California's Newest State Symbols

I love the concept of state symbols. Whether it's a native tree, a homegrown dance, a descriptive song, an iconic sport, a vital crop, or whatever else, I love when states declare, "This is who we are." 

My home state of California has 47 state symbols. The newest three California state symbols were adopted in September 2024. We now have a state crustacean (the Dungeness crab), a state slug (the banana slug), and a state seashell (the black abalone). 

Source for all photos

All three are iconic in California and are great additions to our large collections of state symbols. Earlier in 2024, we added a state bat (the pallid bat) and a state mushroom (the California Golden Chanterelle). 

Other California state symbols include a state fabric (denim) and a state sport (surfing). Based on my lifeguard training where you had to wear a pair of jeans and jump into the pool, then remove the jeans and fashion them into a makeshift floatation device, I don't recommend combining those two. Wet jeans are uncomfy, difficult to remove, and a far less effective floatation device than a life jacket. 

California has an official State Silver Rush Ghost Town (Calico), which I've visited and an official State Gold Rush Ghost Town (Bodie), which I haven't. 

You can check out all of California's state symbols at the Capitol Museum website, which is an excellent resource. Enjoy!

The License Plate Challenge, Part 3

This is the third and final part of the License Plate Challenge. See if you can identify the remaining 17 plates!

 

Click the link when you are ready for the answers!

The License Plate Challenge, Part 2

Here is Part 2 to the License Plate Challenge. Good luck! 

 

Click the link when you are ready for the answers!

The License Plate Challenge, Part 1

Anyone remember Bumper Stumpers? If you weren't watching TV in the 1980's, you can see what you missed here. I didn't watch it religiously, but when it was on I enjoyed trying to solve the puzzles before the contestants did. 

I recently gave myself a fun challenge: make up a Bumper Stumpers style license plate puzzle based on each of the 50 states and Washington DC. I limited myself to 7 characters, the maximum number of letters and numbers allowed on a license plate in California. I tried to make it so each plate could only be one state. For example, PACIFIC is 7 characters long, but it could refer to California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, or Hawaii. Likewise, MIDWEST or POPULAR or BEACHES would not work for my challenge because the answer could be multiple states. 

I've divided the challenge into three parts, each with 17 license plates. See how you do with today's batch. 

 

Click the link when you are ready for the answers!

My Most Popular Posts

It's been a long time since I've shared a current list of the most popular posts at My Creative Life. I thought it had been four or five years, but the most recent list of popular posts I could find was from 2015! A lot has changed in ten years, so let's take a look.

Coming in at #10 is the DIY Light-Up Ratatouille Costume and an Eyeball Mocktail. As cool as the Eyeball Mocktail is, I know that it's the costume tutorial that is driving the traffic. I've made affiliate income from dozens of chef coats and hats over the past six Halloween seasons. 

The 9th most popular post on my blog is the Native American Stick Game. Kids love this game and it's fun for adults, too. I played it with 11 years' worth of 5th graders and several years' worth of Cub Scouts!

The 8th most popular post is another project inspired by Native Americans: Cardboard Tube Totem Pole Craft. This project originally came from the Little Passports Alaska Journal. 

The 7th most popular post is my Cardboard Tube Opossum. I never would have guessed it would be this beloved. And it was a complete shock that a Portuguese magazine published it!

My 6th most popular post is called Another Use for Foam Dots. It's from 2011, my first year of blogging. It shows how to get more value out of something most people throw away. This post has been really popular with cardmakers in particular. 

The 5th most popular post is my Boston Tea Party Drawing. Seeing it brings back a lot of happy memories from when I taught history to Trevor's 5th grade class. 

The 4th most popular post is Another Creative Way to Give Money. Like the title implies, I have many ideas for money gifts besides this one. Check them out!

The 3rd most popular post is the most recent among the Top 10. It's Sesame Street Characters Ranked and a Cardboard Tube Guy Smiley from 2020. Considering it has had 8+ fewer years to generate traffic than the two posts ranked above it, I'm impressed that it's doing so well. It turns out that people have really strong feelings about Sesame Street characters. 

The 2nd most popular post on my blog held the #1 position until just a year or two ago. The World's Best Classroom Birthday Treat has really resonated with people over the years. If my story stopped just one parent from being That Mom then I've done my job. 

Are you ready for most popular post on my blog, the one that unseated the World's Best Classroom Birthday Treat? It's the German Bells Christmas Card Ornament. 

What do you think? Any surprises on the list? Do you have a favorite or two amongst the ten? Let me know in the comments!