Featuring: Free Printable Party Invitations

I was searching for a free printable invitation and happened on this great blog.  I think there must be an invitation there for every occasion you could think of.  You can also find free party hat printables, clip-art, and other party printables as well.

Here's a sample of a St. Patrick's Day Invitation, courtesy of Free Printable Party Invitations. 

 You can also find invitations for: Birthday Parties-including a couple for princess party'sBBQ'sSummerEasterWedding AnniversariesElegant Black and White Scroll InvitationBoy's Rocket Ship Birthday Invitation1st Birthday PartyBeach PartyPirate PartyWedding Anniversary PartyBaseball Birthday PartyPink and Purple Girls Party InvitationPrincess Birthday Party InvitationBlack, Pink, and White Invitation  and a whole lot more! If you need a party invitation, Free Printable Party Invitations is a great place to start your search. Today's Fabulous Find...Free Printable Party Invitations 

Simple Spring Wreath

The other day I was at JoAnn Fabrics and saw a wispy twig wreath that I liked.  It was priced at $12.99, but because I used a 50% off coupon from their mailer, I ended up only paying $6.50 for it. 

  

I wanted to add some flowers for just a little bit of color so I looked at some at JoAnn's and another local craft store.  They were pretty, but they all cost $3 or more per stem, which can add up really fast.  I didn't want to put very much money into the wreath, so I went to the dollar store and found three stems that I thought would work.  (I'll show you where I used the tall yellow flowers in a future post.)

  

I pulled the sections of the stems apart and added each piece separately.  Up close they look a bit 'plastic-y', but when I take a few steps back, I really don't notice, so it's not a problem for me.

 

On a side note:  When I pulled the stems apart I discovered that underneath the floral tape, the wires were rolled with strips of newspaper from China.  My kids thought it was cool to see what a real Chinese newspaper looked liked!

 

 

The total cost for my spring wreath...$10!  I'm looking forward to changing the flowers for each season.  I'll be able to buy flowers for the wreath for three seasons (with flowers from the dollar store) for the same amount of money that I would have spent on one season with flowers from a craft store. 

 

 Today's Fabulous Find...$10 Spring Wreath I have something else that I've been working on that I'm so anxious to show you.  It's not quite ready yet, but here's a clue...it involves paint sticks...and it's cheap!  Okay, so that was two clues. :) Have a fabulous weekend!!!  

Printable Quote

Recently a reader e-mailed me and mentioned that she'll be having a bone marrow transplant within the month and would like to have something in her hospital room that would help her to remain cheerful during this time.  She mentioned her favorite quote and that she'd love it if I ever decided to make it into a printable.   I knew immediately that making a printable was one small thing that I could do for her, to help her through this time, as well as for any of you who are experiencing 'rough waters'.

Her favorite quote is: 
"We have no control of the winds in adverse situations, 

but we can adjust our sails.

So what happens when I have two different ideas for the design and the two people I ask for opinions each like a different one?  Why, I post them both and let YOU decide...that's what I do. :)

Print this image onto colored paper, or scrapbook paper with a simple print.

   Print this image onto colored paper or scrapbook paper with a simple print.

Edited to add: Revised 'a' Version
(I did a bit of cutting and pasting and fixed the 'a' in sail so it doesn't look like a 'q'.)



To Download the prints: 

1.  Click on the image--this is important, it will open the image in a new window at it's fullest resolution.

2.  Either right click on the image and choose 'save image as' to save it to your computer, or click on 'copy' to copy and paste it into a document, like Microsoft Publisher/Word, or another similar program.

3.  If you past it into a document, you will need to size the image before you print it.  Just click on the image and drag it over to the ruler bar then click your mouse on one edge of the picture.  While holding down the button, move your mouse to enlarge/reduce the size of the picture.  Drag it vertically and horizontally to the size that you want it.  The words in some sizes may appear slightly stretched.  This quote will look the best as an 8x10.

4.  Center the image on the document page and print.

There is so much truth to this quote.  Sometimes life sends us in directions that we don't expect, but we can choose to do our best to keep our spirits high and just 'keep sailing'. 

Today's Fabulous Find...Words To Live By

Spring Plate

This may be a bit early to be posting spring decor, but I decided that just because it still looks like winter outside, doesn't mean that I can't make it look like spring inside. :)

I was trying to decide what phrase I wanted to put on a spring plate, when I remembered that last spring Melissa at 320 Sycamore printed and framed a line from a poem by Emily Dickinson that I really loved.  I knew it was exactly what I wanted to display in my home as well.  I used vinyl to put the line from the poem on a white plate, added an image, and chose green as an accent color.

 Melissa was kind enough to share the fonts that she used.  I pretty much followed how she printed hers, except that I had to change the smaller words to a different font (Gisha) so they would work better with vinyl.   The image of the birds can be found at Silhouette's online store.  The plate and the stand both came from the dollar store.  When I see metal stands for only a dollar, I stock up.  There are so many things you can display with them for simple inexpensive gifts.    

I also went back and bought more of the white plates (while they were still at Dollar Tree) so that I can display other seasonal quotes on them in vinyl, or to use them as gifts.



I ended up only spending four dollars each for the spring plate and for the thrifty bird's nest.

Click here to see Melissa's Dollar Store Spring Vignette, which includes her Emily Dickinson framed print and the full poem.

I love the look of this spring plate and am so grateful for those who share their talents and inspire creativity.  Thanks Melissa!



Today's Fabulous Find...Emily Dickinson Print at 320 Sycamore
 Linking up here: Tip Junkie's Silhouette PartyTator Tots and Jello

 

 

Thrifty Bird's Nest

When I saw this little bird on clearance the other day I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it because I've seen it done so many times before. 

It's original price was $4.99, but since it was 70% off, I managed to pay only $1.50 for it. 

After braving the cold...and the snow...and the wind to spray paint it in Krylon's Satin Ivory, I took a piece of sandpaper and distressed it some.

I bought this nest at the dollar store, but it was a little small for the bird.  I really wanted to use it, so I decided to try and stretch the nest to make it bigger.  With a careful tug here and there, I managed to loosen it up and make it bigger.  I think it also looks more realistic with a few twigs sticking out.



Nest before it was stretched.

I placed the nest in this tarnished 'silver' dish that I found for $1.50 at the thrift store and added a small square of cardboard under the nest to give it some height.

This label made me smile, it says:

"Modern Silver- Silverplated TARNISH-RESISTANT

Uh...don't think so! 

That's okay though, it just adds character and I guess it only said it would resist, not repel. :) 

Anyway, this is how it all went together.

(The dish isn't really as tarnished as it looks in this picture.) 

 

A bird in a nest is nothing that we haven't all seen before, but I was excited that I was able to put it all together for only four dollars!

Today's Fabulous Find...Thrifty Bird Nest 

I'm linking this post up to some of these fabulous parties!

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