ch-ch-ch-changes!

Yes, you read that correctly. The blog has been moved to a new url. We are still using the Blogger platform, but after almost three years here, we felt that it was time for a new name -or a new identity- for this little blog. Pictures and Paragraphs is just something I said out of the blue one day and Shawn said it sounded like a good name for a blog. The wheels in my head started turning and I couldn't get the thought out of my mind, so after a few weeks of pondering it, I went ahead and made the change. But don't worry! It's just the name and the look of the blog that have changed - the content will remain the same. It's been mostly me posting the last year or so anyway, so although Shawn will still be on the forefront of the blog content, he won't be writing any posts (unless he wants to!). Thank you so much for following us here, and I really hope you follow us over to our new home on the interwebs!

Psst. You'll find a gift guide/wishlist over at Pictures & Paragraphs, if you're looking for it.

Fun Finds Friday #11

A NYT slideshow full of fancy dog houses; ah, to be a dog.




This is what everything looks like when I'm not wearing my glasses/contacts;
clever concept for a series of photographs. (via)




A flickr stream full of epic treehouse photos. It makes me want to finish ours!




Kayla's beautiful bicycle makeover; perhaps I'd ride mine more if it had personality like this!
(via)




I really like these recipe tote bags; and if you know me, you know how much I love pasta bolognese!
(via)


+ New blog for the week: hisandhersbeernotes.com; why didn't Shawn and I think of that?!
+ Not just one video this week! Here are 10 commercials directed by Wes Anderson; it's hard to pick a favorite, but that IKEA one had me laughing out loud.

Fun Finds Friday #10

A cool way to grow lettuce; on the side of your house! It looks so neat.
via



I am diggin' this armor hoodie, sold over on Etsy; don't you want one too?
via



Target now sells a Yoga Teacher Barbie doll... I'm still not quite sure how to feel about their choice of representation of a yoga teacher. (You know, they all have chihuahuas, right?)
via



Piano bookshelf. Man, I must be a nerd or something; I really do like bookshelves.
via



Back to gardening... and dinosaurs? It's a DIY dinosaur planter!
via

+ A short video for this week.
+ This isn't a blog, but it's a zombie apocalypse version of Google Maps, and that's just as acceptable.

Fun Finds Friday #9

This memory bank is a fun take on the usual piggy bank.
via



I love cute things, and this baby bunny that Kaylah found is just the cutest!
via



Embroidered Kanye West Tweets.
via



Of course the Japanese would be the ones to sell a squirrel tape dispenser.
via



State shaped cutting boards - so perfect for cheese!
via


Also:
- This list of advice is pretty hilarious.
- As is this story about a very strange chocolate interview.
- We saw this video on some tv show a few days ago... what a crazy story!

Fun Finds Friday #8

I've been slacking on the FFF posts these last few weeks. I will say one thing though! Evernote has made it so much easier to keep track of cool things I stumble upon. Now I have an on-going list and no excuse not to bring you more fun finds on Fridays!




My friend Elyse wrote a nostalgic post about the game Treasure Cove. Other 'children of the 90s era' may remember playing various games by The Learning Company; my favorites were Treasure Mathstorm, Zoombinis: Logical Journey, and Midnight Rescue.




Fonderia is an Italian company that conceptually blends graphic design with baking... how can I get in on this?




An iPhone case that has room to store a card in it too? Pretty neat, methinks.
(via)




This book title roughly translates to: About a Little Mole Who Wants to Know Who it Was that Pooped on its Head. (English version here)
(via)



A scratch pad for DJ cats. What? Your cat doesn't like to DJ?
(via)


And, as started in my last fun finds friday post... I'm sharing one new blog and worthwhile video with you.

blog: Illustrated Bites
video: If you haven't seen the most epic marriage proposal ever, you're seriously missing out. The romantic in me got a little teary eyed at this one.

Fun Finds Friday #7

I haven't done one of these in a while! It's certainly not for lack of finding fun things... I actually have a long list to share but we've been traveling to the house on Friday afternoons and I never have the time to write up a post. So this week I put it together on Wednesday, because I'm just awesome like that. Here are some Fun Finds for your Friday:



As a fan of to-do lists, this ^ is one amazing list. I particularly like that last one.
Source: I'm terrible at remembering to source certain things... I believe this is from tumblr.




I think I'd like to plant a small moon garden; they're full of flowers that bloom at night.
via




Table manners, illustrated. (This is one of ten.)
I also feel this way about people who add milk & sugar to their coffee before tasting it.
via




I want this book. It's one long checklist of things you might possibly be good at.
via




All I have to say about this is... Bill and Hilary Clinton, in the 70's. Ha!
Source: Google images; no direct link


I follow a ton of blogs already, but am constantly coming across new inspiring ones; so I'd like to start sharing one new blog with you in each FFF post. This week it's Happyolks.com- a food blog full of beautiful writing, photographs, and recipes by a lovely couple. This post encompasses how I've been feeling about moving lately.

Perhaps I should start sharing a video in each of these posts too? I would certainly feel awful if I ended this post without sharing a link to this video of a drunk Canadian guy singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the back of a police car. Seriously; watch it.

Have an amazing Friday!

Fun Finds Friday #3

Check out this awesome book clutch; I'd really like to make this!
(via)




This duvet cover was hand-drawn using homemade stencils and fabric pens on a solid white cover. I would love to make a duvet that features our various little drawings.
(via)




Mini purses made from coffee bags. If I had access to an iron, I would make these right now.
(via)




This is a cute little dog named Hani. See lots more cleverly captioned photos of Hani over at Busy Busy Hani.




This year I'm pushing myself to do more creative things, outside of baking. This poster is a nice reminder.
(via)

I Made This! The Bracelet Edition.

Like many others out there in Internet-Land, I'm a huge fan of Pinterest. Specifically, I'm a fan of pinning things like delicious food, snappy outfits, and things I can make myself.

A few weeks ago I came across these bracelets and thought to myself - they look so easy to make!, so why not make them? So I went to Michaels (which recently opened up about two miles down the road from us! yay!) and picked up some supplies: suede cord, small findings, and clasps.




I roughly used the tutorial here, opting to tie off my ends instead of gluing them. The whole thing is actually very simple, you make a braid and just slide a finding onto each of the outer strands as you go.

The grey bracelet was the first one I made and I found the findings I bought were too big, so I went back and bought smaller ones for the brown bracelet. The other two bracelets are just braided ribbon.




I wouldn't actually wear these all at the same time... it's a bit much, especially for a not-much-jewelry-wearing gal such as myself. But making them all is so incredibly easy - now go make your own!

Fun Finds Friday #2

More fun finds for your Friday! (Didn't I tell you I'd try to keep them coming?)



This awesome house used to be a Grain Silo! I love how open it is, and all the fun spaces.
(via)




A homemade play-kitchen made by the couple over at Young House Love. I remember having a play-kitchen when I was a kid, but they kicked it up a notch by making the whole thing themselves; such a sweet gift for their daughter!




You know how much we love squirrels... I was head over heels when I saw this captured photo of a squirrel nom-ing on some corn stalks. What a guy.
(via)




I recently discovered that you can use apps in Google Chrome (clearly I'm a little slow on the up-take...) and the Do It (Tomorrow) app is my new favorite. It's a simple to-do list that automatically moves any uncompleted tasks to the next day. Perfect for procrastinators like myself! (PS. They're blurred out because they're mostly about blog related things I don't want you to know about! ;P)




I recently made this French Coconut Pie at work and it was a huge hit! The coconut custard is perfectly sweet and smooth. The story that accompanies it is cute too!
(via)



Happy Friday!

Favorite Interweb findings of 2011!

I wanted to share my favorite photos that I found on the internet this year!This is a small collection of things that I save to a folder called "internet findings." 

Gay Mexican Unicorn??
This photo was paid for.
This guy actually went to a studio and said I wanna be photographed as a unicorn.  

My most favorite photo of the year!
Mr. Fox looks so happy!

Classic Comedy. 

I love me some santa and machine guns on holiday photos.

My favorite from the Deadspin series "Unintentional Dongs"

This dude got the friggin sweetest shot ever! That is a once in 5 life times shot!
unbelievable moment caught!

Ice T Bitches! 

I have a huge love of the anime series NARUTO.
This is a painting of a tailed fox beast!

Really! Who made this and placed it on the internet! come on!

Paula Dean Riding Things was hot for a minute.

That's right men. Keep your grip while doing your shit.
This add screams masturbation all over it.
Which makes it hilarious.

Thank you Old Spice for providing such overtly obvious Penis References.
To the point where Colbert had to comment on it.

So that concludes my favorite findings of the year.I hope next year is even sillier!