FreshCut Paper offers life-size pop-up floral bouquets with intricate designs.
Gifts
Everlasting Blooms
When Marie Osmond sang “Paper Roses” back in the early 1970s, she hadn’t seen the variety from FreshCut Paper. The company’s life-size pop-up floral bouquets feature intricate designs and breathtaking blooms. And unlike their natural counterpart, these colorful creations are wilt-proof and crafted to last a long time.
Classic red roses aren’t the only option for saying “I love you.” Possibilities include whimsical bouquets of dahlias, bluebonnets, daisies, tulips, and more. Standard bouquets cost $12 each (or five for $50), and grand bouquets are $29. Pop-up paper trees and wreaths fill out the product assortment. And a pop-up cactus garden that may well be the perfect traveling companion for RVers — no maintenance required! — recently was added to the mix as well.
The standard bouquets can be mailed across the United States using four Forever postage stamps. The company also offers the service of adding a card with a personal message to any bouquet ($5) and sending it directly to your recipient.
FreshCut Paper products are sold online at www.freshcutpaper.com and in stores (email hello@freshcutpaper.com for locations).
For every bouquet sold, the company plants a tree, and they partner with 1% for the Planet, an organization working to tackle environmental issues.
App File
Train Your Brain
With March comes spring — a time of renewal and fresh starts. These apps can help you shake off the winter doldrums and learn something new.
Duolingo: One of the most popular educational apps in both the Apple and Google Play stores, Duolingo makes learning foreign languages easy and fun through simple, bite-sized lessons. The app uses engaging science-based teaching methodologies to improve language retention and prepare you for real conversations in 40-plus languages. Free on iOS and Android; a premium version without advertisements also is available. www.duolingo.com
Khan Academy: With thousands of interactive exercises, videos, and articles available in the virtual library, Khan Academy allows users to learn anything for free. You can tailor lessons to your learning level and get recommendations on what you should check out next. If you want to brush up on an old (or new) subject, there are a plethora of topics to choose from. Free on iOS and Android. www.khanacademy.org
Elevate – Brain Training: Meet your new personal brain trainer. Through a series of small games and exercises, Elevate aims to improve your speaking abilities, processing speed, memory skills, mental math, and other important skills that assist you in your daily life. Free on iOS and Android; a premium subscription version also is available. www.elevateapp.com
Games
Conversation Starters
We’ve all been in situations that ended with awkward silences, but if you have a box of icebreaker topics to choose from, you might just spark a thoughtful conversation. TableTopics (www.tabletopics.com) are boxes of 135 conversation starter questions available in a variety of categories. Some sets are more for dinner parties or family gatherings, but other options follow a theme such as “Destination Anywhere” or “Infomania Sports.” TableTopics To Go are smaller sets of 40 questions and include “Road Trip” and “Travel” themes.
If you’re traveling with or to family, attending an event with people you don’t know well, or are just relaxing at a campground with others, having a box of conversation topics can be incredibly handy. But if you don’t feel like purchasing this product specifically, you can always make your own version with a personal spin.
To create your own conversation starter kit, you need only a few things: index cards, a marker, a box, and some imagination. By making the kit yourself, you can customize the topics to your own liking and to fit the group of people with whom you’ll be interacting. You can always include the basics, such as “What’s your favorite book or movie?” But if you’re going to bring these cards to your next chapter event, consider writing down questions such as, “What was your favorite trip and why?” Or you could ask, “What was your funniest travel mishap?” Even if you don’t create 135 original topics, you might not need many if the conversation is lively enough.
Food
Ode To Peanut Butter
Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter.
Did you know that Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter? No wonder March 1 has been declared National Peanut Butter Lovers Day! We hereby join many others in saluting this oh-so-yummy, creamy or crunchy spread. Plus, with FMCA members heading to Perry, Georgia, for the association’s March 15-18 “LUCKY 13” convention, we saw an opportunity to pay homage to the state of Georgia for the role it plays in making this creamy goodness possible. According to the Georgia Peanut Commission, in 2021, Georgia produced 52 percent of the United States’ peanuts. The peanut is the official state crop of Georgia, which is home to approximately 4,000 peanut farmers.
Several people were responsible for bringing peanut butter to the masses, but it received a popularity boost when it was introduced to attendees at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. It served as an integral part of rations for the troops in World War I and World War II, and it is believed that the U.S. Army used peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for sustenance during WWII maneuvers. This humble sandwich remains popular today with folks of all ages. The tasty spread is known for being nutritious, shelf-stable, and economical, which also makes it ideal for helping to fight world hunger (learn more at Peanut Butter For The Hungry, www.ph4h.org).
If you find yourself thinking that peanut butter deserves more than one day of recognition, someone is already ahead of you: January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day and November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month — yep, the whole month! If you’re looking for a way to celebrate on one of these days, or just any old day, look no further than this No Bake Peanut Butter Pie — gapeanuts.com/no-bake-peanut-butter-pie — one of many recipes available on the Georgia Peanut Commission website.
Cheers to peanut butter and to peanut farmers everywhere!