When Angie McGuire started Muddy Mouth Cards out of her New Hope home 11 years ago, she knew she had to find a way to express what many of us want to say–but don’t often know if we should.

“I needed a card for someone whose husband was going through cancer,” said McGuire. “I needed those specific cards, but I couldn’t find them, so if I can’t find them, I’m going to write them.”

The cards are popular not just for their craftsmanship–all handmade with sustainably-sourced materials made from American artisans–but also, and perhaps likely more so, because of their often profane messages. No word is off-limits, it seems.

One of the more G-rated ones, at least in terms of words, is a wedding card that reads: “Congratulations! Finally, you two can stop living in sin.”

“When you’re buying our product, I do think you have somebody in mind,” said McGuire. “You see the card, you read it, and you think, ‘Oh this is the perfect card for one person.’”

Her cards are available online and at a handful of stores around the Twin Cities, and she even sells them at the Minnesota State Fair each summer. 

Along the way, she’s often tried to find ways to use some of her proceeds to donate to charity. Recently, that’s included school lunch debt payments at her daughter’s school, Sonnesyn Elementary School.

Angie McGuire started Muddy Mouth Cards in 2011 from her home in New Hope. She now has five employees that help her keep up with online orders and orders from retailers.

McGuire is donating proceeds from some of her card sales or even taking donations from customers to pay toward school lunch debt. She has raised $1,000 so far.

“It surprises me all of the time. Every day donations come in. I tell my husband: ‘Another donation came in!’ and I’m so excited about it because I’m so surprised about it all the time, and it’s really been great,” she said. “It’s a really good feeling to contribute in this way.”

Earlier this year, Minnesota lawmakers and Governor Tim Walz passed a new law to have the state pay for all school meals. 

“I’m so grateful that the bill passed and those kids aren’t going to be struggling with that any longer, starting in the fall,” said McGuire. “But we’re not to the fall yet, so we still have kids who are accruing debt. We still have a long way to go. We still have more we can do to help them.”

New Hope | Robbinsdale