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

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.”

• 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?

Party favours and thank you gifts are often seen as something that you provide for the women who attend events,but what if the event is a sporting banquet or golf tournament? In this case, there will be more men than women in attendance and you will need to plan accordingly.

via: http://www.incasagifts.com/A93002-Love-Is-Party-Dish-L.jpg

How do you address the issue of who receives party favours and thank you gifts when it comes to events? When preparing gifts for events, I always follow the standard rule of thumb and I try to stick with creating or buying more neutral type gifts.

The gifting rule is loosely based on the theory of probability and goes something like this:

The norm is to provide one gift for each single individual and/or couple. If you have 100 people in attendance, you may only have to provide gifts for 75 people if 50 of them are in a relationship (attending as a couple) and 25 of them are single. You will have to give one gift to each of the 50 couples and one gift to each single individual.

How do you determine what kind of gifts to provide? That is pretty simple ~ the female receives the gift in a couple situation, so most gifts can be female oriented.

You could easily make these with Boutique Printable chocolate wrappers

This is important to note when it comes to deciding which gifts to offer because if you only have a small set of gifts for men, you will most likely be giving them to the single men in attendance.  

Let us take a typical event scenario where you can split your guests into male and female. Chances are, when you do this, you will come out relatively even, it will not be exactly 50/50, but there will not be a huge significant difference. If you split that group even further, you will most likely end up with 60% of those individuals being in some form of relationship. That leaves the rest of the guests being 40% single. The single individuals can once again be split into groups that are probably going to be 20% male and 20% female. Men who are coupled, are expected to give the gift to his escort, girlfriend or spouse. This translates into the ratio for men type gifts being at only about 20-30%, under normal circumstances. The men’s factor is often ignored at events and this is really unfair, you should offer gifts to the men who attended as a single person afterall, they did pay for a ticket just like everyone else.

It is interesting to note, if the event is a sporting event or golf tournament chances are the ratio is more likely to be, 45% individuals in relationships, 35% single males and 20% single females. When it comes to sporting type events, the majority of gifts should be male oriented and the female is expected to give up her gift. The same scenario applies only in reverse.

In the best case scenario, you should create 30% male oriented gifts, 30% female type gifts and the other 40% being neutral gifts. If you keep to these strategies, you will most likely never miss giving a great gift to anyone.

Tips:

• Stick to neutral type gifts and you will never have to worry about this ratio at all.
• Throw in an extra 10% for kids, because there are always one or two lingering around.  
• This number will be significantly higher when the event is child and family oriented.  In that case, every child should receive a gift and you should plan accordingly. That means you will have gifts to provide for attendees and children.

Here are some ideas to what gifts you should provide for each category of individual.

Neutral type gifts include:

• Candles
• Candies and chocolates
• Hair Products
• Nuts (peanuts,etc.)
• Alcohol
• Glasses and Mugs
• Playing cards
• Novelties

Men prefer things like:

• Coloring books & crayons.
• Puzzles
• Mini Games
• Books
• Writing pads
• Mini Craft projects
• Glow Sticks
• DVD’s (movies, music, etc)
• Surprize bags
• Stickers

I think these are pretty neat too!

Whatever choice you make, one thing’s for certain, you must provide some type of door prize, party favour or thank you gifts if you want your event to be memorable. People will never forget the event if they have something to take home from it. That is the real reason for the gifts in the first place, so that people will remember to come to the next one, they are basically a nice form of date reminder.

Which one seen throughout this article is your favourite? I personally like candles, so I am somewhat biased, however, I wouldn’t mind a plate like the one above to have my berries on.

I have often been asked, “What are printables designs used for?” I have yet to find the perfect answer, because the truth is, they are used for some many things, it is hard to actually define what they are. The dictionary definition implies that they are printable (able to print on a computer printer) designs created by a graphic artist for the purpose of visually representing an idea or thought.

While that sounds like a great definition, it does not really quite cover the extent of the uses and demands for printable designs.

When Boutique Printables was created, we had a single purpose for our unique design creations. We wanted them to be simple, elegant and customized for each different individual.  We have accomplished that and so much more. Individuals have been using our printable designs to create things we never even dreamed of for quite some time now and we cannot be more proud of our efforts.

Printable designs can be used for things like:

• Party and event decorations
• Party and event promos, invitations and brochures
• Wrapping paper
• Party favours and thank you gifts
• Bag and chocolate bar wrappers
• Banners
• Scrap Paper
• Paper Mache
• Printable Artwork
• Printable Crafts
• Decoupage
• Photo Album inserts
• Calendars
• Note Pads
• ScrapBooks
• Craft Projects

How about some homemade gift tags?

Or book markers?

As you can see there are many uses for printable designs, and many reasons they are so popular.  What are your reasons for using them?

Some Boutique Printables Inspired designs:

Pinterest is one the best things since slice bread when it comes to do it yourself craft projects. There are literally thousands of different images related to these topics and you can find information on hundreds of different topics from printable designs to decorations and gift basket making. Each image is created in a fashion that allows the craft to be demonstrated in a picture rather than text format making it easier to read and understand. They say seeing is believing and in the world of do it yourself nothing is more true. When you can visually see a demonstration on how to do things, it makes it a great deal easier to try it yourself.   You can view our pinterest page here.

I have become somewhat of a huge fan of pinterest because I always find new and creative ways of doing things and it inspires me to try new things and be as creative as I can. While browsing this weekend, I found some interesting things that I would like to make and I thought I would share them with you.  Which one is your favourite?  Will you try them too?

How about crafting a new pair of shoes?

Or gourmet candy apples?

Perhaps jewellery is more your style?

No matter what it is you’re trying to accomplish, you can find innovative ways to do it yourself or get ideas on ways to get started. Pinterest is a creative person’s dream gallery and one of my favorite hobbies for finding new ways to fix my favourite part of the house, my garden.  Speaking of my garden, I have some hanging planters I want to make, come back soon!

When you get right down to it, almost 80% of all craft projects require the use of some form of printable design or paper product such as, tissue paper, wrapping paper or wallpaper.  As a result, paper products have become a hugely popular and profitable retail business, especially on the Internet.

How has this impacted the environment?

Increased paper production can result in deforestation in countries that lack governance over this. Recent moves towards using recycled paper products has made huge strides in this area, but there is still a long way to go.

Recycled Wrapping Paper

Via media3.onsugar.com

You can help by making a few educated choices when it comes to using paper products in your crafts;

• Use scrap paper whenever possible.
• Purchase only eco-friendly paper (recycled) and other environmentally friendly products
• Purchase non bleached paper  – this is less damaging to the environment
• Make your own paper

Making your own paper is a fun craft and is environmentally conscientious. It is not a relatively easy process and that is why most people choose not to do it, but it is well worth the effort. You can use it for computer paper, writing projects, and then recycle it once again in your crafts.  This creates a continuous recycling process.

To make the paper you will need the following supplies:

• Sponge
• Screening mold or dackle (create a wood box frame and add a screen to it – similar to a printer’s screen)
• Large Plastic bin
• Blender or Food Processor
• White Felt or Flannel type Fabric
• Starch
  

Rip paper into small bits, and place into blender. Add warm water to the blender and run the blender slowly and increase until the paper looks smooth and well blended, this is called pulp. Make sure there are no lumps in the pulp, otherwise your paper will also be lumpy. Fill the bin with water and add the pulp, stir in 2 teaspoons of starch to provide some thickness. Place the screening mold (dackle) into the pulp and then level it out while submerged, wiggle the mold side-to-side until the pulp on top of the screen looks even (paper-like). Slowly lift the mold up until it is above the level of the water, drain water completely. Ease the mold down flat, and place the mold directly on the fabric or felt, use a sponge to take out as much water as possible.

Hold the fabric square flat and slowly lift the edge of the mold, the wet sheet of paper should remain on the fabric as the screen is lifted. This is a bit difficult to master, but once you learn how to do it, it gets easier.  Do not pull too fast and make sure you pull the screen up evenly. Stack the fabric squares on a cookie sheet and when a little bit drier, gently separate the sheets. They can be dried by hanging on a clothesline or laying them out on sheets of newspaper, when dried fully, peel apart.

The process for drying is shown in this video.

It takes a great deal of time and effort to make your own paper and unless your doing it for a craft project or fully committed to the process, it is much more practical to purchase already used recycled paper or use scrap paper.

The truth is, it really does not matter which option you choose, any choice you make towards eco-friendly paper is a step in the right direction.

Fund Raising is very similar to event planning, except that you do not always have to create events in order to fund raise. If you sell chocolates or other fund raising items to family or friends, you really do not need to plan an event, although you will still have to organize how the money will be collected along with a few other small tasks.

Huge gala evenings, foundation dinners and other similar fund raising events require the assistance of an event planner, while smaller fund raising events such as car washes, do not. Small events can be organized by anyone and only require a few volunteers. In essence, the only real difference between the two is that events like weddings, birthdays and social dinners are not created with the goal of raising money. Fund Raising has one purpose only ~ to collect donations and raise funds.

When it comes to fund raising, budgets are critical.  If you want to raise as much money as you can, you have to rely heavily on low costs items such as printable designs for home made decorations, invitations and table settings.

The event that you organize relies heavily on the amount of money that needs to be collected.  If you’re trying to collect a million dollars for a hospital foundation, chances are the events you create will be large and very expensive to participate in.  In contrast, if your trying to raise money a few hundred dollars for a group outing, a small car wash will be more effective.

If you want to help your children raise money for their schools or sports clubs, here are some quick fund raising craft ideas that you can do yourself.

• Air fresheners or candle making Fund Raising:  You can create these yourself or offer a workshop or seminar to show others.  Gel candles and Air Freshners can be made in literally less than five minutes and make great gifts.  People love to create items out of essential oils, so any craft of this type makes a great workshop.
• Party Favors:  Party favors such as handmade soaps and spice packages also make great fund raisers and cost almost nothing to make.  You could literally take a lollipop and spice it up to look really cool and sell it. Boutique Printables has everything you need to create affordable hand made gifts.
• Gift Baskets: A popular choice for any fund raising event because you can sell them or use them for raffle prizes.
• Bake sales: The easiest way to raise fund quickly and it is easy to get everyone to volunteer to bake some goods so you do not have to “go it alone.”

Here are some five minute craft ideas that can use at any fund raising event, you can sell them, or have people make them as a great way to raise funds.

Photos via:  Craft Corner

Gel Fragrance Candles, made from essential oils and gelatin.  When half dry, place candle in center for different effects.

Great Idea for bake sales!

Recycle your favorite t-shirt and create some great room decor at the very same time with this neat five minute craft.

Crafts are useful for a variety of things one of which is fund raising.  The next time you are bored and want to create something, why not do it for a good reason ~ to raise money for a cause that you care about.

One of my favourite and most profitable crafts has always been jewellery making. It is a very personal and fashionable craft that takes a considerable amount of time and effort to do. People are always willing to pay for pieces that they like and they seem to enjoy receiving jewellery as gifts. For some odd reason, beads are the most popular choice for materials, even though they tend to go in and out of fashion quickly. Beads have always been a substantial part of any well-equipped jewellery making kit along with decorated gift boxes and printable design tags for the finished product.

Via www.uniquejewelrys.com

The range of materials that you can use for jewellery making is limitless, which also means that there are an infinite number of possible designs that can be created.  The only limit to what you can create is your imagination. In some ways, it is the vastness of the craft that has me mesmerized.  I never know what is possible, until I try.

When I began to create jewellery, I was not a particularly experienced or a fantastic crafts-person, in fact, I do not think that I was very good at it. However, I just enjoyed jewellery making and managed to create some fine jewellery. At least, I thought it was, and I was proud of it. I have simply developed my craft since then. and while I wish that I was capable of more intricate jewellery making, I am happy at what I have accomplished thus far. I  am always improving on the ones I made before.

Via 4.bp.blogspot.com

It is always fun to look at what materials I have available for use and how I can convert them into delicate pieces of jewellery.

I have learned that I can even turn strips of coloured paper into paper-mache jewellery and that always catches attention from my friends and family. “You made this out of paper?” is the usual response.

I also can get my “kids”to tear stripes of paper from glossy magazines and make the jewellery with me. My “kids”, are not really mine, but there is always some kid popping in and out of this house.  My home has always been the go to place for coffee and chat and people just wonder on in with their kids in tow.  Friends and family are always welcome here.

I notice that most kids seem to prefer to move straight to the decorating stage and well dried pasta makes an ideal bead choice for kids in a pinch. Clay is used quite a lot in jewellery making, and kids enjoy moulding the shapes. I am not to fond of clay, I do not like the texture actually, odd as that may seem for a crafty person like me.  When it comes time, I have to take over the baking part, but once that part is finished, the kids can decorate their creations.

A piece of jewellery is never finished, until it has a beautifully decorated package to sit in. I prefer boxes that I decorate and tag with a Boutique Printable’s gift tag, but you could easily put the jewellery in gift baskets, bags and even placed on stuffed animals.  Packaging is as limitless as the pieces themselves.

My more adult choice of jewellery making is created for other people to wear and must be a bit more elegant. In these cases, I mostly use gems and crystals, which are harder to work with, but last a lifetime. I like creating necklaces and earrings to give as gifts, especially for brides to be. When I sell a piece of jewellery, I often feel as though I made that piece just for that person and it says a lot about them.

People appreciate handmade goods more often than shop-bought ones, and home made seems to be the current trend for a great deal of things today. More importantly, I save a fortune with my crafty offerings and I have made a great deal of money do it too!

Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to dedicate as much time to jewelry making as I once did, in fact, I haven’t made anything for quite awhile, but I do intend to get started on it very soon. When I do, it will be boxed and tagged using Boutique Printable designs because like any great piece of jewellery, you need a great package for it to go into to.

Seen throughout are some great inspirations I found on line, which one do you like?

Etsy Black and White Paper Mache

Recent trends in interior design seem to suggest that the art of decoupage may be making a huge comeback in the world of interior design. The craft world is seeing an influx of paper based interior designs, from simple customized accessories to the more advance items such as, furniture and wall paper designs made completely out of paper. This has created a huge demand for printable designs like the ones here on Boutique Printables.

The most popular uses for printable designs in interior decorating are wall art projects such as, home made photo frames, wall stickers and pin boards.

Below is an example of a decoupage style pin board.

It think it will add a great design element to any room décor, is simple to make and created entirely out of paper and other recycled materials.

Decoupage has been around for centuries and its popularity seems to come and go.

What has not changed, is the fact that decoupage is an eco-friendly natural way to recycle items in the home. The art of decoupage is fairly simple, the object is to paste tiny bits of paper together to create abstract or pattern designs on furniture, walls and just about anything you can think of.  The pasting process is created by spreading or painting diluted white glue over the paper make it soluble, similar to when you add water to wallpaper. It must be done rather delicately or the paper will tear easily, but it is easy and fun to do. When the glue is completely dried, it will create a shiny coating or “sealant” to protect the design.

I simply love the triangle pattern effect seen below however, I think it would have been much more elegant with plain white paper.

The design of the paper plays a huge role in the final effects that will be created, therefore the nicer and more colourful the paper, the better the design will be.  Gluing single paper designs to objects such as walls and furniture is also considered decoupage, you do not have to create a collage effect for it to be considered decoupage. The real art is in the process of gluing the paper to the object to create a desired effect.

Here are some stunning interior designs made from printable designs.

What a great way to reuse this piece of furniture:

A simple pattern effect that creates a whole new room décor.

Simply gorgeous!

As you can see, there are many uses for printable designs other than just for decorations at parties, and Boutique Printables has a variety of unique printable designs to get you started on your own projects.

What will you design today?