Felt Pinwheel Flower Tutorial (great for the holidays)!

If you guys remember my free customizable photo gift tags post, I made a promise that a felt pinwheel flower tutorial would follow.  These pinwheel flowers not only make fabulous gift embellishments, but ornaments as well!  They are easy to make and fun to decorate.  The supplies needed are few, and the end result is one you and the family are sure to love!  So, let me get right to it then.

Free Customizable Photo Gift Tags for the Holidays!

I’m going to share a little quirk about myself.  Now, I’m trusting that after you hear what I’m about to say, you don’t think I should be committed or something.  Okay, so here it goes.

There is something about a beautifully wrapped gift that puts me in an immediate trance.  The world around me could be in shambles, but I would have no idea if you just plopped me down in front of some beautiful presents like a little kid.  Scary, I know.  In fact, I’ve thought about wrapping empty boxes and decorating them with some lavish embellishments just to put around the house and use as holiday décor.  I’m still not sure why I haven’t done it yet.  Of course, there is still time!

Anyhow, this year, I was inspired by the many beautiful gift embellishments that I have been seeing online.  And in the process of crafting my very own embellishments, I thought why not design some photo gift tags to accompany them!  Especially considering that this blog of mine has been way overdue for some freebies!

The many uses of the Origami box - make one yourself!

If you’re a regular over here at Cropped Stories, I bet you read my post title and are thinking this is random.  Yes, it is unlike the usual topics I cover over here, but I felt the need to share something creative and artsy with you today!  With that said, I have a little secret to tell you… 

I like to dabble in the creative world of Origami.  In fact, I published a post in August of last year, Getting my craft on, showing off some of my work.  I was so excited with my creations that I had to share them with my readers!  And being that it was my first attempt at the craft, I was  especially proud of myself!  I was surprised how addicting it was and have been doing it sporadically throughout the year.  When I first started, I was addicted to making pinwheels and flowers.  They were the perfect party décor for my toddler’s 2nd birthday!

4 Free Customizable Photo Bookmarks (to print)!

I’ve got a little something different for you today!  Customizable photo bookmarks!  The template is a .psd file and can be opened in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  It is an 8.5 x 11 inch wide template and includes 4 different designs.  Each bookmark contains frames for 3 images to be inserted into.  The images of my samples were printed on HP 8.5 x 11 premium soft gloss photo paper.  I recommend using photo paper for best results as you want them to be thicker and more durable than your standard paper.