Fun Clock Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your Christmas List

I have a new post on the HaHaHolidays Wordpress blog today, showing 25 of the clocks for sale on Zazzle. HAVE A LOOK if you're searching for a fun and original Christmas gift idea.

Here's a collage of the clocks that I put together on Polyvore:

Clocks for Every Style

-MK       

All designs © MK Hess

Fun and Funny Gift Ideas for Writers and Readers

FUN GIFT IDEAS FOR WRITERS AND READERS

I just added a new post to the Wordpress blog that lists all my Christmas gift ideas for readers and writers. I didn't want to repeat the same post here - so here's a link to the Wordpress post if you'd like to see more details about all the designs below. I hope it helps you find a good present for the writer or reader on your list!

Fun Gifts for Writers and Readers

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

Original, Personalized Christmas Gift Idea: Coaster Sets

COASTER SETS IN THE FANCYCELEBRATION STORE

The FancyCelebration store now has eight customizable bar and kitchen sets! This time last year, it only had one. Last winter, with the help of family, I compiled a list of themes to base them around. Naturally, with a brewer in the family, beer shows up a lot (saloon, brewery, pub, the man cave one also has beer). The list expanded to include what you see below: the diner, disco, poker room and cabin. There are still plenty more on the list, so I hope to update next year with all the new sets!

I have a lot of fun making these and enjoy seeing the sets come together. If you're looking for a personalized Christmas gift that's one-of-a-kind, I hope you find one you like. The ones that have sold have gotten nice reviews.

Make Your Own, Personalized Coaster Sets in the FancyCelebration Store

This is just a small sample of what's available. If you'd like to see the complete sets, click here. There are clocks, other coaster styles, wall posters, bottle openers, personalized beer labels and a lot more.

-MK
See all our stores

All designs © MK Hess

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Here are a few GIMP Halloween tutorials from across the web, in case you need something fun to do before the partying and trick-or-treating:

Make a Creepy Zombie Hand

Make Blood Splatters

Turn Yourself into a Zombie

Have a great Halloween!

-MK

"Hunky Bod" Funny Ichabod Crane Shirt for Halloween

FUNNY HALLOWEEN ICHABOD CRANE SHIRT

Halloween is coming up so fast, and I feel like there's never enough time to make all the designs I want to make. But this one didn't come from my head; it came from a relative. When he said it, I knew it had to be a shirt. A commercial came on for the TV show "Sleepy Hollow," and my relative - who loves to read - frowned and said, "Ichabod Crane does not look like that! He's supposed to be awkward. That guy looks more like Hunk-a-Bod Crane."

He was thrilled when I made this shirt based off his comment. I turned it into a Halloween costume shirt. I think the sleeveless muscle style is perfect for it:

Funny Halloween Costume for Muscle Man Sleeveless Tee by HaHaHolidays

So, if you're still in need of a costume for Halloween, you can be "Hunky Bod Crane." But you'll have to order fast because we're now nine days away from the best holiday of the year.

In other news, I've been making some new designs - mostly beer ones and patterns - and I hope to talk to my beer-brewer relative soon to run ideas past him. I've also been working on a new sci-fi novel manuscript, but it's only coming along about a page a day, and it's still too early to tell if it's leading anywhere. I'll post more designs in the coming days.

Happy Halloween!

-MK

Need a coupon for your Zazzle order? Click here.

All designs © MK Hess

  

Writer's Story Prompt: A Twist on Time Travel

    Time travel is a common story element. When I was querying literary agents about five years ago, a lot of them seemed to hate it. I guess they had good reason; according to their blogs, time travel was one of the most popular topics in the letters they received. If I had to read, "And then Timmy finds a time machine..." about fifty times a day, I'd probably get tired of it, too. (Side note: Timmy is a nuisance anyway, and should be properly dealt with).

    Still, there's a good reason why time travel is so common in stories: it's fun! Readers and TV watchers must like it, or it wouldn't keep showing up. As the agents said, the real difficulty is finding a unique angle on it. So, for this writer's prompt, take a popular topic like time travel and brainstorm a way to make it original. Here's an idea to get you started:

    While your character is off time-traveling, the world ends. That is, the world of her / his own time. Your character no longer has a "real" time to go home to and is essentially a time refugee. What does your character do and why? Does your character travel to the moment before the world ended and save other people? Does she try to change what happened or does she believe it can't be changed?

    Have fun writing!

    -MK

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! on Amazon     

New Christmas Beer Labels for Your Homebrew

CHRISTMAS / HOLIDAY BEER LABELS

One of my goals this year was to make some Christmas-themed beer labels that have a photo template. After much fiddling around - and then taking a break to design some Halloween invitations because I'm easily distracted by zombies - I got four fine-looking labels done. They're freshly added to the FancyCelebration store. If you're making homebrew to give to your family and friends this holiday season, these labels are the perfect finishing touch. 

So far, you can choose from four background patterns: red or green plaid and red or green argyle. The corners have mistletoe and there's a banner above and below your picture that says, "Have a Brew Christmas." The rest of the text is customizable:

Christmas Beer Customized Photo Green Argyle Personalized Shipping Labels

Christmas Beer Customized Photo Green Plaid Custom Shipping Label

Christmas Beer Customized Photo Red Argyle Personalized Shipping Labels

Christmas Beer Customized Photo Red Plaid Personalized Shipping Label

The labels come in sheets of 8 with a minimum order of 5 sheets (40 labels). Use one of Zazzle's promo codes to get a really good deal. You get your labels delivered ready to stick, no need to fight with your printer. The templates are easy to fill in. Still, if you need to adjust your photo, you can always click "Customize It" to move or resize. When you're done, your homemade brew will make a professional-looking gift.

If these do well, I'll probably make more variations, so stop back in to see the new ones. You can check out all my beer or wine labels here.

Have a Brew Christmas!

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

Funny Gifts for Zombie Fans

ZOMBIES!

 

The Walking Dead premiere is just around the corner! Zombies are my favorite undead creature. They remind me of when I worked in retail on Black Friday - all the customers pressed against the doors in the early-morning fog, all the employees wide-eyed, scared of the influx of ravenous shoppers.

Yet another reason why it's better to shop online. Here are a few of my zombie designs on Zazzle:

Funny Zombie Brains Old Age Mugs

Funny Zombie College Logo Laptop Sleeves

Funny Zombie Professor Proverb Hip Flask

Funny Don't Shoot, Just Look Like Zombie T-shirts

Funny Zombie Buff Weightlifter Tshirt

Gothic Zombie Girl Halloween Horror Custom Invite

Funny Retro Old School Zombie Killer Hunter T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Funny Zombie Not a Zombie Green T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Halloween Zombie Skeleton Bones Inside T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Look for more zombie designs here, both funny and frightening.

STORIES

Here are a couple silly stories for you too. This one is a farcical zombie story I wrote years ago and this one is about a trophy wife trapped in a bomb shelter. Here's my book RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! if you want to read about zombies battling vampires and werewolves.

Thanks for stopping by!

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

New, Unique Halloween Party Invitations on Zazzle

UNIQUE HALLOWEEN PARTY INVITATIONS ON ZAZZLE

These new Halloween party invitations have been so much fun to make, I don't want to move on to Christmas designs. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I can't believe I didn't make that many designs for it in the past. This year, I've made 8 new invitations, and if you look in the Halloween category in the FancyCelebration store, I'm adding other matching items as well.
 

Here are the new Halloween party invitations:

Halloween Party Invitations on Zazzle by FancyCelebration

Haunted Castle Gothic Halloween Party Personalized Invitation

Halloween Costume Party Cauldron Fire Personalized Invitation

Creepy Twins Horror Halloween Party Custom Invitations

Gothic Zombie Girl Halloween Horror Custom Invite

Tombstone Grave Skull Crossbones Cards

Creepy Raven on Brain Custom Custom Invitation

Graveyard Crow and Moon Custom Invite

Gothic Haunted House Custom Invitation

     



I loved making the zombie girl and the creepy twins. The cauldron and the brain ones really catch your eye, and you can't go wrong with graveyards and haunted houses. I have plenty of ideas for more - but they'll likely have to wait until next year.
-MK

Looking for a funny, spooky read this Halloween? Check out RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

All designs copyright MK Hess

Welcome to My Stores on Zazzle

Introducing My Zazzle Stores

Hello! I've been busy making designs and planning for the upcoming Christmas season. In the middle of adding products to my Zazzle stores today, I remembered my major weakness: promotion. I love to design, but I often forget to show off anything I've made. So, today I'm going to tell you about my stores. Then, hopefully, in posts throughout this fall, I'll show you some new designs - and also let you know about great coupon codes.

1. HAHAHOLIDAYS
HaHaHolidays is the first store I opened on Zazzle. When I started it, I was clueless. I learned how to design and make products while building this store and continue to add to it. It's filled with all my silly holiday cartoons - so stop by if you're looking for a ridiculous Christmas shirt or a Bigfoot pun Valentine's Day card.

2. CLOGDANCE
Next, I opened ClogDance. As a longtime clogger, I decided to open a niche store for all the other clogging fans. I add new designs now and then, and I love connecting with all the other cloggers on Pinterest.

3. FANCYCELEBRATION
After that, I opened FancyCelebration. Currently, it's the store I work on the most. I decided it would have all the more serious designs in it, for parties, businesses and other occasions. I'm growing a product line there for beer brewers and adding a lot of custom decor items for your home, like coasters and clocks. Recently, I started making party invitations. It's also where I sell patterns.

4. FUNNYTSHIRTSANDMORE
FunnyTShirtsAndMore started as a catch-all store for all the funny designs that didn't fit a holiday. I'm much more casual about this store - I'll add anything to it, no matter how strange. It's also where you can find blank templates for all of Zazzle's products, so you can make your own.

5. LABORANDLEISURE
LaborAndLeisure is still taking shape. If you don't mind a little disorganization, stop by. Its main focus is work (labor) and hobbies (leisure). Right now, it has promotional items for writers, writer humor, some sailing, outer space, and inspirational items.

Thanks for visiting!

-MK
Visit all my stores on Zazzle
See my book on Amazon

All designs copyright MK Hess