Do you have a huge extended family but a rather modest living area with not much space for celebrating? Would it surprise you to learn that this is a common problem for many families today when it comes to party and event planning? This problem can turn into a real issue when someone in your immediate family has a birthday, engagement or other important celebration. The question becomes, how do I invite extended family when I have no room for them?  ~ You can’t!

Source: theglitterguide.com via ♥ Federica on Pinterest

This answer may not always suffice, when you have a very close extended family and they are expecting to be invited. Leaving someone off the guest list can create a great deal of animosity, shows favouritism and may in fact hurt someone’s feelings.  How can you avoid this from happening and be the hostess with the “mostest”?

There are really only two ways to solve this dilemma ~ provide more space or shorten the guest list.  

The good news is, you can do this in a positive way.

Here are a few practical solutions to provide more event space:

• Rent a reception hall that can accommodate everyone. This may not be the ideal choice if you do not have a budget for this, however, if you are left with no choice, you could always charge a small fee for guests in order to compensate. Honesty works! If you explain to your guests that you had to charge a small fee so everyone could be invited, they will understand and be happy you chose to think about them instead of leaving them out. We often live in fear of telling people the truth, this is unrealistic. The truth is always the best option in any situation like this one.  People are more reasonable than we give them credit for.
• Consider asking to borrow a friend or other family member’s home for the party.  Remember to be considerate, if you borrow someone’s house. Do not leave them to do all the work and leave it in the same condition as you got it.
• If the weather is cooperative, you could always use a local park or green space.  This is a great idea, because they often have BBQ pits and large areas to play sports and games.
• You may want to purchase a tent and have the party outside in your yard, weather permitting, as you can see from both images, outside parties can be just as nice.

Source: antstreetinn.com via Livia on Pinterest

If none of these options are feasible, then you may have to consider the fact that you need to cut your guest list.  How do you do that without creating a huge amount of family arguments?

• Consider revising your list to include only immediate family members, this way no one who is in the extended family will feel left out. You can simply say we just wanted to do a smaller family celebration.
• Consider inviting different family members on different days. Explain to them, we wanted to include everyone, but due to space limitations we have to break the party up into different parts. This way, everyone is invited, just on different days. (this will involve cooking on two separate days, but you can use leftovers)

Not space issues are created equally.

Depending on what the issue of is, you can simply revise the party plan. As an example, if your issue is only the space available for eating, then consider having alternate dinner times for different groups, creating additional spaces in other available rooms or creating a buffet style dinner where everyone can simply eat standing up or sitting in a chair. If you choose this option, remember that finger foods are the best choice. After eating, everyone can still come together to talk and engage with one another. If the issue is where to play games or there is not enough room to dance, consider doing quieter activities such as, watching a movie or talking.

In this image, the problem of space is really where to eat rather than the space itself.  A buffet might be a good choice in this space:

Source: stuartfrazer.com via Stuart on Pinterest

The goal of any party is to invite as many people as possible and to provide entertainment and food. If your space is limited, use your imagination to compensate for the other areas.  There is nothing wrong with sitting down talking and getting to know people or playing small cooperative games. Dancing is optional. Tip: Children and young adults can be separated into other rooms and provided entertainment, truth is many adults just want to relax and talk and they may actually appreciate not having to get involved.  In the space above, you will no doubt notice that it is not very accommodating for children, this can also be a dilemma, therefore designating a separate area is a good alternative.

In the end, party planning is all about perception and what you can afford and how much time you have. Do not stress yourself out. If you cannot provide the party you were hoping for, provide something equally great, quality time with your family and friends instead.  ~ Priceless!

Getting together is really all about spending time with one another, the rest is just the decorations. Speaking of decorations, how cute are these? This is of course, a story for another day!

Source: how-do-it.info via Andru on Pinterest

In ancient times, ribbons from China were spun from real silk.  They were highly sought throughout the entire world and were very expensive. You can only imagine how a young maiden might make a fashion statement wearing a colorful silk ribbon in her hair.  A package tied with a ribbon was a sign of beauty, urgency, and/or prosperity.  Modern ribbons are used in much the same way and while they may look like silk, they are created with a stiffer, less expensive fabric.

Silk ribbons still exist, but are not as popular as they once were and are not often used by the general population.

A stiffer type of ribbon known as PP ribbon is what is used to create the beautiful weaved ribbon art seen below. It reminds me of  a combination of basket weaving meets ribbon origami.  The ribbon is weaved, folded and knitted to form various different three dimensional shapes.  These shapes can be used for a variety of different things, such as gift wrapping, party decorations, room decor, and jewelry.

I had the privilege this weekend to meet one of the true masters of ribbon weave art;  Rocky Mt. Lo.

His life story is almost as fascinating as his art ~ a real life hero, he continues to inspires other.  In 1982, Rocky saved numerous children in a Hong Kong day care from a knife wielding attack.  He took the lessons from this horrible event and turned it into a lifetime of helping children. Proceeds from the sale of his artwork goes directly to the McGill University Health Center, which includes the Montreal Children’s hospital.  It is Mr. Lo’s lifetime commitment to educating others about ribbon weaving and helping sick children, that is truly awe inspiring.

I could not resist the temptation to purchase some of his artwork  while I was meeting with him, both because of its unmistakeable craftsmanship and because part of the proceeds was going to a cause near and dear to my heart. Not only are they beautiful, each piece has its own meaning and symbolism.

The fish is a symbol of luck and prosperity while the heart is a symbol of love.   Can it get better than that?

Here are some more of Mr. Lo’s creations, what do you think?

All photos courtesy of  Ribbon Weave Art

Has your family ever needed help from a hospital, counsellor or crisis centre? It is estimated that almost ninety percent of families across the globe have been affected by some natural disaster, disease or crisis that required them to seek assistance from a foundation or charity. The number of families effected by cancer, diabetes and other such diseases worldwide is staggering and it just keep climbing.   

How many times have you thought to yourself, “I wish there was something that I could do to help?” There is! You can help, by raising funds of your own, offering to volunteer or by educating others on ways to help.

Are you planning an upcoming family event or celebration with a reasonable amount of guests? Why not use the event to help a charity?  

You may thinking to yourself that you cannot possible ask friends and family members for money at a birthday party or wedding because it is just not the proper thing to do. 

The good news is, there are several ways to raise money without ever having to ask for donations. Here are some clever ways to raise funds and have everyone involved without feeling like your imposing on your guests: 

• Create guessing games.  Charge a dollar for guests to guess how many jelly beans or other items are in a jar in order to win the contents.  You can decorate the jars or boxes with printable designs.
• Do the same for a secret recipe or surprise gift bags.  Everyone will have fun trying to guess what is in the decorated packages or jars.
• Sell tickets for door prizes and raffle items: movie tickets, dinner certificates, gift cards, etc. A small table in the corner of the event is not imposing and adds a bit of decoration inspiration.
• Create a community craft project and charge for people to participate in the project.
• Sell tickets for a half and half draw. If the event is a wedding or birthday party, you can do a 333 draw, which is 33% of the proceeds going to the charity, 33% for the winner and 33% for couple or birthday person. Everyone wins and you still did a great thing.
• Sell baked goods or crafts at the event, use personalized printable labels to promote the charity and let everyone know what the money is for. People like to buy things when they know they are helping a charity, but they do not want to feel obligated. Creating a nicely decorated table will attract people to it. If you do not have time to man the table, simply leave a donation jar that says; “If you want any of these items, please make a donation and help yourself.” The idea is not to worry about who does not make a donation, but hope that some people will.  
• You can also use the event to promote yourself as a fund raising guru and who knows, you may get hired in the future to collect donations. 

My personal philosophy: “Never miss an opportunity to do good for yourself when you do good for others.  We often feel guilty for caring about ourselves and we need to stop thinking this way. Our own needs are as important as others and whenever you can take a chance to help others while helping yourself, do so!”  

Wedding tip: If you want to do something different and meaningful for wedding favours, send a donation on behalf of your guests to a charity and create a printable design telling your guests that you have donated on their behalf.  The money you do not pay for favours will be donated instead. Many couples are choosing to do this and finding unique ways of doing it like the example below from weddingbee.com.

This couple did not want to decide the faith of the charity who would receive the money, they created a voting jar so the guests could vote on the charity who would get the funding instead.  It is a brilliant idea because it gets the wedding guests involved in the entire process. Guests were provided a blue wooden chip to place in the voting jar of the charity of their choice.  When the voting was counted, the chips were neatly placed into the thank you note indicating which charity was the winner.  This is a great way to send a thank you note as well.

Frugal Tip: You can use printable design spots on cardboard as a cost effective way to do this instead of the wooden chips.

You may not collect huge funds from your events, but that does not really matter.  The point is that you helped and promoted a charity and this is worth its weight in gold.  Every small effort makes a difference.

If you create a fund for the charity and host a few events throughout the year, you could always present a yearly cheque to the charity with combined interest.

Before you collect funds from any charity, it is best to make sure that you inform the charity that you are doing so, they can provide you with a letter saying that you are doing it on your behalf and this will protect you from any legalities.

I spent this past weekend adding three unique pieces to my glass collection. These pieces are seen below. In total, I paid five dollars for these three pieces, quite a deal I would say, since the purple one is Italian blown glass.

Glass is something that I have always adored. My house is filled with it ~ from huge pieces of furniture and mirrors, to collectible antiques. This was not an easy challenge with two kids, one huge dog and a overly frisky feline. For years, I had to keep my collectibles hidden in boxes so that they would not get broken.  Now that the children have grown, I have started to place my collectibles back on shelves where they belong and I have begun to slowly add more pieces to them.

Collecting these and other similar pieces over the years has had a surprising benefit that I was not expecting ~ many of these pieces are now considered valuable.  While I did not start collecting to make money and I do not really care about value, I now try to put a bit more effort into what I purchase because I have come to realize the importance of the value of my collectibles for future generations.  We do not know how important and valuable what we leave behind may become.  When I first started, I was looking for pieces that I thought were nice, I now look for both beautiful and valuable items to add to my collections.

Tip:  always buy silver and gold whenever it is available, even if its junk pieces, at the very least, you can sell it to a gold or silver dealer when you have enough of it to melt.

Do not be mistaken, antiques are not what I buy, I buy things that I want to add to my collections and hope that I find more valuable pieces. If your going to purchase antiques, you will have to spend hours doing research to make sure the piece is authentic.

Collections do not always have to be authentic as they turn  somewhat valuable on their own, due to the fact that you have a variety of pieces.

I have many different collections, but the largest of those are glass and candles.  Candles are hard to maintain value because once you light them, they are no longer useful.  Nothing looks nicer than a candle lit room.  It is always a hard decision whether to use them or not.  Personally, I always light them because the container is what adds most of the value to it.  I also have many smaller collections including; elephants, ceramics, fairies, famous quotes and salt and pepper shakers.  The salt and pepper shakers and elephants were actually my mother-in-laws collection and when she died, it was passed down to me, but in her memory I like to add to them once in awhile.

Do it yourself crafts, printable design photo albums and scrap booking are also very valuable collections.  Did you know that one of the most valuable priceless pieces in history was a Navaho quilt blanket?  Can imagine walking into get your craft appraised only to find out it is a priceless artifact that should be preserved in a museum.  It can and it does happen.

Part of being a crafty person and enjoying do it yourself projects is because I see the world from a different perspective.  With each piece I hold someone else’s story in my hand and that inspires me.  Never stop creating wondering things and collecting things that mean something to you, you never know if one day they will mean the world to someone else.  I hope that I have inspired you to think beyond your craft and see the value in what you do.

Blown Glass Circa 1960

Yesterday my family held a surprise dinner party for me because things have been a tad gloomy around here since my mother died.  The party was meant to boost my spirits and I cannot tell you how amazing it was to know that so many friends took the time to spend a few moments of their time with me. These are the things that life is made for and the moments that I live for. I will forever be grateful for the tons of laughs and special gifts that I received.

I loved every gift however, one particular gift captured my heart in a way that I cannot explain and not only because it came from my daughter, but because it showed me that she does know me rather well.

I was very proud of her attempt at creating this for me.

The gift I am talking about is a do it yourself plastic cube that my daughter turned into a family  memory block.  My daughter is not the most creative person, in fact, she fought me tooth and nail growing up to not have craft time, because she disliked doing them. I was touched that she took the time to create this by hand for me. The white and red sequence on the top matches my bedroom and while, I personally would have placed a printed design from Boutique Printables into the cube and made it a bit more colorful, I love it just the same.

I was in tears when I saw it, literally the thought is what counts when it comes to a gift like this.  What she said next was more than a mother could ever hope for.  She said, “Mom, I know I hated doing crafts when I was a child, but I always loved the things you make and often wished I could.  I decided to give it a try, it was fun and I realized that do it yourself gift making is contagious and I will try to do it more often.”  Knowing that I inspired my child to be creative ~ priceless!

This simple dollar gift meant more to me than all the wonderful gifts that I have received in my entire lifetime.  When I saw the picture of me holding her as a baby, it just made the gift even better and it inspired me to write this today.   It is amazing with a dollar plastic cube, some old family pictures a few decorations can do to make the perfect gift.  I suppose in some way that is why people simply love our personalized designs, you can do amazing things with them.

What will you create today?

Most people are aware that “Vapour rub”or “gelled menthol” is a very popular topical over the counter medicine that is used to treat mild breathing ailments. However, most people do not know that this product has several more practical every day uses as well.

In fact, menthol can be used for a variety of different things including; healing insect bites and helping horses to focus. Yes it is true, before a race, riders often help the horse to focus by placing a tiny amount of it under the horse’s nostril. Menthol has a strong scent that hides the odour of other horses and keeps the horse’s mind on the race and not on the foxy beauty next to it.  That is quite an interesting fact, don’t you agree?  Menthol has also been known to open sinus cavities and help people to breathe more easily.  This is what it is most commonly used for. 

Growing up, I was a sickly child. Mum always had menthol lying around the house, because it was literally the only way I could breathe. She would place a spoonful of it near a steam humidifier and this helped considerably. If it were not for the many nights I spent with an open bottle of menthol in my room, I probably would not have survived my childhood.  I can still remember her saying its perfectly fine to drink it, so long as you only use a little bit and you dilute it in water. This always made me feel uneasy since I knew that I had also taken a hot bath with the very same stuff, the night before. Mum was always coming up with new uses for it, however, mum’s remedies were always the best.

What I know now, that I did not know then, was that mum did not invent these remedies,  she just knew what ever other mum did, that there was a whole lot more to menthol than meets the eye.

Here are some examples of what you can do with Menthol.

• Applying it to your feet provides night-time cough relief. Generously rub menthol all over your feet and cover your feet with socks, your cough will eventually subside because the heat from your socks will create vapours.
• Rubbing it on your chest allows you to breath more easily if you have sinus problems.
• Menthol not only opens your chest, it also helps to relieve sore aching muscles.
• If you suspect that you have nail fungus, rub it on your toenails, it will turn the nail black and eventually kill the fungus. As your toenail begins to grow, it will grow off and you will have fungus-free feet, if you continue this regiment.
• Cats and dogs do not like the smell of menthol, if you put it on places that you want to deter your pets from scratching or peeing on, this will help.
• Other known medical uses for menthol include, helping to remove splinters, easing headaches, healing minor cuts, burns and infections and it aids in preventing insect bites.
• Insects also dislike the smell and it is a natural insect repellent.

Epsom Salt Foot Rub:

While menthol is not a wonder drug, it can offer mild relief to someone suffering from colds, flu and other minor aches and pains. Menthol makes the perfect starting gift for a home-made get well gift basket.  It is very expensive, therefore, if you want to make more than one basket, you may want to create smaller fancy decorative jars and place some of it into the jar instead.

Make the jars and gift basket complete with personalized printable labels from Boutique Printables.  Printable labels like these add the perfect touch to any gift basket.  You can simply modify them to say “Get Well.”

If you want to make the basket even better, add jars or bags of Epsom Salts. Epsom salts go a long way to providing some of the same relief as menthol and can be used alongside it. There are a great deal of uses for Epsom Salts as well, but that is a story for another day.

Here are some other things you can add to a get well basket to make it perfect:

• Fruits and juice
• Vitamins
• Chicken Soup
• Over the counter pain reliever and cough medicine
• Lemon and Honey 
• Special Teas
• Cough Drops 
• Thermometer
• Mineral Water
• Books and Magazines
• Slippers and blankets

Nothing says love more than a remedy from mum and a personalized “Home Made Get well gift basket.”

Modern marriages and parenting is more about the building of a partnership; men are taking a more active role in the family and as a result, there seems to be a more logical progression towards hosting Jack and Jill bridal showers and Mom/Dad type baby showers for couples than there used to be. I, for one, am thrilled about this, it never really made sense to me to have the Dad of the new born baby sent away only to return later to pack up all the gifts.  How unfair is that?

Let’s face it, some bachelor and bridal parties can get way out of hand and end a marriage before it even starts.

Jack and Jill events help to avoid these types of situations from ever happening, because the bride and groom are both part of the celebration. Men are also encouraged to join in the festivities and this can mean a great deal more gifts for the future couple and or for the baby to be. It just makes a great deal more sense than drinking to the point of a wedding hangover ever did. Who ever came up with that idea?

The trend towards unisex type events creates a whole new challenge on how to decorate.  I have been asked many times, how do I decorate for a Jack and Jill type event? I thought it would be easier for me just to show you some examples.

While decorating is relatively the same, you may want to add a bit more masculine colors such as black, yellow and white.  This is a spectacular example of how even masculine colours can be elegant and appealing.

Less is more! Too many flowers and details will make the event seem all about “her.”  The trick is to create a balance of him and her like in this photo, the hearts make it hers, the drinks makes it his.

Lastly, make it neutral and make it fun.  This arrangement is just FUN, fun fun!

Do not forget when planning a unisex party to make sure the thank you gifts and party favours are created equally.

• Do you often make baked goods, crafts or home made gifts and decorate them with printable designs?
• Are you an avid scrapbook creator?
• Do you know what printable designs are used for?
• Can you use software programs like Photoshop, pic monkey or WordPress?
• Do you spend a great deal of your free time online?
• Have you heard of social media websites like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter?
• Can you use a few extra dollars in your pocket each week?

If you have answered yes to any or all of the above questions, you are probably the type of person who should be making money online.

Creativity is a hot commodity in this fast paced technological world of ours and it is only going to get bigger as the demand for more creative ideas grows each day. I never imagined that I would be running my very own online business simply because I have a tendency to “think outside the box.”  Some days I am truly amazed at how far I have come with little more than a passion for creative thinking and writing. For the first time in my life, I am doing something that I love and I could not be happier.  Oddly enough, I owe all of this to an illness that left me with little choice, I could not leave the house for weeks at a time.  That illness has since faded, but my business and passion for what I do continues onward.  I used to wake up every day dreading going to work, now I wake up each day ready to work.

Life is all about how you look at it, if you imagine your life like one of your craft projects,  you will begin to see that you can shape it into anything that you want depending on what you add to it.

If you are a crafty individual who can bake, create, write, draw or teach others how to do it, there is a way for you to make money online.

While you may not get rich, you can still make enough money to live comfortably and never have to deal with the hustle and bustle of the business world.

I believe that if your going to be on the computer all day long, you might as well make it worth your while.  Day in and day out, I see countless people wasting themselves away on the computer playing games, sharing music videos and posting silly cat pictures while complaining that they do not have enough money to live.  While I will not get into politics of that and I do not judge others, I will simply say that if some people put as much energy into working online as they do playing online, there would be no reason for them not to have money.

Here are some ways to make money online with little more than a bit of creative know how:

• Creating Graphic Designs
• Crafting Printable Designs
• Writing blogs, articles and website content
• Creating E-books
• ScrapBooking
• Do it yourself tutorials
• Blogging
• Social Media Management
• Affiliate Marketing or Reselling
• Typing and data entry
• Call center and technical support operations
• Order processing
• Virtual Assistants

None of these jobs entail having little more than a computer, some creativity and a bit of determination.  The hardest part about starting an online business is researching and getting it started, but once you do, I can promise you will never go back to working for someone else ever again.  My gift to you this mother’s day is my knowledge and I hope that you will use it to create your very own online business success story.  Boutique Printables is a true testament to the belief that even a stay at home mom with a simple zest for creating simple graphic designs can be a success.  Boutique Printables is a collection of many creative minds, each with their own individual talents and success stories.

Have you met our designers?

It is definitely time to get your best baking recipes out and start baking treats for mother’s day. Nothing says mother’s day quite like a homemade cake, however, it really depends on the health of your mum. If your mother is slightly older, you may have to consider dietary concerns such as sugars and fats alternatives when baking.

Adding some boutique printable cake toppers and printable designs like the ones below will personalize the cake and add that special added touch.

Here are my personal favourites from the Boutique Printables mother’s day collection:

Remember there are sugar substitutes that will baking for special diets a whole lot easier. As a diabetic myself, and self professed prophetic lover of chocolate, I had to learn the fine art of sugar substitution. While I have yet to find a recipe that truly works for me, I have made some pretty interesting new recipes that I have become fond of.

Baking tip for sugar substitution:

When using these types of sugar replacements, baked goods are dryer, therefore you need to add some form of liquid in order to keep the cake from drying out. Many people suggest using a small amount applesauce ~ unsweetened of course! The reason is because the sugar substitute does not melt like sugar and therefore it tends to dry out quicker.

Mum may not tell you that she wants a cake, in fact mums often say, “I do not want or need anything.” This is because mum does not want you to spend your money on them, but if make a cake, you won’t really have to.  If you cannot afford a gift, this is the best alternative.

Trust me, it is the one time of the year when, as a mum ,you are looking forward to it, because you did not have to bake it yourself. A small gift, dinner and a homemade cake is the perfect way to celebrate mother’s day.

I thought I would show you some mother’s day cake inspirations to inspire you to make your own creations. These are sure to invoke a “WOW” out of any mum and that is priceless!

While these may take a bit of time to make, a gift like this comes from the heart and your mum will know how much time you spent making it just perfect.