We’ve established the fact that I’m a word nerd. Reading and writing and rambling are kind of my things. For as long as I can remember, words have excited me. So it’s really not that strange that when Letterfolk‘s modernized letterboards started popping up again and again (and again) in my Instagram feed, I was smitten. When I realized that the small company is run by Johnny and Joanna of Our Freaking Budget, I was straight up in love.

The idea of taking words and turning them into art that can be changed on a whim is something I love. I’ve done posts on word wall art and words on handmade pieces and even making a quick piece of DIY word art yourself. But for me, these letterboards are some other level shit. I can change it up depending on my mood (which, my husband will be happy to verify changes often). I can use it as a photo prop. I can lean it or hang it or let the girls practice spelling and writing on it. These things are awesome.

In case my gushing isn’t enough to convince you, I’ve grabbed some photos of Letterfolk letterboards from Instagram to show you different ways people have been using these guys.

Last week’s post on handmade graphic t-shirts that talk to you sent me down a rabbit hole. A deep, dark hole of really important thinking. I became obsessed with trying to decide what I would print on a t-shirt if I was making one myself. As Queen of the realm of Indecisiveness and Over Thinking, this took up quite a bit of my time.

Then Ellie and I were in the car running errands when a familiar beat started pumping on the radio. Ellie immediately sat up a little taller before squealing “Momma, it’s our song!” As she sang the chorus (the only part she recognizes or pays any attention to), the deal was immediately sealed. Iggy Azalea #forthewin.

We stopped at Michaels on the way home and bought some iron-on letters in a collegiate font because it made me laugh. Hard.

Graphic tees with messages on them have slowly been picking up steam for a while now. From Zoe Karssen’s $160 Crème de la Crème sweatshirt (no, that’s totally not a typo. A sweatshirt that costs almost as much as my car payment) to Forever 21’s $14 Forever 21, they’re pretty much everywhere.

Some of them are obnoxious. Some of them I couldn’t possibly wear in front of my children (well, at least the one who can read). Some of them are blatant rip offs of earlier (usually better) versions.

Still, I’m kind of obsessed. The best part is that they’re being styled in so many different ways. Of course these guys would look good with jeans or a pair of cut offs, but they also look pretty awesome tucked into a flowy skirt or peeking out underneath a blazer and some dress pants.

Obviously not all of them work for everyone. You have to find one that speaks to you—ha! Get it?!

OK, I’ll be quiet now.

I decided to spend waaaaay too much time poking around handmade corners of the internet and picking out some of my very favorite talking t-shirts. For some reason most of them are gray. But you know what? I’m totally cool with that.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow, Bad Dad and I celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. Well, we actually celebrated it last weekend with me drooling over Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy, a delicious dinner, Ralph’s cream ices, and a full, completely uninterrupted night of sleep (le sigh). But we’ll celebrate again tomorrow—this time with the girls and way less sleep.

Over the years I’ve talked about our story a lot—how we met, what we think of each other, my wedding vows and how we drive each other crazy (which also happens to be detailed here and here)—but I can’t really let our anniversary pass without talking about it some more. What can I tell you? I’m a talker. 😉

This time I thought I’d share a few of the readings we used in our wedding ceremony. My husband loves books as much as I do and, being a writer, I took this bit of wedding planning very seriously. I didn’t want something typical and Pablo Neruda was an absolute must. I like the guy.

After a lot of back and forth and getting shot down more than a few times by my soon-to-be-husband, we settled on a few that we both loved.

I like words. I like homemade stuffs. I like homemade stuffs with words on them. Am I the only one?

I seriously get a huge kick out of products with clever or amusing phrases on them. I live for that shit. I’m even drawn to things with regular old words on them. I guess I just like words.

So I took to Etsy and collected a roundup of handmade goodies to feed my obsession (and maybe start yours?)…