Some holidays are just around the corner and the stores are full of products that you can buy to celebrate them. Every year it seems like every holiday has a few new elements that entice you to part with your money. It is not to envy retailers the way they make a living, but families must also take care of their bottom line. A great way to introduce some creativity into your vacation in a budget-conscious way is to go online to find many of the ideas and printables there.
Printables for every occasion are available for little or no cost except the price of ink and paper from your own printer. Are you planning a Christmas party? You can print personalized invitations and envelopes, wrapping paper, and gift tags. For party decoration, you can print napkin rings, place cards, banners, garlands, party favors, and gift bags. Many decorations available in a printable invitation or coloring page can be adapted into a centerpiece by mounting them on sticks and adding other traditional centerpiece elements such as fresh or dried flowers, branches, leaves, fruit, candy, ribbons, etc. or any number of things. Printable games like bingo, puzzles, and activity sheets can also serve as an icebreaker at the party.
Do you love to do crafts? Scrapbooking is one of the best forms of crafting today. On the Internet, you can find printable scrapbooking supplies in the form of free printable pages of backgrounds, borders, frames, alphabets, journaling aids, ‘die cuts’ and clip art. Be sure to load your printer with acid-free paper and you’ll be on your way to adding all kinds of creative and colorful embellishments to your holiday scrapbook pages or pages in no time.
Kids love getting into any holiday mood with printables just for kids. Coloring pages are the easiest and most prolific children’s holidays to print and are available by the hundreds on almost every topic of interest to children besides holidays: animals, cartoon characters, fantasy, outer space, dinosaurs, transportation, etc. seasons and educational themes. how to learn your alphabet Holiday coloring pages for kids can be made into a holiday greeting card, a gift, or even gift wrapping or ornament. Kids love to decorate their windows for the holidays, so you might try the following craft. Print out a coloring page and have your child color it with markers. Very lightly brush the page with vegetable oil and pat dry with a paper towel. Tape the picture inside a homemade construction paper frame and hang it in a sunny window. This treatment gives the coloring page a translucent “stained window” quality.
Another fun thing you can do with a holiday printable is to make your own custom stickers. Start with any clip art or printable graphic, or even your own photos. Use your favorite word processing or publishing program and full-size label stock. Avery is a popular brand of label paper, but any brand will do. Simply set up a full page of the images you want for your stickers and print them on your label paper. Allow the ink to dry completely, and then cut it into individual stickers. If you want your decals to be a bit more moisture resistant, you can spray them with a couple light coats of clear acrylic spray before cutting. Another option would be to print your designs on plain paper and then use a copier to copy them onto the label paper. This second option will be the most resistant to moisture.
If you’ve never taken a look at what’s available online before, do so before your next vacation. Anything that comes from paper can be a free printable available to you. Even some things you don’t normally think of printing can be in there, because there are some very original and clever ideas if you look. For creativity and economy, printing your own party supplies is the way to go.
