I would be perfectly content if I never saw another “Keep Calm and Carry On” print again. Or any variation thereof. (Though I must admit, the one that reads, “Freak Out and Shut Down” does apply to my life daily.) Sorry, people, but 2009 called and wants its poster back.
Thankfully, Jamie Clinard is helping to banish slogan boredom. The San Clemente native runs Saturday Morning Pancakes (www.etsy.com/shop/SatMorningPancakes), an Etsy shop stocked with giggle-worthy gifts and goods. “Live every week like it's Shark Week,” reads one throw pillow. “Luke, I am your father. Eat your vegetables,” proclaims a Darth Vader apron. One of Clinard's favorite prints features the trademark coif and facial hair of TV character Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation, along with this memorable phrase: “You had me at meat tornado.”
The quirky items showcase Clinard's passions, no matter how offbeat they may be. “I love being inspired by unusual things,” the 29-year-old explains. “All my friends think Labyrinth is the worst movie ever. I'm like, 'No, it's a good movie, and I'm gonna show you.' So I made a Labyrinth onesie with the film's little nerdy worm. It's a best-seller. Now I can go back to my friends and say, 'Look, other people like it, too! I'm not that weird.'”
Clinard makes each piece by hand, often while sitting in her garden and listening to her all-time favorite band, the Presidents of the United States of America. (She recently made a tea towel adorned with the famous lyric “Movin' to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches.”) Family and friends often pitch ideas to her; her brother-in-law once suggested she make a onesie with Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and change his line, “It's a trap!” to “It's a nap!” (She did, and it's adorable.)
Select items from Saturday Morning Pancakes are now sold at Deer Lovely and Local Fare, two shops at the OC Mart Mix in Costa Mesa. Clinard is hoping to get her goods into more OC boutiques and “spread the joy,” she says. “My goal in this whole project is just to make people smile.”
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This column appeared in print as “Hooray for Pancakes!”
