Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Birthday gifts

I have a group of girlfriends who I love to hang out with and we have known each other since high school. We try and get together every few weeks for afternoon tea and while we chat and laugh our kids have a great time playing together.
I am really blessed to have these friends who have been there for me over the years and I love that I have known their kids since they were babies. I love how we have little traditions that have evolved over time, like getting together at Christmas time and going out for lunch or coffee & cake to 'our' Tea House.
I like to give the children a birthday present each year and I am really trying to come up with something that doesn't cost a lot and is personal and useful.
A year ago (or there abouts) I found a website called http://www.wordle.net/ and I had a great time playing around with it. It is lots of fun and easy to use. You can enter in a list of words and the program randomly arranges them into a work of art. You can customise the colours and the text as well as the direction of the words and lots more! I highly recommend heading over to have a play. I bought some canvas sheets and printed my finished artwork directly onto the canvas then framed it. I created some great personalised art for our lounge room wall this way, for our bedroom and office as well, it was fun!
When a few of the kids birthdays came up I had an idea to create a personalised notebook for them, this is what I started with.
I designed a wordle for each child using their names and a list of words relating to them. Once I was happy with the design I printed it out onto paper and covered the notebooks. I added some embellishments and then covered the book with clear contact to provide some protection.
Personalised gifts that were fun to make!
I am linking up to My House of Giggles Tuesday Talent Show. Head on over and say Hi to Tracey as well as check out some of the amazing talented people who have linked up.
Have a great Tuesday! xx

19 comments:

  1. What a fantastic gift idea, I bet they are going to love them! You did such a great job with the design too...
    :)

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  2. What a great idea! Thanks for the link! Tracey xx

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  3. What a great gift for kids - I hadn't heard of wordle so will be sure to check it out! :)

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  4. What a great idea. I'll be sure to check it out!

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  5. They look great! That's such a good idea for a personal present, very clever of you to think of that. xo

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  6. These are beautiful....and how special to have such a close group of dear friends nearby!!

    And yes...my bathroom will be like new...eventually! :)

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  7. You are so clever, I would love grown up versions of these to give my friends, cheers Katherine

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  8. That's a great gift! And how nice is to have a close group of friends, always there for you?
    Have a nice day, dear!
    Hugs!
    Mara

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  9. Fantastic idea..thanks for sharing x

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  10. What a great idea ..love it ...well done i actually popped over house of giggle's site today and i saw your work ...good on you for participating it looks like fun :) XX

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  11. very cute idea!!you did a great job!!love it...going over to house of giggle's to see some more of your lovely work:)

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  12. Very cute! And I love those type of friends that you have had forever! It's super cute that y'all get afternoon tea (it's one of my favorites)

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  13. What a cute idea! Aren't we always looking for a gift for someone. That is so cute and would work for anyone, young or old. Thanks so much for sharing that.
    Brooke

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  14. You are so creative! Beautiful work as usual! Thanks for always stopping by for a visit! ~lulu

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  15. Hello Nellie,
    Great gift idea's and friends are hard to come by. It is great that you keep that kind of contact with your friends...With age and time we get busy and just drift away, so keep those friends close they will add something big to your life.

    See you soon.
    Dore

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  16. Love that you have such a wonderful group of friends Nellie:) Your notebooks are just gorgeous!! Enjoy Tracey's link party ~ Tina xx

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  17. How fantastic that your able to see old friends so regularly, I'm jealous!

    I'll have to check out the link, how great that you can personalise gifts so easily these days!

    I've tagged you in a blogging game, if your so inclined, feel free to play along :)

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  18. love your blog....now a happy follower!

    Love the notebook idea for the kids!

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  19. what a great gift idea!!! I love anything "customized" :) Thanks so much for the inspiration!

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