One of the best parts of going back to school is getting new stationery supplies. It’s the perfect excuse to buy cute back to school stationery plus other bits like bags, lunch boxes and more.
I’ve picked out some super cute back to school supplies that are both practical and stylish. Many of these supplies come in different colours to the one pictured, so don’t be put off by the colour. Once you click through you’ll see the different versions.
This year I have been super disorganised with my Christmas shopping – I’ve still got nearly all of it to do. Eek! Really panicking now. I’m guessing most of you are all done shopping and wrapping. But if there are any last minute types like me, while I can’t do your Christmas shopping for you, I have rounded up some of the best free Christmas gift tags to print. Some are cute and colourful – perfect for kids gifts while others are more minimal and stylish. There are lots to choose from so when you do wrap your gifts, you can finish them with one of these free gift tags.
1. These minimal gift tags with messages would look great on presents wrapped in kraft paper.
2. These colour in printable gift tags are such a great idea – print and let the kids colour them in.
3. These simple & stylish gift tags would look great on any colour gift wrap.
4. How cute are these colourful gift tags? Just adorable especially for a child’s gift.
5. These monochrome gift tags have handwritten messages on each. Pair with black wrap for a stunning looking gift.
6. These fun cowboy santa gift tags come with a colourful Texan twist!
7. These super sweet little animal gift tags are a cute addition to any gift.
These are my favourite free Christmas gift tags to print that I found this year. But if you want to check out some more, take a look at my previous years round-up as there are loads more there. Here’s where you’ll find my favourite free Christmas gift tags from 2014.
Today I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I discovered this great site that I think you will love whether you are a blogger, a creative or someone who likes to craft. It’s not always possible to design and create all your own images so this is where ink nest comes in. For a small fee, you can buy loads of beautiful hand drawn illustrations that you can print out and use as you wish – from making Christmas decorations to designing your own blog layout to anything at all. The possibilities of using these beautiful royalty free illustrations are endless.
I’m thinking these beautiful illustrations on ink nest can be used to make Christmas stuff, kids party decorations, house warning cards, thank you notes and so much more. And besides parties, you could create posters for your kids rooms, your own personal note cards, garlands for your home – really the possibilities are endless.
But the best part of all is that if you’re a blogger, you can even use these hand drawn royalty free illustrations on your blog to design your blog or to create free printables. How great is that? Each set of printables, which usually includes around 15-30 images, costs $10 and you are free to use pretty much as you wish – but do check the terms & conditions for full details. Also if you sign up to the newsletter you get a cool 20% off your first purchase.
I’m in the process of decorating Anya’s room and I’m loving the possibility of using some of the cute and quirky illustrations as posters for her room. But most of all I’m thinking about how I can use them on my blog to create stuff for you guys – some free printable gift tags maybe? Or a free downloadable calendar for 2016? So many possibilities… how will you use these? You’re welcome 🙂
Do you know Furoshiki? Don’t worry, it’s not a swear word but it’s a beautiful eco-friendly Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in cloth. It comes from the old Japanese culture of caring for the environment and reducing waste. Last week I was reminded of this beautiful Japanese cloth wrapping tradition when I was given a cloth wrapped gift by a cousin visiting from India. She didn’t use a traditional Japanese cloth but instead used an Indian fabric which looked so pretty. With the gift giving season coming up and since we’ve got a spate of birthdays before then, I thought it was a good time to start thinking gift wrapping and why not try something new and environmentally friendly this year?
Furoshiki wrapping cloths are available to buy in the most beautiful patterned Japanese fabrics. They can be expensive compared to paper so think of them as part of the gift. Otherwise you don’t have to restrict yourself to these – my cousin just used some off-cuts of fabric she had lying around the house so you can use practically any fabric that you have. I’ve also seen gifts wrapped in beautiful tea towels which are very much a part of the gift. Once you get used to fabric wrapping, you can wrap practically anything in these cloths. The Japanese don’t stop at gifts but also make pouches with handles to carry stuff around or wrap their lunch boxes in these cloths as some of the pictures above show. I also love them for wrapping a bottle of wine – so much nicer than taking the bottle as is.
This Japanese cloth wrapping method looks complicated but it’s actually quite straightforward – it’s kind of like origami with cloth but simpler. In case you want some help, here is a good site showing you lots of different ways to use cloth wraps. The site goes in to step by step instructions for different methods of cloth wrapping, making it easy to follow. But for the simplest option, you can also get cloth wrap bags that tie at the top to make them look wrapped like in the third picture.
Do you get homework over the Summer holidays? We don’t but reading and writing practice is encouraged. With the best will in the world I know I’m not going to sit down with Anya and start practicing writing every day or even every week. We get enough homework during term time so we all need a break 😉 But I do think it’s a good idea to keep in touch with writing and reading so I thought I would make her a Summer diary where she can write what she does every few days. Last week I rounded up some fabulous fruit crafts which inspired me to make these fruity DIY Summer diaries for Anya.
Anya loved the idea of making fruit inspired DIY Summer journals and chose strawberry, pineapple and orange as her fruits. If you’d like to make these, read on.
What you’ll need:
A6 notebooks
A4 coloured paper in red, yellow and orange
2-3 sheets thin green card
black pen and brown and white coloured pencil
scissors
tape or glue (optional)
Begin by covering your notebooks with the coloured paper. When I was in school in India, we had to cover all our school books or there would be big trouble. With so many years of practice I can now cover books with my eyes closed! But in case you haven’t done it before, here’s how:
Once the books are covered, you can stick or glue the inside flaps down but I prefer to leave them just folded without glue or tape. Next I needed to make the books look more like the fruit they were meant to be. I drew leaf shapes on my green card – just using a pencil. This isn’t meant to be precise or perfect so just draw freehand. I drew three different types of leaves – one for each fruit. And then I cut them out. But I wanted to create a bookmark too so I cut a long piece of card with the leaves cut out at the top as the picture below shows. So you not only have a DIY Summer diary but also a super cute DIY bookmark to match.
To finish off these fruity DIY Summer diaries I used a fine black pen to add seeds to the strawberry, a brown coloured pencil to line the pineapple diary and a white coloured pencil to add a touch of white to the orange diary.
My favourite journal is the strawberry one – I might even make one for myself! If you’re looking for some more fruit craft inspiration, check out my round-up of some of the best.
I’m always so last minute when it comes to a Father’s Day card or organising something for the day. So this year I thought I would try and get ahead of the game and have at least a fun card and something fun lined up well in advance of the day. We’re not in to giving gifts or anything major but it is nice to do something to mark the day. So I’m planning a family lunch and I also wanted to find a cute card for Anya to give Richard. I would love to have created my own little DIY with her and may still do next week but in the meantime I went looking and I found these sweet free father’s day printables. They’re not all cards but they can all be turned in to one or used in different ways. I like them all but I suspect Anya will choose the glasses or the cute little bow and tie one!
1. dad glasses | 2. moustache and bow wrapping paper | 3. dad colour in card | 4. dads are yay cards | 5. bow and tie banner
I’ve long been a big fan of Taro Gomi who I first discovered through the simple and very sweet book called My Friends which was Anya’s favourite book for ages when she was around two years old. But it’s been a while since I’ve checked out anything more by Taro Gomi until last week when I had a birthday party gift to buy for a six year old. I came across these fun doodle place mats and immediately bought it for the birthday girl.
Sitting still at the dining table is still a bit of a challenge for Anya and many of her friends too so I thought these doodle place mats are the perfect answer. They come in a book of 50 tear-off sheets and each page has a different drawing activity. There is already a doodle on each page and then there are some instructions like the images show. There are three different ones – animal, story and yummy. Not only do these fun place mats for kids make unusual gifts, they’re also handy for a kids birthday party and they would be great to take to restaurants to keep kids occupied while waiting for their food. I know Anya gets impatient at restaurants and asks to play with our phones which I don’t like to encourage. But I would have no objection to pulling out one of these sheets to keep her busy.
Do you make your own kids party invites or do you buy them? I always plan to make them myself and sometimes do but sometimes life gets in the way and I end up buying them. Most of the kids party invitation cards you find in the shops tend to be a bit samey and are often themed with TV or cartoon characters which isn’t really my thing. Recently I went looking for something a bit different for a friend and I came across these really fun and colourful party invite kits.
These invite kits aren’t just for kids parties but they have baby shower ones, general ones which can be used for a range of occasions and of course kids party invites too. They come as a complete kit with the invites, envelopes, envelope seals and party favour bags included. All the designs just scream fun and cheer, exactly what a party should be! For our next kiddy party I’m loving the colourful heart ones or maybe even for my next grown-up party!
In the UK, sending greeting cards is a big deal. People give a lot of cards for birthdays, new homes, thank you’s, new jobs, in sympathy, new baby – everything and anything. In fact you can get a card for practically any occasion. This whole card culture was new to me as in India we tend to use the phone much more than send cards. But having lived here for 15 years I’ve got used to it and I love finding fun and unusual cards. Often for family birthdays, I’ve been known to spend longer searching for the card than for the present. So now, when I come across a card I like, I buy it even if I don’t know who the recipient is yet. I always find a use for it and my latest finds are these absolutely adorable fruit and veg cards. How cute are they? I love them for both kids and adults and especially love the apple, carrot and cherry ones. I can’t wait to get some of these unusual and very fun cards and start sending them to friends and family.
With Easter fast approaching (how did we get to March already?!) it’s time to think Easter crafts. Anya loves all kinds of crafts but I know that Easter crafts are her absolute favourite – eggs, bunnies, chocolate – what’s not love? So today I have these adorable free printable Easter bunny cards for you. Anya’s already made loads to give to her friends – they’re super easy to make and look so cute!
These free printable Easter cards have been created exclusively for my readers by a super talented graphic designer and architecture student called Annelies. I stumbled across her site and I fell in love with her work so we collaborated and here are these cute little cards. This is the first part of the collaboration – there’s another part coming soon.
To make these cards simply print out the templates provided and cut them out. Stick the envelope part with glue or invisible tape, pop the card in and you’re done! I have chosen to use pastel coloured card as these colours remind me of Spring but of course you can choose whatever colours you like. I would suggest using something heavier than regular printer paper like thin card for best results. Once printed, write your message on the back and give them to your friends or you could even make an Easter bunting by hanging these bunnies on to string. They’d also make great gift tags and so much more.
I am so glad I discovered Annelies’ work and we managed to collaborate. If you like pattern and design then don’t miss her blog A pattern a day where she creates beautiful new patterns every day. Annelies is only 22 so I can’t even begin to image what great things she will get up to in the coming years! And don’t forget, this is part one – part two of the free Easter printable is coming soon.
Here is the PDF – Annelies has created a few versions of the bunny cards each with slightly different patterns. Print and enjoy for your own personal use:
{all photos by ebabee}
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