Knock Knock's Blog, page 6

5 Clever Baby Shower Ideas

Holy crap—you’re having a baby? Or maybe your BFF is having a baby and you’ve agreed to host the shower? You’re a really good friend.

We’ve got the tools to turn a baby shower into a full-blown baby shindig. All items are inspired by Our Precious Pooper: A Brutally Honest Keepsake Journal—and are ready to download and print.

HOLY CRAP, WE’RE HAVING A BABY PARTY KIT:

1. HOLY CRAP, WE’RE HAVING A BABY PARTY SIGN

Print out multiples, cut out, and create celebratory bunting.

2. 3:00AM FEEDING COCKTAIL RECIPE

Make a deliciously refreshing batch of 3:00 AM Feeding, a non-alcoholic drink infused with watermelon and basil goodness. Get the recipe. (Add booze if you would like, but no spirits for mama!)

3. WHAT NOT TO DO AT A BABY SHOWER LIST

Review and check off the trite, overdone activities at a baby shower—like “No edible babies of any sort,” and “No jokes, gifts, cards, or games that point out how giant the mom is.” Swear not to partake.

4. OUR PRECIOUS POOPER GAME

A game of tell-all: infant edition. Print and cut out each slip and give to guests to answer. You can use the back of the slip as well!

5. MOM-TO-BE SIGN

Make the guest of honor feel extra special in a few steps:

Print and cut out the sign.
Punch a hole on the top corner of each side of the sign.
Get 2 feet of fun ribbon or string, and thread it through.
Hang the sign—either on a chair, wall, or door is best.

Wishing you a happy and healthy baby shower.

It’s Summer . . . Time for Another Giveaway!

Sun’s out, buns out—it’s summer! Battle the heat wave (or bask in it) and freshen up your face and desk space by entering our It’s Summer! Giveaway for a chance to win over $250 worth of fun desk items from Knock Knock, plus beauty essentials from Ricky’s NYC! The ultimate summer prize pack is yours for the taking.

Enter below through Rafflecopter and read our official rules. Giveaway ends Tuesday, August 2, 2016. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Knock Knock at BlogHer 2016 in Los Angeles, August 4—6!

Bring on the bloggers! We’re thrilled to hang out with all the content creators attending the #BlogHer16 conference—which will be a hop, skip, and LA Metro trip across town for us in L.A. Live’s JW Marriott this year.

BlogHer continues to be a think tank for all-things blogging—with sessions focusing on growing your social media, podcast, and YouTube know-how, lessons in entrepreneurship, and celebrating female empowerment. This year’s announced keynotes include actresses-turned-entrepreneurs Mayim Bialik, who founded the “unapologetically nerdy” online community GrokNation, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose startup Foodstirs centers on fun baking kits for kids and parents.

Visit us at booth #607 to check out our own curation of Knock Knock blogger favorites, snap a selfie at our photo booth, and enter for the chance to win a whole lot of Knock Knock stuff!

If you can’t join in-person, follow us—@knockknock on Twitter and Instagram—for onsite happenings and join the conversation with #saysomethingmore and #BlogHer16.

There’s still time to register. See you there!

Oh, Baby! Giveaway

Celebrate your little one by entering the Oh, Baby! Giveaway. You’ll have the chance to win 1 of 16 available prizes from Knock Knock, including our newest gift for new parents, Our Precious Pooper: A Brutally Honest Journal of Baby’s First Few Years, and beloved items from innovative baby brand Munchkin! Nine months of nesting plus the rest of your life deserves some kind of reward.

Grand prize: $200 to spend at Knock Knock + Munchkin (awarded as one (1) $100 gift code to Knock Knock and one (1) to Munchkin)
Five (5) First prizes: $35 LATCH Newborn Gift Set from Munchkin
Ten (10) Second prizes: $25 new parent prize packages from Knock Knock (one (1) Our Precious Pooper Journal and one (1) What I Wish for You Fill in the Love® Journal)

ENTER HERE!

No purchase necessary. Giveaway ends Wednesday, July 12. See Official Rules for further entry details.

Good luck, parents!

9 Hilarious Instagram Accounts that Will Make Your Day

Our team scoured the Insta-webosphere to bring you nine of our favorite Instagram accounts—cleverness and laughs guaranteed. Buff up your current Insta-feed—potentially filled with unpleasant selfies, food-porn fails, and pics of places you’ll never get travel to—into a witty haven worthy of your double-taps.

1. CASHCATS

How can you go wrong with cats “repping” street cats?

2. CLICKHOLE

If you’ve never heard of The Onion’s sister site, check it out. You’re welcome.

3. FUCKJERRY

A hodgepodge of memes, cultural commentary, and everything in between. Fun fact: “Fuckjerry” (AKA Elliot Tebele) is married to the woman behind BeigeCardigan (AKA Jessica Tebele).

4. MENSWEAR DOG

The best dressed pup in all of Insta-land.

5. PAPERBACK PARADISE

A mysterious fake used bookstore that renames retro Young Adult books with more amazingly bizarre yet appropriate titles.

6. PICTURES OF TEXT

Writer, comedian, and actor B.J. Novak’s account mostly documents outlandish signs or words in real life.

7. QUARTER LIFE POETRY

If Lena Dunham were to hang out with Edgar Allan Poe, Quarter Life Poetry would be the result.

8. TEXTS FROM YOUR EXISTENTIALIST

Poet April Eileen Henry imbues social media with existentialist absurdity.

9. YOYOHA

Cartoonist Josh Hara uses his daily cup of coffee as a canvas.

Bonus: Have you heard of that brand @knockknock?

Have a favorite account to add? Share it in a comment.

Should You Use the Calm the F*ck Down Method?

Hey, parents! It’s self-reflection time. Find out if the Calm The F*ck Down Method is right for you in this handy dandy flowchart—click the chart for a closer look!

Spoiler alert: yup, you should Calm the F*ck Down.

Knock Knock’s Jen Bilik Moderates AIGA Y21 Conference

On April Fools Day, Knock Knock head honcho and CEO, Jen Bilik, stepped onto the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice stage to host and moderate AIGA San Diego’s Y21 Conference. Hundreds of curious-minded designers traveled from around the nation—trekking from as far as even New York City—to attend. In the spirit of the holiday and in true Jen form, she had the audience laughing within the first two minutes of her welcome address. She even staged a dare with attendees: Jen would sip on a cocktail (situated happily onstage, a companion to the conference’s theme) every time she said the word “um.” Following the crowd’s incessant laughter, she stopped after the third “um.”

The two-day event, themed “DISTILL/Design with Spirit,” gathered creatives from around the world for a symposium of all-things design through keynotes, titillating Thinkshops, and hands-on Workshops. Jen was delighted to meet, chat with, and interview top creatives and guest speakers from around the world (including Brian Wood, Adobe’s Artist in Residence seen above). Watch a few of our favorite moments of Jen from the conference.

Industry leaders discussed their works and overall imprint on the design community, including:

Typographic artist Ebon Heath shared his graphic design beginnings and typographical installations and sculptures.
Award-winning team Amy Levine and her sister MaeLin Levine examined how their branding agency catalyzed the founding of charter school Urban Discovery Academy in San Diego.
Designer Tina Hardison weighed in on her quest to revamp and reimagine better product and branding design for the marijuana community.
Graphic designer Yomar Augusto walked through his riveting mixed-media projects, one of them being a piece that’s dedicated to his father, “Yo + Yo.”

Jen interviews Melissa Eccles, creative director at Elastic, who led the Game of Thrones “Three-Eyed Raven” social media storytelling experience to tease season 5. (Photo courtesy of AIGA San Diego)

Knock Knock Marketing gals Melanie Gasmen (left) and Jill Villareal (right) were excited to chat with conference attendees.

Wit was fully represented at the Knock Knock table. The New Book of Awards and Calm the F*ck Down book were among crowd favorites.

University of San Diego calls this area “The Garden by the Sea.” We would like to hang out here more often.

We are glad to have met all the designers, innovators, and makers at Y21! Hope to see you all next year.

Have an upcoming design or entrepreneurial event? Request Jen as a speaker or catch her in person at an upcoming speaking engagement!

10 Ways to Know Someone Will Be Your Bestie Forever

How do you know if your bud has truly reached BFF (best friend forever) status? These signs spell it out.

1. You have at least 5 inside jokes that still make you explode with laughter at any given moment.

The older the inside jokes, the better.

2. He or she has filled out this journal for you.

And it has made you tear up at least three times while reading and re-reading it.

3. Chatting about banal, mundane things is still amusing.

Even if you only Skype and/or call this person every few months, you tend to talk about nothing in particular, and that’s always more than enough.

BFFs go to the library together.

4. This person has an anti-down-in-the-dumps kit for days that need it most.

Equipped with a smorgasbord of your favorite snacks coupled with TV-binge-ready pajama pants.

5. Your friend has seen (and not judged) you when you’ve been in hot-mess mode.

This person pulled your hair back after you’ve had one too many mojitos, and only laughed slightly when you got that weird flower tattoo.

6. You have a soulmates’ pact in song form.

You two have a song that binds your friendship together. Multiple songs, even. And you would immediately sing them on karaoke with him or her, if given the chance.

7. You’ve taken at least one ussie together.

Though you or your BFF may or may not be ussie enthusiasts, you’re not embarrassed to have taken and/or posted multiple ussies.

BFFs contemplate life by the sea.

8. Your friendship dynamic could easily morph into a fan-favorite on-screen duo.

She or he is the Watson to your Sherlock Holmes, the Ann to your Leslie, the Jerry to your Elaine. (Go start a YouTube channel already!)

9. They call you on your birthday.

This is huge. HUGE.

10. You can trust this person with your streaming TV app passwords and vice-versa.

Your login info is most sacred. Only true best friends are worthy to have them.

Have more to add to the list? Share it with us in a comment.

Also, Best Friend’s Day is June 8. Yes, it’s an actual made-up holiday and yes you should get your bestie a gift.

Meet Megan Rubiner Zinn!

Author Megan Rubiner Zinn isn’t your average mom. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan surrounded by her clever, loud, and funny family, Megan was destined for a life as a humorist. Her sharp wit has taken her further than she ever dreamed—and eventually to Knock Knock’s door with her hilariously atypical baby book, Our Precious Pooper.

Megan is a woman of many literal hats—really, she’s written for The New York Times and Jezebel, does copywriting and editing for University of Massachusetts Amherst, marketing and publicity for a local children’s theater company, writes features for college alumni publications, and brings the “lols” with her Twitter feed @HistoryOnWry, sharing a daily funny tidbit about something that happened on that day in history. She now dwells in Northampton, Massachusetts and balances her work life with the rewarding experience of raising her own two precious poopers, Charlie and Theo.

That was then. (2003)

This is now. (2016)

Q. What’s a funny moment or story from when you were a new parent?

A. This is more of an early toddler story. My younger son, Theo, loved to go to sleep in his crib with several board books. After he fell asleep, I’d come in and take them all out so he could sleep more comfortably. One night, as I was removing the books, he stood up and started crying/screaming. I put all the books back in the crib and he immediately stopped crying, lay down, and went to sleep. I never took them out again.

Megan’s son Theo loved his board books.

Q. What’s the best parenting advice you’ve ever been given? And who gave that advice to you?

A. Keep your mouth closed when changing a boy’s diaper. This came from my mother.

Q. What inspired you to become a freelance writer? Any tips for other aspiring freelance writers?

A. I’m not sure anyone plans to grow up to become a freelance writer. More often, it just sort of happens, when you run screaming from a job, or get fired, or become a parent. Before my first son was born, I was the publicist at a small record label. The only part of the job I really liked was the writing, so once my son was born and I wasn’t at my job, I began putting out feelers and got writing jobs here or there through friends and acquaintances. The first two were writing catalogue copy for a scholarly publisher and writing marketing materials for UMass Amherst. As I’ve built up a clientele, it’s been almost entirely word of mouth.

“My desk—which is really the bar at the local cafe (The Roost) where I do most of my work. My other desk is my lap.” —Megan

Once I was on Facebook, I very explicitly presented myself as funny and writerly and made a lot of connections among the world of writers. Almost all of my current freelance work comes from connections I made on Facebook (including my Knock Knock work).

To become a freelance writer, I think it helps to have put in time at 9-5 jobs, so you start with good contacts. From there it’s network, network, network, in person and via social media. Make sure people know you’re a writer. If you don’t have a lot of writing samples or contacts, do pro bono work for non-profit/community organizations you care about. Avoid doing free work for “exposure” for for-profit companies. This ends up hurting all writers.

Q. What are your hobbies outside of writing?

A. Do parents have hobbies? Is socializing a hobby? Is social media a hobby? Reading (history, memoir, fiction, and yeah, I’ll say it, romance novels), the New York Times crossword puzzle, and cooking.

Writer Megan Rubiner Zinn’s own experience as a parent inspired Our Precious Pooper’s tell-all sentiment.

Q. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three books would you wish magically appeared on said deserted island?

A. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon), How to Survive on a Deserted Island (a book I’ve made up but I hope exists), The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Q. What is a random fact no one necessarily knows about you?

A. I have normal-sized feet, but ridiculously adorable tiny toes. I’ve never been to Florida, but I did spend a week in Iceland when I was 9. I can name all 50 states, in alphabetical order, in under 20 seconds. I do a decent Springsteen impression, but only singing “Thunder Road.”

Q. Favorite Knock Knock product (besides Our Precious Pooper, of course!) and why?

A. Inconsequential Dilemmas and Consequential Dilemmas, and not just because I’m one of the writers on them. I love flow charts in general and these are so much fun. I also love the graphic design work, which must have been hard as heck to pull off.

Q. What are 3 things on your bucket list right now?

A. 1) Getting something funny published in McSweeney’s or The New Yorker. My Twitter feed @HistoryOnWry going viral. Going on Ellen to talk about Our Precious Pooper.

Just Charlie, Theo, and their pal, Scooby Doo.

A family that hikes together, stays together. (2006)

Celebrating Theo’s immortalization on a railroad sign in 2005. (Jk.)

Keep up with all-things Megan on her blog, Life in the Little City, and follow her on Twitter @HistoryOnWry.

I’m Saying Something More (to You)

Howdy, Knock Knock friends!

It’s been a while since I popped my head out of the humor sand to say hello, but I’m excited to share that we’ve been concocting all kinds of knockaliciously good things.

We’ve been doing the stuff you know about, like creating new products and foisting them upon the world, most recently our Fall 2016 release, which we debuted last week at the National Stationery Show, in New York City (because, you know, Fall = May).

Our new Fill in the Love™ collection includes Gift Boxes, Postcard Books, and Read Me When Boxes.

One of the most exciting developments is the growth of our Fill in the Love™ line, which started with What I Love About You by Me and has expanded to encompass not only seventeen titles in the original sweet little book format but also a more sumptuous boxed and gold-foil-stamped rendition, boldly graphic postcard books, and the innovative Read Me When series, letters that a beloved recipient can open and enjoy over time. Fill in the Love has been an amazing best-selling juggernaut for us, and we get all kinds of heartwarming feedback about how the books have helped people express love, improve intimacy, and create world peace. Except the world peace.

I’ll leave exploration of the rest of the new products for Fall 2016 to you, courtesy of our beautiful website (I can say that because the world’s best team designs it, not me), but as a little teaser for now, here are a few relevant words I especially like: street art, flipbooks, dilemmas, journals, chalkboards, and puppies. Always puppies. Never enough puppies. (Remaining new items will be live on our site at the beginning of August.)

“Say Something More” snaps from our latest catalog. Click the pic for a larger version.

There’s also been a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes. I won’t bore you with, like, manufacturing and accounting, even though many of us find those subjects beyond scintillating. What I will share is some of the marketing morsels that have bubbled up. We changed our tagline from “We Put the Fun in Functional” to “Say Something More” because, well, Knock Knock goods always say something more but don’t always put the fun in functional. We wanted a larger umbrella that gets to the heart of what we do, which includes not only creating and publishing funny books and other ephemera but also allows for self-expression and communication, whether with Fill in the Love or a multiple-choice sticky note or pad. Our goal is to help you be your wittiest self, so when we say something more, we hope to help you say something more. Does that make sense? If not, I can always say something more . . .

As if telling you what to do (and what we do) weren’t enough, we also put some polish on what we are, which is “independent makers of clever gifts, books, and whatever else we can think up,” as well as our mission, “to bring humor, creativity, and smarts to everyday life.” I’m sure many of you can relate to the fact that it’s all too easy to describe or sum up an entity other than yourself. Indeed, because we’re so close to ourselves, it was surprisingly hard to distill our essence into just a few words (in part because my life mantra is “Even though it’s possible to use fewer words than more, why?”), so we’re especially happy to have kneaded and massaged and dug way deep to come up with a mission that really resonates for us.

Paco relaxing with new Knock Knock Fall 2016 items.

Finally, we’d love to hear YOU say something more. We’re eager to converse with Knock Knock aficionados out there, to learn what you think about our stuff, whether in a product review or a post or some such. And if you want to tag it #knockknockstuff or #saysomethingmore or #fillinthelove, we’ll be over the moon. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but social media is all the rage these days, so of course you can find us on MySpace. Just kidding. We’re in all the other places, though, and we’re especially rocking and rolling Instagram, so please follow us if you haven’t already!

Okey-doke. Time for me to get back to twiddling my thumbs. Which I have way more time to do these days because Knock Knock has the best team EVER. We couldn’t do it without us, truly. And we especially couldn’t do it without you.

Toodles,

Jen Bilik

Owner, founder, CEO, head honcho, and Paco’s mama