us doing various levels of helping decorate (sometimes ahem, only doing quality control) and bake the various cookie types. This has also included some rather incriminating photos of me…

With permission, I shared two of those recipes in the last couple of years — my Granny’s favorite, kolaches, and my own personal favorite, hard-boiled egg cookies.*

*The name isn’t the most appealing, but they are delicious. If you don’t want to try them, that’s just more for me!

But this year, as my sister Em and I were rolling out the dough, my mom started talking about one of her favorites: anise cookies. She had made a batch of dough and intended on baking them along with the rest of the cookies we were doing. And it reminded me of yet another funny holiday story that I haven’t shared with you guys yet.

If you’ve never heard of anise cookies, they contain an oil that tastes like black licorice, making them the absolute worst possible cookie flavor of all time. Not to mention, their name always makes me have to pronounce them a second time with friends (“No. anissss, with an ‘i’.” Yes, I know what that sounds like. And yes, they do at least figuratively taste like shit.”)

Growing up, I always hated them. Why the hell did someone invent a cookie that tastes like bad candy? Merry friggin’ Christmas, let’s leave Santa a “treat” that would make even the jolliest want to stomp on our presents. There’s just one little problem…

If we use cookie cutters, they look almost exactly identical to my favorite cookies. They bake and puff almost the same. And for years, as kids, we decorated every cookie that came out of the oven with the same icing and sprinkles.

You can see where this is going. Mom would bake the various cookies in small batches and all at once, and we would go apeshit with covering them all in sugar. So, naturally, I would smell that all-too-familiar smell of my my favorite cookies baking in the oven, grab one that’s sitting on the rack cooling, take a BIG bite, and then…

Ewwwww. The cookie would immediately come tumbling out of my mouth in a fury of crumbs and a WTH?!? look on my face. And to make Mom laugh even harder, she never actually meant to prank me; I would just be unlucky sometimes. You would think I could at least smell the anise ones to distinguish them if they looked too similar to know by sight, but with a kitchen full of cookie smell, it was still too confusing for my weak nose.

I’m not proud of the learning curve on this one. It took us years before I stopped gambling with my 50/50 odds of getting the right cookie. I did stop taking such big bites, though.

I find it pretty hilarious that I would forget to prevent this issue so easily by the next time Christmas came around again. Eventually, our solution was to bake a whole bunch of mine and not ice them (I actually hate icing, so it worked out great) and would leave the anise cookies in a simple round shape (sans cookie cutter). They still look a little confusing when they’re all in the same cookie tin, but it’s now accidental-prank-free.

Do you have any funny cookie memories? I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday!

The post A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/

A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank

If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years, you’re probably aware of our holiday baking tradition. It always takes place in Mom’s kitchen, all of us doing various levels of helping decorate (sometimes ahem, only doing quality control) and bake the various cookie types. This has also included some rather incriminating photos of me…

With permission, I shared two of those recipes in the last couple of years — my Granny’s favorite, kolaches, and my own personal favorite, hard-boiled egg cookies.*

*The name isn’t the most appealing, but they are delicious. If you don’t want to try them, that’s just more for me!

But this year, as my sister Em and I were rolling out the dough, my mom started talking about one of her favorites: anise cookies. She had made a batch of dough and intended on baking them along with the rest of the cookies we were doing. And it reminded me of yet another funny holiday story that I haven’t shared with you guys yet.

If you’ve never heard of anise cookies, they contain an oil that tastes like black licorice, making them the absolute worst possible cookie flavor of all time. Not to mention, their name always makes me have to pronounce them a second time with friends (“No. anissss, with an ‘i’.” Yes, I know what that sounds like. And yes, they do at least figuratively taste like shit.”)

Growing up, I always hated them. Why the hell did someone invent a cookie that tastes like bad candy? Merry friggin’ Christmas, let’s leave Santa a “treat” that would make even the jolliest want to stomp on our presents. There’s just one little problem…

If we use cookie cutters, they look almost exactly identical to my favorite cookies. They bake and puff almost the same. And for years, as kids, we decorated every cookie that came out of the oven with the same icing and sprinkles.

You can see where this is going. Mom would bake the various cookies in small batches and all at once, and we would go apeshit with covering them all in sugar. So, naturally, I would smell that all-too-familiar smell of my my favorite cookies baking in the oven, grab one that’s sitting on the rack cooling, take a BIG bite, and then…

Ewwwww. The cookie would immediately come tumbling out of my mouth in a fury of crumbs and a WTH?!? look on my face. And to make Mom laugh even harder, she never actually meant to prank me; I would just be unlucky sometimes. You would think I could at least smell the anise ones to distinguish them if they looked too similar to know by sight, but with a kitchen full of cookie smell, it was still too confusing for my weak nose.

I’m not proud of the learning curve on this one. It took us years before I stopped gambling with my 50/50 odds of getting the right cookie. I did stop taking such big bites, though.

I find it pretty hilarious that I would forget to prevent this issue so easily by the next time Christmas came around again. Eventually, our solution was to bake a whole bunch of mine and not ice them (I actually hate icing, so it worked out great) and would leave the anise cookies in a simple round shape (sans cookie cutter). They still look a little confusing when they’re all in the same cookie tin, but it’s now accidental-prank-free.

Do you have any funny cookie memories? I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday!

The post A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/

4 Features of a Classic, Timeless Kitchen

If you’re looking into remodeling your kitchen, why not go with a classic, timeless theme that will stand the test of time? Today, we want to help you do just that with some tips for building a kitchen that is always up to date. Here are 4 things to keep in mind.

#1: Simple Architectural Features

Don’t get too complex with the architecture of the room if you want it to last through the years. Crown molding and claw feet certainly add a level of interest, but it may be something that does not fit the vision of your home in the long term. Straight lines throughout a room are not boring when you change things up with features like glass cabinetry and the occasional pop of color.

#2: A Huge Sink

Who doesn’t love a big kitchen sink to make cleaning a whole lot easier? Don’t regret your kitchen remodeling choices by choosing a fun, unique sink that doesn’t get the job done. Get the biggest sink you can without compromising counter space (or having to dive for dishes). A farmhouse sink is a beautiful, simple option that has never gone out of style.

#3: Practical Seating

Kids and guests alike love sharing the kitchen with the cook or host, even when there is a party going on outside of the kitchen. Provide practical seating for anyone who wants to stop by the kitchen while you cook or clean, and you won’t have to worry about the space feeling cramped. And who doesn’t love visitors?

#4: Black and White

Black and white tiling and other features come to mind right away when we think about classic kitchen features that have lasted through the years. Checkerboard tiling is common and timeless, but anything with a neutral palette will keep the décor from becoming overwhelming.

Remodeling a kitchen in Los Angeles, CA? Stick with a classic choice. Call the licensed and bonded contractors at Advanced Builders & Contractors.

My Nearly-Naked Tree

This year: well… yeah. I think, based on what I’ve seen on social media, quite a lot of people have reached a consensus that 2016 hasn’t been our favorite year in recent memory.

Perhaps that, and for many of my own reasons why (which I’ll cover in my 2016 recap and not this post), I expected myself to go all out on the holiday decorations. I’m stubborn (duh, hi, have we met?), so I wanted to end the year on a high note: a last, big flourish of Christmasy-ness. Lotsa glitter. Silver. Gold. White.

Classic. Complete. Done.

And instead, I did what felt like nothing. I did about 3% of the things I thought I was going to do.

I started out ambitious; I put my tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving. I bought it for myself last year and was really looking forward to getting home from my parents’ house and immediately starting the holiday season. It’s pre-lit and snaps together in only three pieces (which I LOVE — I can’t find the exact one online anymore, so here’s the affiliate link for one that’s similar). I plugged it in, stood in the glow of the white lights…

… and basically didn’t bother to throw on a single ornament for all of December.

At first, I thought the usual culprit — procrastination — was to blame. Every day that I walked by my tree, I told myself tomorrow, and kept doing other things. I sorted through all of my ornaments for the color scheme I wanted to go with. I bought four new ornaments that coordinated with the color scheme I planned to go with. And yet, tomorrow. I left it as-is.

It was blank (well, almost, since the lights were already attached) and comforting. I could walk by, let my eyes glaze over, and just appreciate my nearly-naked tree. I put a skirt on it because it seemed silly without one, but that was it.

I did the holiday thing at other people’s houses and came home to doing my own, quiet thing. It’s actually been really nice to feel a sense of slowness at a time of year where everything else seems so rushed. I’ve been spending time with family, new and old friends, and neglected to feel bad about not throwing glitter on a year that I am not even planning to be friends with as of January 1st.

In hindsight, I’m glad I did things this way; my 2016 tree reflects my feelings about 2016 pretty well.

How I felt about 2015:

How I feel about 2016:

Yep… seems about right.

So, it’s not going to be in anyone’s pretty Christmas roundup or get pinned a million times, and that’s perfectly alright. Instead, I’m going to spend the rest of the season getting myself ready to bring on a new year with lots more in store (for example, in case you missed my comments in the sneak peek last week, I have been working with a brand on my laundry room makeover project and that big reveal is coming in January).

Have you ever put up a Christmas tree, only to not decorate it? I know I can’t be the only one, but I’m curious how many of you did the same or similar!

The post My Nearly-Naked Tree appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

My Nearly-Naked Tree published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/

My Nearly-Naked Tree

This year: well… yeah. I think, based on what I’ve seen on social media, quite a lot of people have reached a consensus that 2016 hasn’t been our favorite year in recent memory.

Perhaps that, and for many of my own reasons why (which I’ll cover in my 2016 recap and not this post), I expected myself to go all out on the holiday decorations. I’m stubborn (duh, hi, have we met?), so I wanted to end the year on a high note: a last, big flourish of Christmasy-ness. Lotsa glitter. Silver. Gold. White.

Classic. Complete. Done.

And instead, I did what felt like nothing. I did about 3% of the things I thought I was going to do.

I started out ambitious; I put my tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving. I bought it for myself last year and was really looking forward to getting home from my parents’ house and immediately starting the holiday season. It’s pre-lit and snaps together in only three pieces (which I LOVE — I can’t find the exact one online anymore, so here’s the affiliate link for one that’s similar). I plugged it in, stood in the glow of the white lights…

… and basically didn’t bother to throw on a single ornament for all of December.

At first, I thought the usual culprit — procrastination — was to blame. Every day that I walked by my tree, I told myself tomorrow, and kept doing other things. I sorted through all of my ornaments for the color scheme I wanted to go with. I bought four new ornaments that coordinated with the color scheme I planned to go with. And yet, tomorrow. I left it as-is.

It was blank (well, almost, since the lights were already attached) and comforting. I could walk by, let my eyes glaze over, and just appreciate my nearly-naked tree. I put a skirt on it because it seemed silly without one, but that was it.

I did the holiday thing at other people’s houses and came home to doing my own, quiet thing. It’s actually been really nice to feel a sense of slowness at a time of year where everything else seems so rushed. I’ve been spending time with family, new and old friends, and neglected to feel bad about not throwing glitter on a year that I am not even planning to be friends with as of January 1st.

In hindsight, I’m glad I did things this way; my 2016 tree reflects my feelings about 2016 pretty well.

How I felt about 2015:

How I feel about 2016:

Yep… seems about right.

So, it’s not going to be in anyone’s pretty Christmas roundup or get pinned a million times, and that’s perfectly alright. Instead, I’m going to spend the rest of the season getting myself ready to bring on a new year with lots more in store (for example, in case you missed my comments in the sneak peek last week, I have been working with a brand on my laundry room makeover project and that big reveal is coming in January).

Have you ever put up a Christmas tree, only to not decorate it? I know I can’t be the only one, but I’m curious how many of you did the same or similar!

The post My Nearly-Naked Tree appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

My Nearly-Naked Tree published first on https://noambouzaglou.wordpress.com/