Every August, my parents would take my sister and me to vacation in Cape Cod. They always rented a tiny, rustic cottage right on the bay — I think they were willing to forgo amenities for location, because there was no television, no laundry, no microwave… (and of course, this was the ’80s, so Wi-Fi wasn’t even a thing).
My sister and I spent our days clamming and crabbing when the tide went out, and swimming when it came back in. My dad would read a library’s worth of books, and my mom would cross-stitch for hours. Every night, after dinner, we’d gather on the screened-in porch and play cards for hours.
We listened to a local radio station on the “boom box” my dad always brought, and we’d pair up to play. We weren’t really a board-game family, so they taught us gin rummy, pinochle, and solitaire. I learned how to play pinochle when I was eight! I remember not even being able to hold that many cards in my little hands, so I had to stack them in front of me by suit and look at them each hand — which I’m sure drove my parents nuts.
And every single night, I had to ask, “What’s trump again?”
As an eight-year-old learning a pretty complicated game, I guess my brain could only handle so much — meld, suits, tricks, the rules, and trump — oh my.
We all stumbled through it, year after year, and I grew up to be a pretty decent pinochle player. Sadly, not many people my age know how to play pinochle anymore, but I was thrilled to discover another “suit-calling” card game when I moved from Pennsylvania to Michigan and met the Midwest’s obsession with Euchre — my trump-calling skills have come in handy!
And… that’s why I created these blocks.
💡 The Spark
Even now, I can never seem to remember the suit if I’m not the one leading the tricks. So I thought, Wouldn’t it be easier to have some kind of marker on the table that you could flip to the right suit so everyone always knows what trump is?
Well, I make blocks — so one night while we were playing, I grabbed a scrap piece and took a Sharpie to it. It did the job… until I thought, Hmmm… I could engrave these, paint them, and personalize the tops and bottoms for a really special game-night keepsake.
And just like that — 💥 the Trump Marker Block was born.
🔨The Creation
Each block starts as rough-cut maple from our homestead woodshop. I mill, sand, pre-finish, and engrave every side by hand before painting the suits and sealing it with a natural beeswax coat.
Every step feels like honoring those old nights in Cape Cod — truly handcrafted with love and attention.
💛 The Meaning
It’s more than a trump marker — it’s a symbol of gathering, laughter, and slowing down together. I love knowing that something I made might sit on another family’s game table for years to come.
