My Two Favorite Mothers Day Gifts That Cost Next To Nothing
Author: Wes | Filed under: FREE Stationery, Training Saturday Apr 10,2010My Two Favorite Mothers Day Gifts That Cost Next To Nothing
I used to stress over what to get my mom for Mothers Day. For years it was flowers, cards, clothes or even decorative items for her house. As I got older, I noticed that the things she kept around and bragged on most were the things that cost little or nothing but came from real love. You know the ones, the hand print in plaster and/or paint, the photo mug of us together at the zoo and the hand written card all covered in glitter that said nothing more than “I Love You Mommy” on it.
OK, so I’m not a kid any more, but I still noticed that what mom’s really like best are the gifts that create or retell of fond memories together.
It was at that very moment that I knew I had to do something different in my Mother’s Day gift giving. I needed more of me and us in it and a lot less of it’s just for her. Mom’s aren’t about taking, they are all about giving… especially in giving of themselves to the ones they love most. I needed a Mother’s Day present that showed not only that I appreciated all that she had done for me, but one that reminded her that our time together really meant something that couldn’t be lost.
Now that I know the real secret to what Mom’s really want for Mother’s Day, it’s become one of my favorite holidays and one we both look forward too each and every year.
Here’s just two of the ideas that have kept my mom bragging for months to her friends and the rest of the family.
Mother’s Day Gift Idea #1 – The Memory Letter
I got this idea from the old glitter covered card she still had from my school days. I just took it to a new level.
Very simply, I downloaded some free stationery pages to use as the decoration. I then sat down and made a list of some of the really great times I’ve had that my mom played a large roll in. Vacations, shopping trips, long drives to get me to sporting events, anything that brought a vision of my mom in my head. Bad times that she made better for me were even better.
I then just sat down and put those storied in writing. You know… “Dear Mom, Remember when…” and I filled several pages with those vivid memories. At the end, I simply wrote: “Mom, it’s the little things you did that I’ll always remember most.”
I then printed the stationery pages out (I have lousy handwriting so I typed them) on the stationery downloads and sealed them in a nice envelope that read: “To Mother With Love – Don’t open until Mother’s Day” and placed that envelope inside another one to mail.
I’m told the tear’s of joy fell for days after and she reads the letter again several times a year. I got the biggest hug in the world the next time I was home for a visit.
Mother’s Day Gift Idea #2 – The Photo Memory Journal
The idea for this one came from the photo mug I had made for her as a teen. Again, I just took the basic idea and stepped it up a few rungs on the ladder.
This one happens in two parts. Part one, pick up a cheap diary or journal book from your local retail or book store. If you are really short on cash, you can also download some free digital stationery page templates, print a few pages and bind them with some ribbon or lace. Your mom isn’t going to care how much it cost as it will be part two that makes the gift.
Part two:
This is what really makes it special. Plan for a day (rain or shine) that you both have off, preferably just a few days after Mother’s Day. You can do it before, but I think it’s better if part two happens afterwards. Pick some place special such as a garden, park, tea room or other photogenic location. You can even plan an afternoon tea followed by the trip to the tropical gardens etc.
On the fist page of the journal, you’ll put the planned date, the time you’ll pick her up and a note to dress for rain, dress for casual or dress for formal. Nothing more except for the Happy Mother’s Day Mom and your signature.
The anticipation will build over the next couple days until the event and that serves to set the mood and ingrain the memory. If your area is prone to rain/spring snow/ or other such weather, be sure and have a backup planned if it’s not an indoor event.
The real key is that you are going to do something special together and you will take photos and write memories in the journal to go with them. I even had the rest of the family show up at the end and had professional photos taken of the whole family… first time in 10+ years. My point is that you can do this for next to nothing or you can, if you have the means, spend a little cash and get professional help. The result is the same… Joy and a new treasured memory you made together that will be remembered for many years to come.
Now that you get the idea, take a look around your mother’s home and in her closets… ask her if she still has any of your childhood gifts or art projects. Then, take a little imagination and turn that into an updated Mother’s Day she’ll soon not forget.
One last note.
We filled only a few of the pages of that first journal with memories and photos. Now, we plan little trips a couple of times a year together so we can fill in the rest of the book. She treasures these times more than I can tell you and one day when she’s no longer with me, I have no doubt I’ll be treasuring the book even more.
Happy Mother’s Day Memories…
Kathy & Wes
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Summer & Floral Stationery Downloads
Author: kwaddell | Filed under: FREE Stationery, Site Information Wednesday Oct 21,2009
FREE Floral Themed Digital Stationery Paper Template Download in 3 different formats.
FREE Summer, Floral and Artistic themed staternary paper downloads have been added to the site.
Kathy just added Summer 439, 440 & 441 to the free stationeries downloads area. These ones are perfect for Summer camping, campfire or vacation travel letters, journals and digital scrapbook background pages.
Along with the summer themed stationeries, Kathy also added Floral stationary pages 001 through 005 and Artistic digital stationery 001 through 005. You’ll find that the floral and artistic themed stationery paper downloads are the perfect match to your warm weather, summer vacation travel and even your romantic evenings journals, love letters and digital scrapbook page themes.
They are all located at: www.Free-Stationery.com
Never any signups or hassels, just find all the free digital stationery downloads you’ll ever need waiting for you to simply save them to your computer.
Happy Journaling!
Kathy
P.S. It’s that time of year again when Holiday cards and letters are in the planning stages. Be sure and make your cards and letters both personal and memorable with one of our FREE Digital Stationery template paper downloads.
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Brilliant Christmas Hanukkah Kwanza Card Idea
Author: kwaddell | Filed under: FREE Stationery, Training Thursday Oct 8,2009
FREE Christmas Stationery
Your site [www.1-Computer-Stationery.com] is WONDERFUL!
I do have an idea for all the [Christmas / Holiday / Birthday] card-makers out there.
I have done over 100 Christmas cards for this year and they are ready to go. For those of you who like to write letters to loved ones, I decorate the front of the card and then on the inside I pick out one of the many [FREE Digital]stationary Christmas papers and put that on the inside of the [full page folding] card.
There are no “greetings” on the inside, just the stationary.
Makes a great personal Christmas, Hannukkah, Kwanza, Holiday or Birthday card.
Thanks Kathy and Wes for helping make my cards so special.
Sheila Matthews
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Kids Summer Camp Stationery Kit
Author: kwaddell | Filed under: Training Thursday Apr 10,2008Author: Wes Waddell
Here’s a great idea for your kids heading off to camp this summer. How about sending them on their way with their own colorful personalized digital stationery kit and a book of stamps? Now it’s easy for them to write you and all their friends.
How can digital stationery help? Easy… you create the designs or use one from any “Free Stationery” download website, you customize the design with their name and address and then simply print the blank pages on your printer. You can even create a supply of matching envelopes with matching designs.
How cool is that?
The best part is that it’s only pennies a page and no one there will have anything like it. You might even send along a few totally blank pages with no name or address so that they can share with their cabin or bunk mates.
Here’s the complete package. Before it’s time to head for summer camp, help each of your children choose a free stationery design from one of the computer stationery websites or if you are good with your computer… help them design their own. Either way, make sure to put their name and address on the stationery (kind of like a business letter does) so that if it gets missplaced it can find it’s way back home easily.
If you want, you can also custom design envelopes to match. No matter what, make sure you preaddress the envelopes with your home address and a couple with addresses from any freinds or family they want to write to while they are gone. That way, you know that they won’t forget an address or make a typo that sends it to the wrong address.
Now, simply pack it all away in a sturdy zip-lock bag with a couple of pens or pencils, and first-class postage stamps. If you followed the suggestions above to address the envelopes in advance, then there’s no need for an address book here that could get lost.
If you happen to drive your child to summer camp, find the camp store while you are there and let your children choose a few post cards of the camp to go with their digital stationery prints; that way they’ll be more likely to write a quick note to relatives and friends. Once the summer is over, any left over stationery can be given to new friends along with their eMail address, so they can keep in touch once they return home.
Encourage (not force) your kids to write to you at least a couple of times a week while at camp. Try and get them to fill you in on the weeks activities and new friends. DON”T throw those letters away after you read them! Save the letters in a bundle or even better yet, add them to a scrapbook with photos and brochure pieces. Then, you can give them to your children when they reach adulthood.
Digital cameras and memory cards are so cheap these days and can capture things that just can’t be put into words. Digital scrapbooks can also be made into real hardbound books that can be treasured for generations to come. The perfect combination to go with the digital stationery, digital camera and digital photos.
By making it easy for your kids to communicate with family and friends while away at summer camp, you also make the separation easier and the child less likely to get a case of the home sick blues. It also makes it easier on mom knowing that their child is safe, having a great time, but is thinking of her often.
About the author:
Wes Waddell is a father of two, grandfather of 5 and owns www.Free-Stationery.com and it’s parent site www.1-Computer-Stationery.com. Hundreds of FREE Stationery templates in multiple formats along with FREE Training on how to create your own custom digital stationeries usine FREE Software.
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FREE Digital Stationeries
Author: kwaddell | Filed under: FREE Stationery Tuesday Mar 25,2008For “EVERYONE”,
Kathy just added 6 new FREE Digital Stationeries to the www.FREE-stationery.com downloadable stationery site:
Artistic 682 thru 684 and
Sports728 – 729 – 730 (Soccer stats)
Enjoy the new stationery downloads…
Kathy and Wes
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FREE Printable Stationery
Author: Wes | Filed under: FREE Stationery, Training Sunday Mar 9,2008Title: FREE Printable Stationery
Author: Wes Waddell
Article:
FREE Printable and/or downloadable Stationery is nothing more than easy to use predesigned and formatted digital stationery that is readily available at no cost online. With just a little bit of how-to information and training, also provided on the best free-stationery sites, you are able to open or create your stationery right in your favorite word processor software. If you don’t happen to use eMail or word processing software, you can also simply use the downloadable designs (usually in PDF form) for printing through your home printer. That way, you can simply hand write your letters as if the stationery was the kind purchased at a retail or stationery store… it’s just a lot less expensive when you print it yourself.
FREE Digital Stationery is a quick simple solution to your custom stationery needs. All you need is a computer, eMail or wordprocessing software and a printer, preferably colored. The printer is optional if you will be sending your custom stationery letter by eMail or publishing it online.
A diverse range of free Printable Stationery is available with a quick search online. That includes photo calendars, letterheads, envelopes, greeting cards, wedding cards, stickers, bookmarks, labels, shopping list, recipe cards, computer scrapbook templates and even small gift-wrapping paper. There is even a special Printable Free-Stationery for children, which is based on themes like animals, birds, flower, nature, toys and cartoons. Best of all, there is no limit to the number of sheets you can download and print and you are never out of the custom stationery page you need since you are creating it yourself.
Custom Printable Stationery is really easy to create and print. Typically most any word processing, eMail and digital scrapbook software will work. Some of these programs are even available as a free downloads, so if you do not have the right software already on your computer, you can easily procure it without much hassle.
I do need to point out that some of the websites out there are for Printable Stationery only. This type of custom digital stationery is designed to be printed as a blank page on a specific paper size only. Sometimes you even must use their propriatary online software. This is fine if you are planning on hand writing your letter or card and always have online acccess to their website, but is of no use to those that wish to publish a newsletter or use the special fonts on your computer to write your letters and cards.
If you must, you can print it, then stick it back in your printer and use your word processor to print over top the page again, but that takes extra time and effort! My recommendation is to use the web sites that offer your custom stationery in multiple formats for download to your computer. That way you can use the free-stationery designs any way you choose. Again, the better sites will have clear instructions on how to use and print their products. The best ones will allow for these custom stationery files to be downloaded and will provide premade templates for the most common word processors as well.
By and large, there is a copyright and terms of use agreement posted on the website for you to comply with. Most will be for personal use only, but some will allow for commercial use with special permission. If you are not sure, just ask the owner.
To sum it all up…
There are a large number of sites on the Internet that are offering professional looking, beautifully designed, free custom downloadable and Printable digital stationery. On the other hand, some of the websites will charge you for using their stationery or for the add-on custom envelopes or address labels. In case you do not find the free stationery you like (doubtful that that will happen..) on the Internet, you can always go for paid designs. But, if you do need a totally custom design made for a special event or occasion, there are quite a number of designers and sites on the Internet who are more than happy to create the Printable Stationery of your dreams!
One last thought…
It’s not as hard as it sometimes looks to learn to use your own custom digital stationeries. The little bit of time that it takes to learn how to create your own one-of-a-kind letters, cards, scrapbook pages and even personal invitations will pay off in not only saved money, but in respect and lots of positive attention from family, friends and guests when they dote over your creativity and personal touches.
About the author:
Wes Waddell and FREE-Stationery.com provides 100s of FREE downloads along with detailed information on FREE Digital stationery, how-to training on creating your own personalized stationery, email stationery, free printable stationeries and more with free software. More FREE Stationery articles and information can also be found on our FREE-Stationery BLOG at: www.free-stationery.info
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