Posts tagged printable
DIY Advent Calendar
Beautiful paper Advent calendar for the season - grab the free printable!

Beautiful paper Advent calendar for the season - grab the free printable!

Counting down the days until Christmas is just about as much fun as actually celebrating the holiday, right? We have chocolate treat calendars for the kids, and this year I wanted to make something for us adults.

Selecting from the readings in the Advent scriptures, I took out a passage for each day to take us all the way up to Christmas. And at the close of the season (or everyday, if you'd like), there's a beautiful prayer, expressing the real meaning of the season.

Take yourself through Advent with this beautiful printable calendar!

Take yourself through Advent with this beautiful printable calendar!

Each day is a four inch square design, and the entire printable covers seven sheets of paper. Trim along the edges, and glue to a six inch square of colored paper. This would be beautiful as an all white calendar as well, but we opted for brightly saturated cardstock to accompany the colors in our studio. Pick what best suits your Advent mood! You'll need 6-inch squares to complete the whole calendar.

When folding the larger square's corners, be sure to use a nice sharp edge to make your fold and crease it firmly. This will allow for the squares to have an open and shut quality.

Are you ready to get started?

Love this printable Advent calendar from Pars Caeli!

Love this printable Advent calendar from Pars Caeli!

xoxo, MJ
 

Your Checklist for Opening a Shop (with free printable)
Do you think you might be ready to open your own shop? Grab this free printable checklist from Pars Caeli.

Do you think you might be ready to open your own shop? Grab this free printable checklist from Pars Caeli.

A dream came true for me this summer. Well, maybe two dreams (I did even imagine number two! More details on that tomorrow).

I opened my very own shop!!

I know that I've been posting on all of my social networks about it so this is not a surprise to many of you. Shop Pars Caeli is open and excited to welcome you through the doors (for reals, go click over). It has been my little girl dream brought to life through my own little girl and brought to the worldwide webs. My eldest daughter is my inspiration and muse and dictator (in the most loving way), and we discuss what would sell well, and what we love. 

In the shop you'll find letterpress greeting cards and prints as well as children's and women's tees all focused on putting a little more fun and a whole lot more goodness into your life. The shop is a direct extension of my art, my sense of humor, and my 3 years of projects and conversations here on the blog. As a graphic designer, I wanted to letterpress prints and cards on the best paper and finest inks, and I simply couldn't resist a little foiling on t-shirts, too.

And our DO GOOD shirts and prints do real good in the world, too! A portion of the profits from every sale support The Sweet Pea Foundation, a non-profit to help children and families in local hospitals.

I've been so amazed to see the reaction the shop has received in just the first two months!!

Thank you, thank you to all of you who've been buying and loving on social media. And I'm so glad that I finally did it - I planned it out, budgeted, and through and through our customers have been delighted with what they receive!!

But, behind the scenes here, I've also had a few missteps, listened way too long to my inner critic, and still have a whole world of people I want to reach. Opening an online shop is both incredibly easy (e.g.: just press activate the link if you're on Squarespace) and simultaneously complicated with branding and shipping and taxes and inventory and tigers and bears. Oh my.

If you're thinking about opening a shop, selling a product, or know someone who is, I want to help!

Because there's just no sense in us both making the same mistakes, I put together this checklist of things I've done and added in things I should have done so that you get the full spectrum of helpfulness.

Pin this one now and use it as a checklist to get your online shop started!

Pin this one now and use it as a checklist to get your online shop started!

Above is a super quick checklist to think through as you're considering operating and selling a shop. It's a little deceiving since every step requires research, creation, and a real commitment to your passion! But, you can do it - I did!

I've also created an extended printable for you to keep right on your desk (or shoved into your notebook of ideas). Print the checklist here.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing with you that second dream that came true - my very own product with a company I love, The Land of Nod!! The story behind Lunchtime LOL Notes and ideas for you on taking your idea from notebook to reality.

Emoji and checklists to help you open the most fabulous online shop! Grab the free printable, too.

Emoji and checklists to help you open the most fabulous online shop! Grab the free printable, too.

Have you ever thought of opening a shop or done it already? What would you add to help the dreamers?

xoxo, MJ

A nature hunt in your backyard

This post is sponsored by Sprout by HP, but the project and thoughts are all mine. Thank you for your support of the brands that support Pars Caeli.

So many wonderful summer, childhood memories can be created right in our backyard. Literally. Though I've lived in multiple locations, I can vividly remember the natural details within the backyards of our homes. One had a grape arbor, one a favorite cement patch and views of cows at pasture, and another the sweet smell of lilacs. A returning summer goal of mine is for my children to spend more time outside, in our yard. I want them to run/jump/climb and to use their broad imaginations to create, and to learn about the natural classroom we have right outside our door.

So, I decided to make a game of it. A scavenger hunt! With three children, ages 5, 8, and 10, I wanted varying levels of difficulty so I decided to make a printable that they could all use.

Create a scavenger hunt out of leaves, branches, and blooms for the backyard. Help your children learn how to identify the environment around them through this fun game!

Create a scavenger hunt out of leaves, branches, and blooms for the backyard. Help your children learn how to identify the environment around them through this fun game!

Here's how it works:

  • The 5-year old gets to take me on the journey as he finds and identifies each of the items.
  • The 8-year old will write down the names of the trees, plants, and flowers on the printable. She'll have to identify what she can from memory.
  • And the 10-year old will learn even more about these natural beauties by looking through our field guides (like the ones below). She's a lover of words and etymology so she's excited to take on some Latin roots.

I went out to the yard with camera and bucket in hand, ready to collect treasures. It's important to me that my children be able to identify local trees, plants, and flowers so I added samples of the varieties that we have in our yard.

For our printable, I used the HP Sprout to make photo-realistic images that I could manipulate quickly. I love creating special projects for my children, but I don't have a ton of time to do so. The Sprout was super helpful on this!

I captured the twelve items, rotated them on the page, and scaled them for a two-column layout. I could see keeping them on the computer, too, so that the kids can make their own pictures with our backyard features.

The HP Sprout helps make any three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional piece of art! We used these natural elements for a scavenger hunt of our backyard.

The HP Sprout helps make any three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional piece of art! We used these natural elements for a scavenger hunt of our backyard.

GET YOUR PRINTABLE HERE.

I'm excited to explore!! We all need to understand the world around us more, and this is a wonderful summer learning game, too.

How do you make the most of your outdoor space?

xoxo, MJ

Other fun options with a nature's scavenger hunt could include taking photos of the leaves and flowers in your yard and printing them out for children to identify and find. You could also have them use the found objects from the bucket to run around and put them back in their natural habitats. This is a great opportunity to talk about each plant and variety!


What would you create with a Sprout?

P.S. Did you see how else we've used our Sprout?

Printable Mother's Day Card

This post is sponsored by Sprout by HP, but the project and thoughts are all mine. Thank you for your support of the brands that support Pars Caeli.

Mother's Day is just a few days away, friends! Are you ready to celebrate the mommas in your life? I've been looking at cards for the passionate mothers I know. And I have to admit that what I found fell a little flat. The racks were filled with more pastels and nostalgia than what fit these go-getter moms that I want to honor.

So I decided it was time to make my own. You know I love printables!  After a quick trip to the store, I was inspired to incorporate the beautiful tones and textures of the citrus, vegetables, and blooms. I mean, peonies!!

Typically I'd need to illustrate these props or photograph them, but with the new Sprout by HP I have greater possibilities. The Sprout is a touchscreen PC with a built-in overhead scanner, and it gives you the freedom to capture both 2D and 3D objects. I can scan anything, flat or dimensional, in a matter of seconds and quickly incorporate it into any design that I've created. I'm a big fan of the touch mat/touch screen combination because they work together so seamlessly and allow an even bigger canvas or the functionality of two work surfaces.

For the Mother's Day card, I wanted to use limes, lemons, artichokes, peonies, nectarines, and kiwis - the most vibrant textures and colors I could find. Putting wax paper on top of the touch mat, I created images of each of the props.

With the touch mat, I could resize, edit, and move around each shape to create just the look I wanted for my design. I love it when work feels like play and the hands-on quality to the Sprout makes everything feel like childhood fun again.

Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

I found this wonderful writing from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., that seemed to fit perfectly. Have you read it before?

Youth fades.
Love droops.
A mother's love outlives them all.
Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

Get your free Mother's Day printable card here. It's sized to 5 by 7 inches so that you have plenty of room on the interior to say all that you need to say. So pop in a nice piece of white cardstock and get to writing! Or, if you're looking for something to give? Why not trim this one to the cover alone and frame it?

Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

Mother's Day card made modern. For the passionate, go getter mom in your life! A free printable card from Pars Caeli.

I'm so glad that I was able to see my mother and mother-in-law this past weekend and celebrate together. Mothers are such an important part of our lives, and I'm grateful to have such examples to follow!


What would you create with a Sprout?


Printable Thank You Cards

This post is sponsored by Munchkin. Ideas and musings all from me. Thanks for supporting our sponsors.

A good party deserves great gestures of gratitude! And the rockstar of the show, Miss Amy Christie of This Heart of Mine has outdone herself.  Jen, Melissa, Ali, and I and the good people at Munchkin have loved showering on the goodies this week. Jen kicked it off with gorgeous welcome ribbon chandelier DIY, and Melissa brought the ultimate buffet with gourmet PB & J bar,  and we tossed around some multi-use table decor using colorful baby gear.

And now we have these sweet printable (free!) thank you notes from Amy! She's created them in three different palettes so they're good for any occasion.

She also has a photo of her little pipsqueak that you have to check out. So so sweet!

xoxo, MJ

 

Munchkin rids the world of the mundane by developing clever, innovative solutions that make family life safe, easier, and more fun. You can find their products at Munchkin.com, Target, Babies’R’Us, Walmart, and Amazon. It’s the little things!

Printable Oscars Ballot for the Red Carpet
Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

I've created an Oscars ballot printable for you! The Academy Awards air this weekend, and we are avid fans. As a working mom of three, I don't see that many movies. In fact, I couldn't tell you the names of all the films that are nominated. But the red carpet event before the show is one of my favorite fashion runways.

We've always watched the red carpet together. Like all five of us. We make a celebration of it, dressing up in our own "gowns" and ties, pretending to interview one another, and discussing the fashions of the night. It's light and frivolous.

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

Download your Printable Oscars Ballot here.

Recently, after reading about more and more actresses talking about the inequality of the red carpet, I've been wondering if I'm inadvertently supporting the wrong side. Am I continuing stereotypes by having my little girls see these amazingly talented women judged for their designer gowns and jewelry?

For me, fashion is art. The fabric, the cut, the fit are all a thing of beauty. Much like taking my family to a museum to learn and to observe, I want them to experience high-end fashion (as they may not do so first-hand), and I want them to know themselves and what they find beautiful. Always respected the human being wearing the gown or the tux as well as the artist who created the garment and accessories.

So this ballot printable is out of the ordinary. If you're someone who watches the Oscars with your children, you can use this tool as a way to hear their thoughts and see their creativity at work. Every moment can be a teachable moment.

 

Who would you take to the Oscars?

What color would you wear on the red carpet?

Pick your three favorite dresses.

And then you get to be the designer: show us what your look would be

 
Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

I'm interested to see which dresses will be their favorites! A little daydreaming might be in order.

Will you be tuning in for the Oscars and/or the red carpet?

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

Are you ready for the Oscars red carpet? Here's your free printable for tracking your favorite gowns. Perfect for family viewing time.

xoxo, MJ

Printable Eraser Valentines

This week we're sharing all the easy. Yesterday's bubble messages were round one. Enter the eraser ring as round two! We gave these to C's Brownie troop, and they were a huge hit.

These printable tags make ring candy or ring erasers the coolest valentine! Because easy valentines are the best kind.

These printable tags make ring candy or ring erasers the coolest valentine! Because easy valentines are the best kind.

This is completely not a sponsored post, but, let's be real here, Target has the best finds. For $3 we found this 24-pack of glamorous and geometric rings. They are jumbo-sized, you know, just in case you have a bunch of grown-ups who might delight in a fancy eraser ring. Ahem.

We wanted to make something super tiny, similar to a price tag to add onto the rings. The smallest Valentine you might send is right here for you in our printable. And you know I can't resist the pun whenever possible. And so we present,

No doubt about it Valentine, you're a gem.

Grab a hole punch, some ribbon, twine, or yarn. We've grouped a lot of tags on one page to save you paper, too! Valentine's Day was never so girly and easy peasy.

These printable tags make ring candy or ring erasers the coolest valentine! Because easy valentines are the best kind.

These printable tags make ring candy or ring erasers the coolest valentine! Because easy valentines are the best kind.

Keep the love going! And have a fabulous Valentine's Day.

xoxo, MJ

Bubble Valentine Printable

Maybe I saw you at the store this weekend. What that you in Target, too? The mad dash for Valentines, after receiving the note from teachers on details for this week's celebrations, was a real deal for many parents. We spent a few more minutes than most, circling the aisles, trying to find something perfect for boys and girls, with a definite fun factor.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

We settled upon these cute bubble blowers in assorted colors! My daughter and I both loved the design and colors, but we needed to create a personal element.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

She and I made this printable together. She's a big fan of the smiling hearts, drawn in all the colors of the bubble wands, and I like that the card expresses friendship and good wishes without going over the top into mushy, gushy love messages for 7- and 8-year olds.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

With a bit of Valentine washi tape, we attached the strip of paper to the bubble vile. From there, we wrapped the message around until we came to end of the message. She secured the rolled message with a Valentine heart sticker for an extra sweet ending.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

Easy and cute way to personalize bubbles for classroom Valentines! Print now and assemble in five minutes.

Click here to print a full page of Valentines! Enjoy a little more happy togetherness tonight, now that your stack of Valentines are ready to go!

Happy crafting!

xoxo, MJ

Printable Map Memories: Endless Summer Projects

This post is sponsored by Bing.

Our summer is almost coming to an end, and we are reliving happy memories! This printable map from Lulu the Baker is the perfect way to capture our epic beach trip and plan for future adventures.

We have dreams of going out West next summer, but my husband and I wonder if the kids are old enough yet to appreciate the sights and experiences. As a child, I often traveled in my uncle's RV with my parents and siblings. I loved being about to sleep, eat, play cards, and see the sights all from our vehicle. I'm fancying doing the same for my kids. Have you made a long road trip with your children?

Melissa's map today would be awesome for a little back-to-school learning, too. A review of the state names and/or capitals? A sharing of where various members of the family were born? And I love her idea of embroidering a special journey on here and framing it.

There's one more week in the incredible Endless Summer Projects series. Be sure to tune in next Wednesday and catch up on all the projects here:

xoxo, MJ

 

Contributing: How it grows you and your blog

If you're a blogger or a maker or a writer, you've likely considered the idea of contributing to another website or blog. There are lots of reasons you might throw your hat in the ring as a contributor: for greater exposure, for compensation, for a connection to creatives you admire. There are other reasons you might decide contributing is not for you: your content under someone else's brand, more work/more timelines, or an imperfect fit of your content with another blog's message.

Pars Caeli is in its second year and is growing steadily from a tiny blog to a flourishing blog. In year two, I've been focusing on two goals for this webhome: cover-expenses revenue and growth. With a DIY/project based blog, I have expenses on materials and hosting, and I need Pars Caeli to be moving me into the black instead of the red, and we're making positive growth in that direction. I also want to grow this year...Grow in a broad sense. Of course, I'd like to reach more readers and become a daily read for more people, but I also want to stretch into new territories and try out some new adventures as a part of this blogging journey.

I decided to follow my heart, as I almost always do, and make some inquiries at blogs that I love. With gazillions of fantastic blogs (and bloggers) out there, it was tough to narrow down. I considered whose content I continually found interesting and whose content resonated with my own. Many contributors go for freelancing in an arena outside of their blog content, and I decided I wanted an even deeper dive into kid projects, parenting, and DIY.

Earlier this year, I became a monthly contributor to Classic Play, an incredible creative site run by Jen Cooper. I've been following Jen for quite a while now (she taught me how to find my voice in an Alt Summit class long time ago), and I even have the pleasure of calling her a friend. Parenting is fun over at Classic Play, and loving your children and dedicating time to be with them is strongly encouraged - and I wanted to be a part of it! Contributing to Classic Play is about networking and reaching a new audience, but I'm there more because I'm really enthusiastic about the mission of positive parenting and creative households. I love seeing my work mingled with Jen's and the other amazing contributors.

I'm super excited to announce that I'm a brand new collaborator on another blog that I've admired, Modern Parents Messy Kids. Steph's motto over at Modern Parents Messy Kids is "mindful living, effortless style". Her energy and clear vision for a beautiful life are contagious, and as a fellow mom of three, she knows what it means to have a lot on your plate. Steph's letting me utilize some of my design muscles to create some fantastic printables for her readers. With more than 100K Pinterest followers, Steph's posts reach far into an audience I love - busy, awesome moms. As a contributor to MPMK, I also have the opportunity to pin my other projects here on Pars Caeli to the contributor's board, which is an amazing gift!

Contributing is not for everyone, and it may not always be for me. As I grow as a creator and writer, it feels like the right time. If you're looking to contribute as a large source of income or to gain significant followers, you might want to reconsider. Not all sites link back to yours (and if they do, readers are not very likely to follow the author link), and it is the engaging content that you create that brings in the views, not (typically) your authorship alone at the small-to-medium size blog.

You'll still find me here, in my home, Pars Caeli, three days a week (as long as our internet connection stays consistent!). I have unique projects and ideas I want to share with you here. I hope you'll take some adventures with me to these other sights, too! Your readership means the world to me, and I love seeing how you bring some of these pieces of heaven into your life.

 

Summer Anticipation Printable

Anticipation of something amazing is almost as fun as the actual event, right? Well, that's certainly the way we feel around our house. I'm grateful that my children love school, but I also know that we are all ready for a break in projects and homework, a break in the weather, and a return to some of our favorite activities.

We try to mix in learning with our summer relaxation time so that our children realize again that learning is fun and a lifelong pursuit. About this time every year, as the school year winds down, and our plans for summer begin to solidify.

What do you want to learn this summer?

What do we need to make sure we do?

Where should we go?

It's summer daydreaming together, and it's also been a fun way to collect this moment in time for each of my children...as their wishes change so much from year to year and mark this special time in their childhoods.

I also love sharing what I (and my husband) enjoy about summer and what we want to learn and do. It's a great way to pass along our family history and also to open up little eyes to big possibilities.

Start your summer conversation now. I've got a handy printable that you can download and make a part of  your summer memories! Bring it to dinner or leave it at the breakfast table for your children to complete. And enjoy the conversation and the fun activities that result.

Our Endless Summer Projects series begins tomorrow, and it's going to kick off the fun in a really big way. Make sure you hop back to see what we have for you!

xoxo, MJ