Plaid vs. Gingham | Easygoing Thoughts Before Sleep

Plaid vs. Gingham
In this cozy and gently meandering episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker settle into a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about patterns — specifically the subtle differences between plaid and gingham. What begins as a simple observation about pajamas and sleepwear slowly evolves into a relaxed exploration of fabrics, style, and the quiet role patterns play in everyday life.
Marco notes how often plaid appears in sleepwear and reflects on the classic plaid scarf, while Amanda and Marco discuss how clothing choices show up in unexpected places — even auditions. The conversation eventually turns into a playful plaid-versus-gingham debate, exploring how these patterns appear in home decor, gift wrapping, and clothing.
Along the way, the hosts wander into nostalgic territory, recalling childhood crafts like potato stamping and referencing The Make and Do Book, while Amanda shares her strong feelings about wrapping gifts in newspaper. The episode even drifts into a creative moment where Amanda describes making a diorama of her books using marshmallows.
As always, The Insomnia Project embraces calm, mundane conversation designed to help listeners relax, quiet racing thoughts, and gently drift toward sleep. The discussion moves slowly and comfortably between topics, offering the kind of background listening that may help guide you into a peaceful state of rest.
If you fall asleep before the episode ends, we take that as the highest compliment.
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Follow along for updates and more calming conversation on Instagram @theinsomniaproject, Twitter/X @listenandsleep, and at theinsomniaproject.com.

​Plaid vs. Gingham
(Original airdate: March 8, 2023) 

Marco:  Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a mundane conversation to help you drift off and hopefully find your way to sleep. I am your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:  And I'm Amanda Barker.

Marco:  And thank you for joining us today on the Insomnia Project.

Amanda:  Marco, I have a question for you.

Marco:  Certainly.

Amanda:  What do you sleep in?

Marco:  Oh, that's a great question. So depending on the time of year. Um, actually, that's not true. I'm still wearing holiday, um, pajamas.

Amanda:  You love those pajamas. Listen, they have gnomes on them.

Marco:  They have gnomes on them with, with Santa hats and snow on, on where they receive mail and little trailers. I'm not exactly sure.

Amanda:  Yeah, they're like, they're like, it's like trailer, um, Park Airstream gnomes. I don't understand what's happening there, but it's an interesting, um, scene happening on your pajamas. Yeah. You're still wearing those pretty normally, right?

Marco:  Those are the ones I like to wear when it's cold because they're Long John types. So they go all the way down to my ankle and they go all the way to my wrists and, and they're cotton and comfortable and warm.

Amanda:  And they're soft too, right?

Marco:  They're soft. I don't know if cotton's the right. But it's a soft, warm fabric, so that's what I wear in the colder months. And then I, huh. Used to have a pair of basketball shorts.

Amanda:  You did?

Marco:  They were purple, shiny purple.

Amanda:  They were $2, I think you bought them for.

Marco:  I bought them in a sale rack. And you said, when I bought them, you said something like, I don't like them.

Amanda:  No.

Marco:  What did you say? You said, I don't like them, don't buy them. And I said, I, uh, will wear them.

Amanda:  I'm not a fan. And I don't want to see those every night when you go to sleep.

Marco:  And you said, I will wear them every night when I go to sleep until I'm done. Until I'm done.

Amanda:  And he probably wore them for at least four years. Yeah, it was a long time with those pants.

Marco:  They were fantastic. I missed them to the end.

Amanda:  And one day you just decided you were done.

Marco:  Now I have a pair of, um, sleep shorts that have, um. What is that? Fruit sleep shorts. Yeah.

Amanda:  So you have specific sleep shorts?

Marco:  Yeah, shorts that I like to wear to sleep. And this one has.

Amanda:  Not boxers, no cut

Marco:  dragon fruit images all over them. The inside of dragon fruit.

Amanda:  And what is it about those shorts that you like?

Marco:  Soft and comfortable and wacky.

Amanda:  Oh, so you have to have a bit of whack in your sleeping attire, uh, to entertain me. Is that why?

Marco:  No, Just because in my everyday dress, I'm very conservative.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  I don't like things that are loud

Amanda:  or conservative by day, wacky by night.

Marco:  Pretty much. Pretty much?

Amanda:  Wacky. That's a word you don't hear a lot.

Marco:  But wouldn't you say they're kind of wacky?

Amanda:  Yeah. That's not the worst word for them. Colorful, certainly.

Marco:  Sure. What about your sleepwear?

Amanda:  Well, I would say my favorite. Uh, it's funny, I don't wear nighties. As a child when I was like, I don't know, 8 to 11 or so, I was just told you wear a nightie to bed. So that's what I wore. Um, not really a nightie fan.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  I like clothing that I can go downstairs in that if the male person is there, I can open the door and not feel weird about it. So anything too sheer or cold is not my game. Um, but I do have one sort of nightyish thing and that definitely falls into the so ugly it makes me laugh, I'm going to wear it all the time category. Do you know which one I'm talking about?

Marco:  The cat one.

Amanda:  Do you want to Describe it for our listeners because I think they need to know.

Marco:  It's kind of like a T shirt dress. I don't know how you describe that.

Amanda:  It's like the world's biggest tank top that goes to my knees, but it's

Marco:  kind of, uh, triangular, so it really fans out at the bottom.

Amanda:  It really fans out. It has pockets in the front which don't make a ton of sense, but I can throw a phone in if I need to.

Marco:  And it has a cat on the beach lying down, sunbathing. Sunbathing. And it says I'm the cat's meow or something like that on.

Amanda:  No, no, no. It says Bahama Mama because I got it in the Bahamas. It's the ugliest thing. I got it as a joke thinking this thing is so hideous. I have a cat in a swimsuit on a beach that says Bahama Mama. And I remember I used to wear it same as you did with the purple shorts when we first got to know each other on the cruise ship. Now, uh, 15 years ago. And um, I remember I opened the door wearing it once and our friend Derek started laughing like, what are you wearing? I don't know what possessed me to buy it. I don't remember really buying it other than I laughed and said, I think I'm just going to buy this hideous thing. And now it's so funny because you buy things thinking, having great plans, I'm going to have, you know, look at the beaches, I'll frolic in this sundress. Look at the dinner parties I'll host in this blouse. And those come and go. But the uh, Bahama Mama beach cat night dress continues on.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda:  So yeah.

Marco:  You also have a pair of plaid, plaid leggings type thing that you wear to play. Plaid leggings, Plaid pajama pants.

Amanda:  Pajama pants, yeah.

Marco:  And I find like there's a lot of plaid when it comes to sleepwear.

Amanda:  Why is that, I wonder?

Marco:  I don't know, I just think plaid is an attractive looking, cozy, maybe cozy looking design.

Amanda:  You know, plaid will probably be warm.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  It's often associated, um, from Scotland. Right?

Marco:  Sure.

Marco:  And it's often when you get plaid items, they are woolen or warm or you know, keep you warm.

Amanda:  So yeah, maybe that's why they made pajamas plaid so often because people think, okay, that's going to be a warm cozy thing. That's what I associate it with.

Marco:  You know, I have the most wonderful plaid thing and that is my mother in law. Your mom? Mhm. Bought me one year for Christmas once again, a wonderful scarf that is in the plaid of the province we live in.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  So it's this green, dark green, um, with a little bit of like reddish or orangish kind of line in it. Or two coppery, goldy color with green scarf that I love so much. And I thought at first I'm like, it feels a little bit short for a scarf. Usually I picture a longer scarf. Right. But this one feels a bit shorter. But it gives it a very formal and conservative look that I really enjoy.

Amanda:  It doesn't. Scarves can tend to look ratty, nubby worn.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Right. Scarves kind of take a beating. And that one, for whatever reason has maintained. It looks brand new from the day it was bought. I think it's a really good scarf.

Marco:  I think the fabric as well.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  Is such that it doesn't pile.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  Or pill, pill, pill pile. And uh, it is uh, just a. I love wearing it. I always feel really great wearing it. Do you have any plaid items that you.

Amanda:  Well, those pajama pants which were, um. Pajamas. Pajamas. Pajamas. Uh, that were my friend Melanie's that I got in a clothing swap. Um, I don't really wear the top because I prefer T shirts. We can talk more about that. Um, to sleep in. So these ones are, um, the bottoms that I pair with various T shirts. Now to just do a little tangent about the T shirts I wear. What I've done is I don't like high neck T shirts at all. And I had a whole bunch from, you know, when I was backpacking in my 20s. I used to get Hard Rock Cafe Manila or you know, a Thai Coke T shirt, you know, written in Thai writing, things like that. And then they just kind of stayed with me and then it became, oh, now they're 10 years old, I can't get rid of them.

Marco:  Right.

Amanda:  So I wasn't sure what to do with these T shirts and they're all huge. And uh, I finally decided I should use them or lose them. So I cut the necks out of all of them. Kind of made them all flash dance style shirts so that they fall off the shoulder a bit, which for me is very comfortable. And made comfortable shirts out of all of them so that they're nowhere near my neck. And now that's what I wear to bed.

Marco:  Well, you know what I did with some T shirts that I really liked and had for a while but didn't want to get rid of because I had a, uh, attachment to it, to them. I took photographs of the T shirt design. So Uh, I had one, for example, that looked from Martha's Vineyards, that looked like an old sort of style American style tattoo with a mermaid on it. So I took that photo and I uploaded it on my Facebook photos that I can access. So I thought, if I ever am nostalgic of those T shirts, I can always go back and look at them. And I can assure you I. I've never gone back to look at them, but they're there.

Amanda:  I'd like to look at that T shirt.

Marco:  And I was able to let go of those T shirts.

Amanda:  It's a great practice.

Marco:  Yeah. And I just want to mention, Amanda, last episode, we talked about the Mac as a cap. You know, the Page boy cap that we're talking about? Um, and I mentioned, um, that it was, um, in a Beatles song, M. And the line is actually from Penny Lane. So I think I got it right. Which is, and the banker never wears a Mac in the pouring rain. Very strange is the lyric or the line. And, uh, yeah. So I was not wrong, which I often am when I was talking about the Mac, which is like a hat.

Amanda:  Well, good for you. Thank you for going back and doing that research. I'm trying to think of other things that I enjoy wearing to bed or plaid things.

Marco:  Do you have any plaid items other than those?

Amanda:  I have one. Plaid. Well, it's a gingham. Um, Is a gingham a plaid?

Marco:  No, a gingham's not a plaid, I don't think. I think plaid is plaid.

Amanda:  Red and black, big gingham. So to me, I think of that as plaid. No, that's not really. But your green plaid shirt, do you know the one I mean?

Marco:  Yeah, I like that one.

Amanda:  That's a gingham, um, too, is it not?

Marco:  No. I'm going to look up what the differences.

Amanda:  Gingham versus plaid. Here's my question.

Marco:  Yeah, sure.

Amanda:  Is a gingham always a plaid, but a plaid not always a gingham?

Marco:  Oh. This is the type of question you can contemplate for a while. So how to tell the difference between a plaid and a gingham? A plaid features vertical and horizontal stripes, while gingham, um, has checks or squares arranged in rows and columns, often contrasting.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  A gingham is often used. Sorry. A gingham, um, is often using two colors or shades of one color, while plaid can be made up of a variety of colors.

Amanda:  Right, right.

Marco:  So there you go.

Amanda:  So they are distinctly different. Well, then, if that.

Marco:  The question gets raised here, does gingham, um, count as plaid, which is what you said, if you're referring to the smaller alternating white and red or white and blue pattern gingham, that is a gingham print. Both prints are in the plaid family.

Amanda:  Oh, so they are.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  So a gingham is a plaid, according

Marco:  to a quick online search, a subset of plaids.

Amanda:  So in which case I have a red and black and it's quite big. So it has more of a plaid than a gingham feel shirt. Um, so I do have. I always have one plaid shirt. I think everyone should have at least one plaid shirt.

Marco:  Why is that?

Amanda:  Well, well, for us as actors, inevitably, especially actors in Canada, we get asked to play truckers, ice fishermen, people from

Marco:  various rural places, loggers, construction workers, people going for a, uh, Tim Hortons donut and coffee.

Amanda:  Even a dad or mom role. Especially for men, I think, but for moms too, you need to have a plaid shirt or two to kind of convey that hominess rural potential. Ruralness. I have another plaid shirt that I was using quite a bit and I finally just kind of cut the arms out of it. So it's kind of a rattier gray and brown plaid. Right. Um, and in cutting the arms out of it, I use it for any of my roles. Uh, that would be like for auditions. I mean, sure. Somebody. I did, uh, a scene as a pawn shop worker with that shirt. I'm, um, trying to think of other things I've used for that shirt. But anyway, the rougher roles that I sometimes get offered, which I'm happy to play, I love playing them.

Marco:  Amanda. So as I did that quick search, I'm on a website called thatisthelife.commhm. and they're giving me examples of gingham in home decor and plaid in home decor.

Amanda:  Watch your algorithm. It's going to be very gingham forward.

Marco:  Well, listen, the sacrifices I make for to help people fall asleep do not go unnoticed. So I'm going to give you a item of home decor and you're going to tell me if it goes in the gingham or the plaid section. In other words, would you want this piece of home decor to be in gingham, um, or plaid? Does that make sense?

Amanda:  Somewhat.

Marco:  Okay, so let's start with towels, gingham or plaid?

Amanda:  Plaid.

Marco:  Gingham.

Amanda:  Um, I didn't know there was a right answer. Yeah, I thought it was what I would rather.

Marco:  No. Well, I guess, but these are examples of gingham in home decor and examples of plaid in home decor. And I'm asking you to see if you can Put it in the right. In the right.

Amanda:  But you can have gingham or plaid.

Marco:  Okay, not according to this website. So why don't I just. Rather than play this game, I'm just gonna.

Amanda:  I'm happy to play it. Do you want me to play it with you? No, I don't. I clearly don't understand the parameters.

Marco:  I'm just gonna list the ones that are gingham in home decor. Okay. So we. Towels. Throw pillow, Covers that I can see.

Amanda:  Headboard that I can see.

Marco:  A gingham headboard.

Amanda:  Yeah. Especially for a young girl. That kind of thing.

Marco:  Bed frame.

Amanda:  Sure.

Marco:  What's the bed frame versus the headboard?

Amanda:  Well, the headboard is just behind you, and the bed frame is all around. But again, I don't know how much fabric you'd want around your bed frame.

Marco:  A rug. A gingham rug.

Amanda:  Gingham rug.

Marco:  Gingham. Um, napkins.

Amanda:  I'm just picturing pink and white gingham, and none of this is making sense. Gingham napkins.

Marco:  Yes, for sure. Uh, I wouldn't wipe my mouth with a plaid napkin, but a gingham napkin.

Amanda:  We have red and white napkins that I would have called plaid. Are those gingham?

Marco:  No, those are gingham. M. Those are for sure gingham.

Amanda:  I don't think I ever really. I've looked at gingham from both sides now. From near and far and still somehow it's gingham's illusions that I recall. I really don't. No gingham at all.

Marco:  Okay, that's a line from a song

Amanda:  From Both Sides now by Joni Mitchell.

Marco:  Thank you.

Amanda:  Although I don't think gingham was the intention of the original verse.

Marco:  Or maybe it was, and Joni had to alter the lyrics for a while.

Amanda:  Here's a fun game. Anytime you hear the word love in a song, replace it with gingham.

Marco:  Of course. Um. Um, an accent chair.

Amanda:  Baby, let's make gingham.

Marco:  M. Yes. That's really great.

Amanda:  Okay. Sorry.

Marco:  No, it's okay. That's going to be the quote, you know, in our show notes I put up.

Amanda:  Baby, let's make some. Let's make some gingham tonight.

Marco:  Gingham tonight.

Amanda:  Utensils.

Marco:  Um, gingham utensils. I've seen that before. The handles. Yeah, the handles being that sort of design. A throw blanket. Gingham throw.

Amanda:  Um, blanket, but also a nice plaid throw blanket. Can't argue with that.

Marco:  Bed linens. You don't see plaid bed linens, but you do see tea.

Amanda:  But Gingham. Um, more tea towels. I mean, they could be anything you want them to be.

Marco:  Wallpaper.

Amanda:  I mean, plaid, if it's big, is a big wallpaper statement, but certainly it's done.

Marco:  Window treatments, you could do either.

Amanda:  Gingham's probably your better bet. Backsplash is gingham. Um, it says gingham backsplash.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  Who I don't understand in tile.

Marco:  Yeah, I guess.

Amanda:  Gingham tiles.

Marco:  Yeah. And here are the examples of plaid in home decor.

Amanda:  Oh, okay.

Marco:  And it's. It's much less bed linens, as you suggested.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  Throw blanket, as you rightly suggested.

Amanda:  Nice and cozy.

Marco:  Throw pillow. Covers.

Amanda:  Okay. Not the pillows themselves, just the covers and rugs. Sure. Plaid rug. Yeah. You could do it.

Marco:  Yeah. So there you go. Those are.

Amanda:  Here's the thing with a plaid and a gingham. Um, but more so a plaid, it's gonna take over. You need to pair it with a bunch of neutrals because plaids will fight against each other. So you need one plaid to dominate the room, I think. I see. And then you use those colors. So if you have like a red and brown plaid, those are your kind of accent colors, right?

Marco:  I guess. Yeah. You know that you're better at that than me.

Amanda:  Or like, cream would go well with that.

Marco:  Yeah. So there you go. That's what I have to tell you about plaid and gingham, based on my question.

Amanda:  Like I said plaid. I feel like we're old friends. Gingham. I'm just getting started. I don't even think I really, truly understood the world of gingham.

Marco:  I have both plaid and gingham shirts.

Amanda:  You do? Which do you prefer?

Marco:  I like them both. I feel like my plaid is more casual with the exception of my scarf, which I think is, I feel is very formal. And my gingham tends, um, to be not formal, but a little bit more buttoned, uh, up. Now here's an area where I really appreciate and love plaid.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  Wrapping paper.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  Plaid wrapping paper, I love it.

Amanda:  But a gingham wrapping paper is really nice too. You have to admit.

Marco:  I'll take plaid wrapping paper over gingham. Um, and not just for controversial. You can give me a plaid wrap that's not red and green for my birthday, for Groundhog's Day, for anniversary, it's red or white.

Amanda:  Is that too Christmassy?

Marco:  Uh, I think you still dip into the holidays, but I will take a plaid wrapping paper any day of the week.

Amanda:  Interesting.

Marco:  Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda:  Speaking of wrapping paper, we need to get somewhere out.

Marco:  It's hard to believe, but we are out. We're using craft paper right now.

Amanda:  I know. For our wrapping needs. What, uh, we need to find is, you know, the holy grail of wrapping paper, which is that huge, big, thick roll that is double sided.

Marco:  Double sided.

Amanda:  And we had one and it lasted us, I mean, a decade, I think, honestly a very long time. But it's done.

Marco:  Yes.

Amanda:  And so now we don't know what to do. Can't find any. I found some reversible, but it's not. It's not like the one we had.

Marco:  I've always wanted to carve a potato and stamp wrapping paper.

Amanda:  Well, today's your day.

Marco:  It's just, it just seems like a lot of work. Uh, I like it in theory. I love it in theory.

Amanda:  Why a potato? Why do we need to make stamps out of potatoes?

Marco:  I think a potato is a very carvable, easy, accessible vegetable.

Amanda:  I suppose.

Marco:  I think a carrot would be harder to carve because they tend to be more dense and you're gonna have a smaller.

Amanda:  What about a turnip?

Marco:  Once again, the turn. Turnip. I think the turnip has more resistance in the carving.

Amanda:  Rudabaga. Okay.

Marco:  Isn't a rutabaga a turnip in disguise?

Amanda:  I'm not really sure. Is rutabaga the turnip like gingham? Um, is the plaid.

Marco:  Oh, that's a really good question. But I can't think.

Amanda:  The corn or vice versa. Maybe. Maybe all turnips are rutabagas, but not all rutabagas are turnips.

Marco:  Perhaps I'm not going to look it up because I just don't. We're getting towards the end and I don't want to have to look more things up. But I don't think you could do corn. I'm just trying to think of vegetables I like.

Amanda:  I don't think you'd want to make a stand with corn. I think that's very fair.

Marco:  Yeah. And the rest is like very leafy. Like I can't think of.

Amanda:  All right. Potato it is.

Marco:  I think that's why. Potato.

Amanda:  Mhm.

Marco:  And I think you can also. Potatoes come in different sizes. So depending on Potato.

Amanda:  Potato.

Marco:  Sure. Depending on the size that you want. The potato is your option. Have you ever carved a potato and stamped it?

Amanda:  I think we tried to as kids because we had this book called the make and Do Book.

Marco:  Oh, I didn't know about this.

Amanda:  It was very much a staple of our family. It was an orange book. It was very thick and it was called the make and Do Book. And the rule in our house was, if you are bored, go to the make and do book, uh, and find an activity to do. It was very thick. There were a lot of activities.

Marco:  This sounds like a great gift for

Amanda:  kids, the make and do book. Yeah. And so there were a few things we came back to time and again. And one was making. Making stamps out of potatoes. That's what made me think of it.

Marco:  And do you recall a stamp that either you or your sister, Becca Barker, who's a friend of the podcast, uh, ever made?

Amanda:  No. I think we would dip it in ink, and I think we made a stamp that was like, a blob.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  As far as we got. Also ink. Not easy to come by in our house. Sure. I think it was more. We'd color marker onto it and hope for the best.

Marco:  Well, that's not a great way to go.

Amanda:  Listen, we didn't have all the crafts.

Marco:  Sure, sure. I'm gonna look up that book and see if it's available and then maybe gift it to someone. Maybe even you.

Amanda:  That would be great. You know, it actually would be a really great gift for my sister.

Marco:  Okay, let's not tell her.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  And let's get her this book. Just send it to her. Well, thank you for listening, folks. We have a few more minutes before we have to go, but if you have any plaid or gingham, um, ideas, please send them our way.

Amanda:  Make a stamp with a potato and a plaid.

Marco:  Oh, that would be a.

Amanda:  There's your wrapping paper. Go for it.

Marco:  I know. That's just too tough. That would be, like, very intricate. Yeah, you'd have to make a stripe on the potato and then follow it along. But yeah, we could wrap our stuff with, like, newspaper.

Amanda:  No, I know that's a thing you're supposed to do, but the thing is, we don't get newspaper, so wouldn't be nice newspaper. It would be flyers for the grocery store. Nobody wants, you know, a gift wrapped with, like, M Meat specials and bananas. 99 cents a pound. Like, you don't want that Unless.

Marco:  Unless you took a potato, carved out a banana and wrote 99 cents and stamped it.

Amanda:  Carved out a banana.

Marco:  Potato.

Amanda:  You make a banana stamp with a potato?

Marco:  Yeah.

Marco:  That says 99 cents on the bottom and you just stamp that on.

Amanda:  That would actually be really kind of quaint. Cute, crafty paper. We should do that.

Marco:  Yeah. At that point, you're kind of doing Andy Warhol type designs. Pretty cool.

Amanda:  It also feels like a lot of work.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  I don't think we're going to End up doing that. But, folks, thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed this particular episode.

Amanda:  You don't know. We could do it.

Marco:  We could.

Amanda:  I don't like, uh, how you were just like, I don't think we're going to end up doing that. Listen, the world is your oyster. Or in this case, your potato.

Marco:  Sure. Listen, if you want to lead the charge on that, I've got. Not ink. I do have ink, but I would use paint.

Amanda:  I like to eat my potatoes, so that's a problem. I don't think I would want to waste a potato.

Marco:  Okay. Is there a vegetable you wouldn't mind wasting?

Amanda:  A rutabaga.

Marco:  Okay, well, we'll see if we have any. Uh, we usually don't get those. What about, like, an acorn squash or.

Amanda:  No, those are far too tasty.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  No, we're not donating an acorn squash to the cause. How about a block of wood? I don't eat that, Amanda.

Marco:  That would be so hard to carve. That's like, at that point, you're. You're a professional carver.

Amanda:  Okay. You know what I used to use when I was a kid?

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  Marshmallows as a stamp. Yeah. We always had marshmallows in the cupboard. And so whenever I had to make, uh. It was really big in the 80s to make and 90s to make dioramas of your books. Do you remember that?

Marco:  Like a. No.

Amanda:  Oh, that was a big thing in my school. Like, you do a book report and you had to create a scene from the book.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  That, like, that was. Asked for a lot.

Marco:  Okay.

Amanda:  Um. And various things. So you had to make a diorama, like, with a shoebox. So I would make the people out of marshmallow. I would take the marshmallow and, like, form it because it would.

Marco:  It was malleable.

Amanda:  It was malleable.

Marco:  Sure.

Amanda:  And if you twisted it kind of like a dough or a play. D'oh. And then you could paint it. So I would make people out of marshmallows and, uh, like, sort of color them with marker and make. I remember making people skating, and I actually did a really good job.

Marco:  Oh, wow.

Amanda:  My dad came home and he's like, how did you make that? I was like, marshmallows.

Marco:  The interesting thing is the marshmallows would have likely been eaten before I made them into anything.

Amanda:  See, I don't think we were big into the marshmallow. We just always had them.

Marco:  I love a marshmallow.

Amanda:  Yeah.

Marco:  Yeah.

Amanda:  You could make a marshmallow.

Marco:  That's something I'D love to do.

Amanda:  Okay.

Marco:  But it's. It's very labor intensive.

Amanda:  Yeah. And you can get a bag for.

Marco:  For 99 cents, so it's probably not

Amanda:  worth it, depending what the flyer that you wrap your presents with says.

Marco:  Well, there you go, folks. Thank you for listening. If you have marshmallow tips, if you have rutabaga tips, or if you have plaid tips, let us know and hopefully you'll have fallen asleep at this point. But if you haven't, no worries. We're here with you. There's other episodes. And know that you're not alone until the next time. We hope you were able to listen and sleep.

Amanda:  I keep getting Sam.