Literacy pretzel gets the seal of approval.

My Literacy Speaks! pretzel, which was initially intended to be given out to speech conference attendees, has become a bit of a wild card.

The owner of Literacy Speaks! and I had discussed the idea of donating a portion of proceeds from the sale of the pretzel to a literacy organization, similar to what I do with the Jubilee! pretzel and cancer research.

A local Women's Initiative division of the United Way was first on our list, as they work tirelessly for those less fortunate, struggling to meet the challenges of school, specifically to close the gap before the third grade.

Quite surprisingly they took this idea and are running with it. Several ideas were tossed out, and it seems like their goal is to get this pretzel to everyone they can.

I will keep posting news as I get it. We haven't ironed out the details, but hopefully the little pretzel that could will make its way into the news and get lots of interest, so we can donate some money to a great cause. Making a difference in the community is one of my goals for this company, and this could be just the stepping stone we need. Stay tuned...

ABCs and 123s

Amongst many other things that I accomplished last week, were these adorable custom pretzels for a company called Literacy Speaks! They design and publish speech and linguistic studies for teachers around the country.

Their plan is to use mini pretzels to give away to attendants of their lectures, as well as some of the 4" pretzels to key people involved in the entire production of their promotions.

The mini pretzels turned out adorably. They are basically the same as our dippity do dahs (i'm calling them mini pretzels though, due to logistical space reasons on the hang tags) but I placed the wet chocolate on top of an alphabet pretzel, using it as the bottom of the pretzel. When people pick them up, they will find a little surprise.

Each mini pretzel is dipped in our usual caramel, and rolled in honey nut cheerios.


You can also see the Alphabet and Numbers confetti I sprinkled on top too. The colors are chosen for the primary colors, and they also match the Literacy Speaks! logo.

The 4" turned out well too.

They chose the yellow one, which I agree with. The white one is nice, and accents the bright primary colors, but the drizzle hides the letters and numbers, and makes them almost pointless.

In a few months (sometime around October) they will begin handing these mini pretzels out to thousands of people in states all across the nation.

I have no way of knowing where this will lead, but I can't help but be excited.

As with my Jubilee! pretzel, I will also be selling these Literacy Speaks! pretzels on my website with a portion of the proceeds going to a literacy organization to be chosen by the owners of Literacy Speaks!

Merchandise from the Vera Basket

Once again, not my best photographic work, but I wanted to get a photo of the logo merchandise I included in the Vera Bradley donation basket.


I order my items from a company called cafepress.com and have been very happy with their work. The photos don't do them justice, but they turned out very nice.

A khaki canvas logo hat

A nice, heavy ceramic logo mug

My favorite, a logo T, with chocolate colored cap sleeves. The back has a picture of the cross section of our pretzels with the website address.

I picked these three because I had no way of knowing who would inevitably win the silent auction. I also assumed whoever (or is it whomever, Julianne? hee hee) got this could also give a friend or family member something if it didn't fit, or wasn't right.

Overall, the printing of these looked great, and would provide DipSticks with more "advertising" if this person wears our items. So, if you see someone wearing (or drinking from) something with our logo on it, who isn't me, tell them thanks for their donation to breast cancer research!

Finally...the Vera Bradley donation basket

After weeks of waiting, the time finally came last Wednesday to gather items for my Vera Bradley donation basket for the annual golf outing benefiting breast cancer research.

I had a dollar amount in mind, and knew that I wanted to put a little bit of everything in the basket, including some logo printed merchandise.

After scouring for just the perfect basket, I decided on this unique chest. It had a faux crocodile finish on the outside, with buckled leather straps and a sturdy brass lock closure. I liked that this one had the cloth straps inside that attached the lid to the base, which enabled me to design this without worrying about where to put the lid or if the lid would fall down onto the other items.

The basket included 2 caramel apples, lots of marshmallows and twenty four 4" pretzels, in addition to two 8" pretzels, a half pound of S'more Pretzel bark, a t-shirt, mug and hat with the logo.

Specially created pink chocolate marshmallows and dark chocolate marshmallows with pink chocolate ribbons drizzled on them were my favorite part. I tied them with pink ribbon too, which really stood out amongst all the browns.

I lined the basket with a rich espresso and maroon diamond pattern fabric instead of any paper filler. I was surprised at how well the colors all went together.

You can click on the photos for a closer look, but it was hard to capture the entire basket in one shot. Hopefully you get the basic feel.

I'm curious to know what it went for at the auction. Just because I put my heart and soul into it, doesn't mean someone felt the same way about it. Either way, it was for charity, and it was worth every penny and every second for me.

The big Green elephant in the room

Going green has been on my mind for a very long time. No, I'm not referring to my latent desires to rub myself in spinach and run through central park, I am of course referring to the Global Warming epidemic and what I can do to aid in the solution.


While searching some new songs on iTunes yesterday, I ran across a neat little podcast called More Hip than Hippie. With a name like that, I could not resist.


At first it sounded like two moms trying to create their own show, but as they got going (and perhaps as the beer and chocolate they were indulging in at 8:30 in the morning started to take effect) they became more enthralling.


In between discussions of sodium laurel sulfate and renewable energy credits, the topic came up of challenging others to list 5 things they are doing to help the environment. I hoped I had at least 5, considering how much I think I do. So, I made a list. It was a tad difficult to figure out exactly what counted, so I just listed it all in hopes that it did.


1. Using a reusable bag at the health food shoppe
2. Not buying water bottles, and using a re-usable poly bottle instead.
3. Recycling-duh!
4. All of our light bulbs are Compact Fluorescent
5. Driving less and turning the car off when I'm in pick up/drop off line for school
6. Using a CSA to support local farmers and get healthy organic produce
7. Buying natural products, mostly for the kids, for hair, bath etc.
8. Turning lights and appliance off when not in use


Is it bragging to list more than 5? oops.



But actually 8 is freaking measly and I need to step up! Here is the list of things I want to accomplish in 2008:


1. Go completely natural in our house cleaning/laundry products
2. Use organic fertilizer on our lawn (first application down, lots more to go)
3. Organic paint
4. Bamboo flooring alternatives and/or other natural building materials
5. Find packaging alternatives for DipSticks that are recycled or environmentally friendly
6. Find local sources of products used for DipSticks
7. Create green pretzel and donate funds to environmental charities
8. Composting


I know there are people out there who still question the existence, or at least the severity, of Global Warming. My thought for you is this. In 30 years what would you like to feel? Confident that you can say I told you so, or sorrowful that you hadn't done anything when you had the chance? Doing something now that might turn out to be unnecessary isn't going to hurt anyone. But, not doing something could very well end up hurting millions.


Make your list today and let me know what your top 5 (or more if you feel like bragging!) earth saving practices are.

A basket for Vera

Last year, I donated some pretzels to the Vera Bradley Classic Tennis Tournament. It was a great feeling knowing I was donating not only to a cancer benefit, but to a local company who represents a lot of what I'd like DipSticks to become.


So, this year when they called to see if I'd donate to the golf tournament in an effort to gain more exposure for DipSticks, I said "Sign me up!"


This time around I'll be doing a gift basket with all the goodies in it, including some of our logo t-shirts, mugs, coasters, etc. I will definitely include some of the breast cancer awareness pretzels too.


The basket, a value of $250, will be listed in their silent auction, and my business cards will be placed in front of it too. I want people to know that DipSticks is a goodhearted company, and by donating to charities and creating charitable pretzels, I think we can accomplish that.


It should be a fun task, and I'll post the pictures when it's all done.

Just call me monkey girl

So, I've had this dream for pretty much my whole life...to live in Borneo and study the wild orangutan. Call me crazy, but I have loved primates of all kinds since I can remember.

Stuffed monkeys hung from every corner of my youthful teenage room, and now adorn our second bedroom previously decorated as a jungle for our nursery.

My favorite book is Reflections of Eden, by Birute Galdikas. It's her fascintating story of studying the orangutans. I've read Jane Goodall's and Dian Fossey's, but something about Birute's writing style, or maybe just her muse, fascinated me.

In my opinion, the best part of the Fort Wayne Zoo is the orangutan exhibit. I can stay for hours if you let me. Even though they pretty much just sit there and stare at the walls, or occasionally play with a blankie, I'm enthralled by their cuddly hair covered bodies and those endearing faces. I often wonder what they're thinking, if anything at all.

I recently decided to start donating to primate research, and purchased a shirt from the Jane Goodall Institute. I am thinking of volunteering at the zoo in my "free" time, hopefully in the Indonesian Rain Forest where the orangutan exhibit is. When I retire, I hope to take more of an active role in giving back to animals too, and more than likely the human variety as well. Something to look forward to other than chocolate pudding at the old folk's home, I guess.

As my hero Oprah says, giving is truly receiving. So, no matter if it's an orangutan or a charity walk, anything you do that isn't based on what you get in return is a good thing.

I wish everyone could find something to put their heart into that isn't materialistic or based on ego in any way. It's truly a gift to find out how full the heart can get by giving it away.

Adopt a Golden

I may adopt one myself if I can talk my husband into it, but just in case....here are two beautiful male puppies up for adoption through GRRACE, a non profit golden retriever rescue organization located here in Indiana...Do you have a nice warm home for one of these little guys?
If so, click here for more information.

Brutus

Deacon

GRRACE is in need of donations in order to continue rescuing these loving animals.

Please contact them directly or mail your donation to: GRRACE, P.O. Box 513, Plainfield, IN 46168.

Thank you!

Charity + DipSticks=1 Sweet idea

Cancer and heart disease are two issues that affect myself and millions of people across the world on a daily basis.
At DipSticks, we are trying something new. I introduced the Jubilee! pretzel about two years ago in an effort to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer.

30% of the profits of this pretzel go towards cancer research, and we are proud to be the only pretzel company to create a unique gifting option for this cause. Not only are the proceeds going towards breast cancer research, but the pretzel itself is rolled in cherries and dipped in dark chocolate (both very high in antioxidants, which have been proven cancer fighters). Each pretzel is also drizzled with a cute pink chocolate ribbon.

We don't want to stop here. Two other pretzels are in the works for charitable causes. The "Nana Jean" is a tribute to a dear friends mother who passed away from colon cancer way before her time. We're leaning towards a white chocolate pretzel with blueberries, flax seed, and a blue chocolate ribbon, indicative of colon cancer awareness.

And, we're also thinking up a fun idea for Heart Disease awareness. February is Heart awareness month, and red is the color usually associated with the disease. So, we're taking that idea a step further and creating a pretzel called "The Ticker". Top heart healthy foods, such as almonds and flax seed will be mingling with our caramel, and then we plan to add some cayenne pepper in the end for that little "kick start your heart" feeling. It will be milk chocolate with a red chocolate ribbon on top.

Do you have any other ideas for charitable pretzels? Send them our way, or leave a comment.