Happy Birthday to my sweet first-born love! I’m a little taken aback that I how have an 11-year-old, and so very thankful for the chance to be his Mom!
letters to my children . 050216
make . Easter Mini Banners [printable]
Baby Girl and I have been working on a few crafty projects for Easter, and today I’m sharing a printable for a cute little mini banner we made. It’s actually part one of an idea I had as I was thinking through spring post ideas. I’ve always loved making things with paper, especially things to play with! The children love to make little paper cut-out puppets using popsicle sticks to create dramas for their puppet shows. So, my thought was to create a little “Hop Along” theater marquee to use along with some Easter-themed finger puppets. I’ll share the finger puppets tomorrow as a printable too, but for now, I’ve included some photos and tips to make the banner below. It can really be hung in any way, but I used some pencils to make our “theater” columns. In the printable download (shown below), I’ve included banner flags for “Hop Along” as well as “He Is Risen,” which would make a neat reminder of the reason for our Easter celebrations on your tabletop of mantle. Enjoy! And stay tuned tomorrow for photos and download for the finger puppets — styling by the one and only, Baby Girl!
Tips for making the mini banner:
- We printed ours on card stock weight paper so it has a little weight and doesn’t wrinkle when glued.
- You can hold a metal ruler or straight edge in place in the white gap at the middle of each diamond, and fold against it to crease the row of flags evenly.
- Fold each row first, and then cut out each flag. That way, you don’t have to worry about matching up the angles — and the flags don’t have to be exact. [This also gives you kind of a neat diamond harlequin stencil — bonus!]
- Keep your glue away from the crease in each diamond when you’re adding them to the string. That way, you’ll be able to slide the flags along the string when you’re finished to adjust the spacing of the words. You may want to go ahead and slide the flags a minute or so after you glue to be sure no glue dries on the string.
- We used short sequin pins with balls to top our banner pencil “poles”. They stick securely into the eraser, but leave enough space to wrap your strings to hold up the banner. They’re also kind of festive!
- We put our pencil poles in tiny clay pots with straw to scotch, but small potted plants would be cute or even cupcakes for a party table!
print shop . 2015 Personalized Easter Tags
Spring is almost here! We’re getting ready to pull out our decorations for Easter and spring’s new beginning, and I’ve decided to offer a small collection of happy tags to celebrate. I’ve been having fun creating this family of bunnies and “Happy Easter” sentiments. I’d love to personalize some for your little bunnies for Easter or Spring parties, teacher gifts, or happies to share with friends!
summer of water . A Happy Birthday
Today is the 4th birthday of Small Pond Graphics, and I decided to celebrate with a little watercolor and a cranberry-orange biscuit from Starkville favorite, The Biscuit Shop! I can’t express how blessed I am to have the opportunity to spend my days working, designing, painting, drawing and creating under the name of this little freelance business. It has been a literal God-send for my children and me, and I count it a privilege to be entrusted with putting a face on so many of my clients’ dreams. THANK YOU to all my clients, colleagues and friends for joining me on this creative journey!
Happy National Chocolate Chip Day! [printable]
It’s National Chocolate Chip Day! A holiday to celebrate, for sure! What better way to enjoy the day than with a chocolate chip cookie? In the absence of a real cookie, I enjoyed a little illustration of a watercolor one this morning. I’ve included a little download of this illustration as a mini-print you can pass along to your favorite sweet friend and chocolate lover. Enjoy!
