Printable Crafts - Possibilities and Ideas 1

By Anneke Lipsanen

LITTLE GIFTS AND TOKENS OF APPRECIATION

We all sometimes need a "little something" gift.

To congratulate, to say thank you, as a small token of acknowledgment, to wish someone luck or hope, or to say get well soon. Or to acknowledge the birthday or other special day of someone you may not know very well, like a co-worker or neighbour.

Printable crafts can make a modest item special, by customizing and personalizing it and thereby creating a new item especially for the recipient.

Besides a printer, computer and suitable graphic software, you only need a few basics for printable crafts. These include scissors, a craft knife, a steel-edged ruler or guillotine, glue, downloadable printables and suitable paper or cardstock to print on.

• A favourite all-occasion winner that is easy and quick to make, is a printed wrapper with personalized text for a bar of chocolate. A wrapped chocolate is one of the most versatile quick gifts - and the chocolate bar itself can be a budget bar or a luxurious and expensive one. Two of the most widely available and suitable sizes are 1.55 oz Hershey bars and various European 100g chocolate slabs.

There are ready-to-print wrappers available online if you want a quick and ready solution. Or you can use a printable motif and put it in a repeat pattern in a graphics program. A printable vignette picture can also be glued to colored card or paper in a coordinating color. Then you could still add a matching printable tag and a printable border design as ribbon around the middle of the bar.

Tip: Unless you buy special made-for-wrapping bars, add your personalized wrapping over the original wrapping so that the recipient can check ingredients in case of allergies.

• A bottle of wine can be personalized with a custom printable label too. Cut your label slightly bigger than the one on the bottle, but leave the small back label visible. You can also soak the label off first (which would remove the back label too) or scratch it off gently with a craft knife.

The same goes for a cooldrink bottle, beer bottle or a health drink - even a bottle of water. Add your own customized and printed label and you have a nifty little gift.

• Items like luggage tags and small sewing kits or a shower cap in a packet are useful little gifts for someone going on a journey. The luggage tag can be laminated in plastic if you have inserted or typed the recipient's address already.

• A pretty printable box or packet will elevate a small gift into something special. Like a golf ball in a custom box, bath salts or potpourri in a pretty packet and candy in a cone.

• Something drinkable like cocoa in a printed packet, or a few special teabags or coffee pods in little printable envelopes are great too.

• Lollipops can have little personalized covers and these can be inserted into a bunch of flowers, or can be tied together with a ribbon as a lolli bouquet.

• Candles are another versatile and inexpensive gift. Add a printable wrapper around two candles or around a pillar candle and add a coordinating tag. A votive candle in a glass container can also be dressed up with a wrap label.

• Add a printable topper to a packet of home baked cookies. Add a custom label or a tag.

Tip: Wrap any food that can spill or stain in food-safe plastic or cellophane first.

• Nice artisan soap is another item that can be wrapped and beautifully presented with the help of printable crafts. Wrap the soap in plain or printed paper. Then add a printed border design around the bar and glue a label on top over the border.

• Any bath product - like bath oil, bubble bath or bath salts - can be personalized with a printable label. Tie a matching tag around the neck of the bottle with a pretty ribbon.

Again, I would leave back labels intact so that the recipient can read the ingredients in case of an allergy.

Printable crafts can also be combined with store bought items to round out a gift. Why not make up coordinated combinations of many of the above for unique personalized gifts? Coordinate printable craft motifs and colors and put the items in a basket, pretty bag or gallon can for a pamper hamper or gift basket.

• You can combine drinking chocolate in a printable packet with marshmallows in a bought mug. And the teabags or coffee pods can be combined with a mug, tea-cup or even a pretty spoon.

• A small toy or activity book can be combined with a bouquet of customized lollipops for a sick child.

• And book can be combined with a printed bookmark and wrapped chocolate or a personalized bottle of wine.

• Combine a map or journal with a sewing kit and luggage tag for a useful travel gift.

Use any of these versatile budget-friendly ideas to solve those "little gift" dilemmas for many occasions. The personal note achieved with the printable element has an effect that is more than the actual value of the gift. Printable crafts help to create items that are thoughtful and distinguished.

CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

AnniArts http://www.anniarts.com/ is the home of professional designer images for printable crafts and coordinating print-on-demand products. Lovely samples are available to subscribers http://www.anniarts.com/free-printables.html and craft licenses allow for the use of the art by home business crafters. The bumper "Best Of" CD contains 14 designer ranges. Anni also designs licensed products for businesses, craft companies, greeting card publishers and homeware manufacturers.

For more Articles on Crafts, see www.myguidetocrafts.com.