October 26, 2009
For those of us who live in the U.S., the patriotic season begins in late
May with Memorial Day and stretches out to November, when we honor
those who served in the armed forces on Veterans Day. There are also other
holidays in between, including Flag Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day.
Those would be considered the primary patriotic holidays but there are
also plenty of others. The first, Armed Forces Day, actually falls
before Memorial Day. Then we have Citizenship Day and Patriot Day in
September, followed by United Nations Day in October. Many
people in the U.S. take the major patriotic holidays seriously, in
addition to some of the minor ones. This is probably partially due to
the fact that so many people have war veterans in their
families, or at least know people who served. For people with connections to armed forces personnel, these
particular holidays are personal. That is probably the reason why many
people use free printable vintage Veterans Day postcards or veterans clip art to send greetings to veterans for Veterans Day. The simple act of
sending cards to retired military officers or soldiers can mean the
world to people who may feel they've been left behind. This especially applies to soldiers returning from
Iraq. They have experienced some true horrors and deserved to be
thanked for doing that on our behalf. People don't make a big deal over
Veterans Day like they do with Independence Day, so it would
be easy for veterans to think we don't care. In many cases, no one was
waving American flags
as they returned home. And you usually don't see that kind of hoopla
for Veterans Day either. That may be because some people are
uncomfortable with even thinking about war and strife. It would probably be
better to just extend our thanks to a veteran every time we see one. That way
they'll know they're appreciated all year-round, not just once a year on Veterans
Day. That small remembrance by even one person can mean a lot to someone who may feel forgotten.
Posted by Gina Schindler. Posted In : Veterans Day
October 26, 2009
It's easy to be a great hostess this Christmas party
season and also save money if you know the following strategies that can turn a tiny budget into big results: Tip #1: Make your own party invitations There are a huge number of free printable Christmas party invitations
you can download online. Simply find the look, size and message you
like, paste the artwork into Word or another word processing
program and print. If you choose well, the results should rival store-bought invitations. Tip #2: Save big on decorations by going DIY
Many types of holiday decorations can be made at home just using clipart
you can find on the Internet. These can be printed and placed all over
your house, including being used as napkin holders or menu cards. If
you're so inclined, try some glitter glue to make things more sparkly. Tip #3: Serve inexpensive foods that make a big splash
While planning the menu for your party, look for Christmas appetizer recipes
that don't cost a lot to make and also provide that "wow" factor. An
example of this is to serve a low-cost dip in a hollowed-out purple
cabbage bowl, or filling baked puff pastry cups with pre-packaged
cheese spread mixed with imitation crab and Tabasco sauce or any type
of filling you prefer. Tip #4: Use music to create a holiday atmosphere
Christmas music is soothing and a great party starter. You can always use
holiday music recordings, of course, but live music is so much better. And live music
doesn't necessarily have to cost a lot. If you don't have friends or
family members willing to play free, inquire at a
local school's music department. There may be some musicians who would be willing to work for free or just a small fee. There are
probably other methods you can think of to stretch your holiday
entertaining budget. Just be sure to keep your guests' experience in
mind and don't let inexpensive become downright cheap. If you stay
focused on being classy, your guests won't know the event was a bargain
to produce.
Posted by Gina Schindler. Posted In : Christmas
September 7, 2009
If you're too busy to spend time on Halloween craft
projects but you'd like to do some kind of activity with your family, you're in luck. The online world is a great source of free
Halloween images that can be used to make simple crafts. As an example,
crafts made from these Halloween images
found on the Internet are simple to make, because vintage images are
versatile and also quite effective when it comes to delivering a
Halloween vibe. There's something for everyone, because vintage
Halloween images range from sweet to gory to scary. Vintage images can
also be downloaded and used without fear of copyright problems. That's
a terrific bonus, because you don't have to worry about using other
people's art illegally. Just a simple online search using the
search term “vintage Halloween” will give you a huge selection of free
vintage images from which many craft projects can be made. And, of
course, if you don't like vintage, contemporary Halloween clip art can
also produce great craft projects. Here are some examples of simple Halloween projects virtually anyone can make by using free electronic images: Spooky Hand-made Halloween Cards
When you've downloaded the Halloween image you'd like to use, paste it
into a Word, PowerPoint or OneNote document. You can make the card
virtually whatever size you want by adjusting the software's settings.
Place the image on one half of the card, so it can be folded in half
after it's printed. Print the card on card stock as heavy as your
printer will allow, fold it and and apply just a little glitter glue to
make it sparkle. You can also make your own envelopes or just get some
at the dollar store. Terrifyingly Fun Halloween Door Wreath Crafting Halloween wreath is easy. Here are the supplies you'll need: - Scissors
- 1 plain wreath ring
- Halloween cards of your choice (between two and four inches long), printed and cut along the outlines
- Halloween scrapbook paper (optional)
- Short, straight pins
- Ribbon or door-hanger
Download
the art you want to use to your hard drive. Then, print enough clip art
images to fit around the wreath and cut them out with scissors or a
craft knife. You can also vary the look by using Halloween scrapbooking
paper cut into bat or leaf shapes. Once all the pieces are cut, stick
them to the wreath with the pins. You might need to
adjust the pieces a bit to find the right look. The straight
pins should make it easy to reposition the elements. (Just make sure
small kids don't get their hands on the pins!) When you're done,
hang it from a ribbon. I sincerely hope you enjoy making these crafts, and that your Halloween is fun!
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Halloween
August 22, 2009
The majority of people wait until at least October to begin thinking
about Christmas, but not yours truly. That's because I love Christmas.
Though I do admit I'm happy to move onto other things right after it's
over; by Mother's Day I'm ready to give it another go. It's about that
time that I begin scouring the Internet to see if I can find any new vintage Christmas clip art
to expand my already large collection. That always helps when I begin
designing my handmade Christmas cards in the fall. Because of that I
don't have to search for images when I'm ready to begin; I can just
move right onto being creative and building the cards. Since that's a
complicated process, I'm always happy to have image searching out of
the way. One aspect I do leave until right before Christmas, though, is the creation of personalized Santa letters
for the kids in my family. These can't really go out until the
beginning of December because they actually have to be sent to a post
office located at the North Pole for a postmark. They're then mailed to
the kids in stamped, addressed envelopes I provide. The process takes
less than 2 weeks, so I don't begin too early. Children get excited
enough about Christmas without any help; they don't need to get letters
from St. Nick before they've even had Thanksgiving turkey! But it is
gratifying to watch them tear open those letters from Santa. Because I
make them myself, I'm able to put in details to promote the illusion
that the letters really come from him. If they have toys they've been
wanting, "Santa" lets them think that they'll only get them if they
behave well. If they've been fighting with their siblings at the time
the letters are mailed, I also say they must get along with everyone in
the house if they want Santa Claus to visit them. Nothing like a little
pressure from Santa Claus to get kids to behave! And I still
can't rest even after I get my holiday cards and letters from Santa
mailed. I always make handmade New Year cards for a select few friends
and family, along with a custom e-mail New Years greeting for the rest.
For those I dip into my collection of vintage New Year cards.
I make the handmade versions pretty elaborate, since I don't have to
make that many. They're a lot of fun to make and I love creating them. If you'd like to experiment with making your own handmade holiday cards, here are some tips: - Use pre-cut, pre-folded cards from the stationary store, or on the heaviest regular card stock your printer will allow.
- If
your printer will take photo paper, you can print the images on
different stock from the cards, and trim them down and then paste them
to the front of the cards.
- Lovely specialty and metallic
papers are available that you can use to frame the images by cutting
pieces slightly larger than the artwork. You can find these at discount
stores such as Target, or at craft stores.
- Glitter glue pens
are great for adding shine to images. Just don't use too much! If you
do, the cards will not only look cheesy, they will also warp.
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Christmas
July 26, 2009
The online world is filled with countless free Thanksgiving images
that have terrific potential. They can be used to illustrate the
holiday on websites or blogs, or for one of my favorite things:
Thanksgiving crafts. As an example, crafts made from vintage Thanksgiving cards
are easy-as-pie, because vintage images are both versatile and very
effective at getting a point across. These pictures also usually cost
nothing to download and their use doesn't have any repercussions
because their age puts them beyond copyright protection. Just a
quick online search using the search term “vintage Thanksgiving cards”
will produce a huge number of free images from which many cool crafts
projects can be made. And if you're not a fan of vintage, contemporary Thanksgiving clip art or these fall scrapbooking papers can also be used to produce beautiful craft projects. Here are some examples of simple projects virtually anyone can make by using free images found online: * Thankful Garlands *
Making thankful garlands can be as simple as having guests or family
members write their blessings on leaves cut from construction paper.
Then, just print some vintage Thanksgiving cards and with the help of
tiny clothespins, affix the cards and the leaves in an alternating
pattern onto a piece of yarn or ribbon. If you don't have any
clothespins, paper clips, colorful clamps from the office supply store
or tape will hold the components in place. If you want, you could also
use contemporary Thanksgiving clip art instead of the cards to
alternate with the leaves. Once the garland is completed, hang it from
a windowsill or a mantelpiece to show off everyone's good work! * Handmade Thanksgiving Greeting Cards *
When you've downloaded the Thanksgiving image you'd like to use, paste
it into a word processing or PowerPoint document. You can make the card
virtually whatever size you want by adjusting the software's settings.
Position the image on one half of the card, so it can be folded in half
once it's printed. Print the card on sturdy stock, fold it and use a
little glitter glue to make it sparkle. You can also make your own
envelopes or just get some at the dollar store. * Thanksgiving Table Place Cards *
Some believe a Thanksgiving dinner table is bare and incomplete without
table place cards. Fortunately, these can be made quite easily using
free clip art images or vintage cards. Simply download the the image or
images you like and insert them into a table in your word processing or
other type of program. Make the table two columns by six or eight rows,
depending on how tall you want the cards to be. Paste the art into
every other cell, making sure there's enough room to write people's
names. Then, print onto heavy card stock, cut the place cards using a
paper cutter or a ruler and craft knife and they'll be ready to fold in
half. Voila! That's all it takes. Your Thanksgiving table will be
instantly more beautiful. I hope you have a great time making these Thanksgiving craft projects and that you have a great Thanksgiving!
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Thanksgiving
July 26, 2009
Don't have a lot of time to spend with your kids making Christmas
crafts? Not to worry, because the online world is a great source of
free images that can be used to make easy Christmas craft projects. As
an example, crafts made from vintage Christmas greeting cards or vintage scrapbook embellishments
found online make projects simple, due to the fact that vintage images
are both versatile and very effective at conveying a traditional
holiday feel. Because of their age, vintage images can also be
downloaded and used without fear of copyright infringement. That's a
terrific bonus, because you don't have to worry about using other
people's art illegally.
Doing a fast online search for “vintage
Christmas” will net you a large selection of free images from which
many fun crafts projects can be made. And if you're not a fan of
vintage, contemporary Christmas clip art can also be used to produce
beautiful projects. Here are some examples of simple holiday projects virtually anyone can make by using free electronic images: Christmas Gift Tags
You can actually find free Christmas gift tags on the Internet but you
might find it more fun to make your own. Simply download the the image
or images you like and paste them into a table in your word processing
program. Make the table two columns by six or eight rows, depending on
how tall you want the cards to be. Place your chosen art into every
cell (or every other cell if you want to fold them), leaving room to
write people's names. Then, print onto heavy card stock, cut them out
using a paper cutter or a ruler and craft knife. You can also make
holes for string or ribbon in the corners by using a hole punch. Handmade Holiday Greeting Cards
Once you've gone online and downloaded the holiday image you would like
to use, paste it into a word processing or PowerPoint document. You can
size the card by adjusting the software's settings. Position the image
on one half of the card, so it can be folded in half once it's printed.
Print the card on sturdy stock, fold it and and apply just a little
glitter glue to make it sparkle. You might also want to make your own
envelopes or just buy two-for-a-dollar card and envelope sets at the
dollar store and then throw away the cards. Family Love Christmas Wreath
Making a Christmas wreath is simple and can even be made when your
family gets together for Christmas dinner. Here are the supplies you'll
need: - 1 plain Styrofoam wreath ring (you choose the size)
- Green construction paper, cut in the shape of holly leaves approximately four inches long
- Christmas images or vintage cards of your choice (between two and four inches long), printed and cut along the outlines
- Scissors
- A box of short straight pins
Ask
everyone to write Christmas messages and the date on the holly-shaped
paper leaves. Then, position them in a balanced way around the
Styrofoam wreath and affix them with the straight pins. Be prepared to
adjust the positioning of the leaves a bit to get them to look
balanced. The straight pins will make it easy to reposition the
elements. (Just make sure to watch the little ones around the striaght
pins!) When the leaves are all in position on the wreath, pin clip art
among the leaves. The resulting wreath will be a treasure that
commemorates your family's love for a long time to come. I hope you have a great time making these Christmas craft projects and that you have a joyful Christmas!
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Christmas
June 22, 2009
The economy is making it hard for a lot of people right now but that
doesn't mean you have to sacrifice style and fun when it comes to
giving birthday parties. If you need to create a birthday party for
someone you love, these money-saving tips will help you watch your
wallet, while still creating an event everyone will remember: Be Creative with the Birthday Party Theme Why
not try something different, like a theme that can be implemented
without breaking the bank for your guests or you? If you're giving a
kids party, you can ask all the guests to bring inexpensive presents
suitable to give to a regional animal rescue organization or family
homeless shelter. If you call the organization in advance, you can
compile a list of low-cost items that can be included with the
invitations you send to your guests. Instruct them to wrap the items as
if they were regular birthday gifts and then the entire party can meet
at the organization to deliver them. Doing this would be a meaningful
experience for everyone and would also give children first-hand
experience with how good it feels to give to others. For adults,
save money by throwing a re-gifting/recycling party. Most people have
at least one gift in their closets that they've been given but don't
want, so let them wrap them up and give them again! Make sure everyone
knows who is on the guest list, though, so people don't re-gift items
they received from other party guests! If you're worried about hurt
feelings, people can just bring impulse purchases they made but have
never used. The items should be limited to a dollar amount that's
appropriate for the group, so people at all income levels can
participate. Make Your Own Birthday Party Decorations and Invitations The Web is chock full of a nice assortment of printable birthday invitations
for kids and adults. So why spend money on store-bought invitations
when you can print them at home for just the cost of card stock and
ink? There are also plenty of birthday clipart
images and birthday scrapbook papers on the Web, many of which would make perfect party decorations.
If you can find high resolution art, you can make your own banners and
signs for the party. If you can't find the right kind of art, you have
the option of decorating flower arrangements or plants with clip art
cut-outs or making table place cards. If you like vintage, you can
print a selection of vintage birthday cards
and tie them with fancy ribbons to a string that forms a garland. This
is an easy way to get a vintage feel and make the party more festive!
To enhance the shabby chic, vintage theme, get intentionally mismatched
plates, glasses and silverware at a thrift store to use in place of
plastic and paper partyware. The key to creating a memorable
birthday party is to be creative. If you infuse style into your party
plans, no one will ever know you didn't spend a lot of money!
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Birthdays
June 16, 2009
Now that so many good scrapbooking image designers are Internet savvy,
the Web is full of free scrapbook graphics that can be downloaded for
no charge. That means all you need to know is how to do an Internet
search and download files and you can find all the materials you need
to create delightful scrapbooks. That's why popular artist Mary
Englebreit recently remarked that the Internet is a great source of
digital scrapbook materials that will yield nearly anything you might
need. And she's an authority on quality images; products featuring her
graphics on them fly off the shelves as soon as they're released! Here are some of the types of free scrapbook images available: Holidays
The holidays are great subjects for scrapbooking, since those are the
occasions when many of us create some of our most lasting memories. And
Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Valentine's Day aren't the only
holidays that make people want to create scrapbooks; many people are
interested in the minor holidays too. You can find lots of patriotic
scrapbooking papers and embellishments on the Web for holidays such as
Veterans Day, Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Flag Day. There are also
many images out there for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Earth Day and any
other holiday you can think of; even the off-beat and downright bizarre
ones. Vintage
More and more people seem to be searching for vintage scrapbook
designs. That could be because antique art is so timeless and creates
such gorgeous results. Antique greeting cards make perfect vintage
scrapbooking embellishments, as do clipart images from years gone by.
And if you're fortunate enough to find vintage designs on digital
scrapbook papers, you'll have the best of both worlds. Antique art also
covers a range of subjects, including images as diverse as these pretty vintage airline posters, vintage flower baskets,
Victorian fashion illustrations, magic show posters and old sailing
ships. So whatever subject you're trying to cover in your scrapbook,
you can probably find antique art to match. Floral and Butterfly I've
definitely noticed that scrapbookers love flowers, and why not? They're
appropriate for almost any occasion. Butterflies attract a large
audience too, because they represent summertime, freedom, happiness and
other cheerful things. Flowers and butterflies are also diverse,
because an abundance of them can be found as both illustrations and
photos, and in modern and vintage styles. You can even find some free vintage butterfly scrapbook papers that have coordinating modern and vintage designs available in the same collections. Weddings
Weddings and scrapbooks were naturally made to go together, because
wedding photo albums have always been traditional anyway. But if you
can make it a wedding scrapbook instead, you can preserve your memories
in an even more creative way. There are many good free wedding
scrapbook images online that will allow you to create one of these very
special mementos with no or little cost. And if you can't find any
specifically for weddings, flower images can also give you a pretty
look. Babies As is the case with
wedding ceremonies, tiny tots invite the taking of photos. And what
scrapbooker wouldn't want to pass down a beautiful baby scrapbook to
her child as he or she gets older? Fortunately, you can find a huge
selection of scrapbooking designs for babies. If you haven't looked at
baby images for a while, though, you might find the color schemes a
little surprising these days. Chocolate brown, burnt orange and red are
popular, as are various shades of green. Of course, you can still find
lots of blue and pink, it's just that you can find a lot of bolder
color choices too. So the next time you go looking for
scrapbook images, check out what's available on the Internet. You might
be pleasantly surprised at the free images you'll find.
Posted by WordPlay. Posted In : Vintage Scrapbooking
May 30, 2009
Deciding to use Halloween clip art can give business messages and
craft projects visual impact beyond what you might expect. Using it is
a good idea for people who are not artistic but still want to have more
professional-looking Halloween cards, invitations, scrapbooks and
personal web pages. Anyone can use it, but I've experienced that
scrapbookers have even more creative uses for Halloween clip art,
because they use it to make printable or digital scrapbooking papers.
They may have started with standard Halloween clip art but what they
ended up with is something else entirely. There are also those who use
clip art images to make their own Halloween skeleton masks.
They either download larger clip art images suitable for masks or make
them out of free printable masks available on the Internet. Either of
those methods make it easy for almost anyone to create a custom-looking
mask for free. There are many clip-art images suitable for
Halloween, such as pumpkins, skulls, spider webs and witches -- to name
just a few. There are also a variety of Halloween messages framed by
scary and fun borders. And if you prefer a lighter touch, humorous
Halloween images are available too. You can even find cute animated
Halloween cartoons. Some can even be a little risqué, but that just
makes the holiday even more fun. There are a multitude of sites on the
web where you can download Halloween clip art for use in word
processing or graphics software. But even though there are sites that
offer free clip art galleries, you may want to buy a subscription to a
website that offers a large selection. No matter which site you choose,
it’s important to use their on-site search engine well to avoid wasting
time by browsing through every image. Many people choose to compile their own vintage Halloween clipart
collections they use to dress up Halloween greetings, personal websites
and a variety of print projects. This cuts down last-minute searching,
which is especially helpful during the hectic time right before
Halloween. And since Halloween comes around annually, having Halloween
images on hand will save time not just this Halloween but in the
future. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the images:
Size and color is key when using Halloween clip-art images as
backgrounds, so text placed on top of it won't be obscured because the
images are too similar. In addition, it's important to stick to a
central style and theme so your final results won't be too gaudy.
You'll find that following these simple rules will give you good
results.
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Halloween
May 29, 2009
This gorgeous Victorian image would be lovely for a wedding thank you card or reception table place card With economic times being as tough as they are, many weddings won’t
be as opulent as they might have been a few years ago. But not to
worry, because the World Wide Web allows many options for designing
quality wedding components at home. Getting much of what you need for
your wedding online can make a big difference in the final price tag.
You’ll be happy to know there's quite a bit of free vintage clip art you can find online that will help you design your wedding theme. Since
there’s a lot involved with finding the perfect wedding clipart, it
might be prudent to ask for assistance from family members. Time to
call in the troops! But what if you and your family and friends don’t
know where to begin your search for wedding clip art? First, consider
your own personal home decorating style. That should give you a good
general idea of your tastes. Which colors are the most prominent in
your home? Understanding your color preferences is a terrific place to
begin. Next, you should determine whether you like fancy or plain,
frilly or tailored. Taking stock of the color and feel of your
home will allow you to more easily settle on a wedding theme. Once you
know what hues you want to pursue, do an online search for vintage flower clipart.
Why do I recommend free vintage flower clip art instead of something
more modern? Because you’ll find that vintage art has great diversity
and creates a classic feel. If you really want to make sure your
wedding has a classic look, look for vintage rose images.
If you use these perennial favorites on your wedding invitations or
favors, people will think a lot of money was spent on them. Using these
lovely classic flowers will show everyone your good taste.
Posted by Carla Chadwick. Posted In : Weddings
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