Red Brolly

D.I.Y :: Red Brolly free printable button sandwich picks

Here's a great idea for your next Afternoon tea. In my last post I gave you some free printable buttons that I had designed, and I promised that over the week I would give you diferent ideas for using them. The first idea was for gift tags and wrapping...today, Button sandwich picks!

All you need to do is download and print your button PDF file onto 1 large piece of sticker paper. Cut around the buttons. Peel the sticker backing paper off one button, place a toothpick in the centre of the button, then carefully place another button sticker on top.

For outstanding results, you can print the buttons onto photographic paper, cut out and glue together with a toothpick in the middle.

And see in the first photo? I've actually used the button sticker to decorate a vase. Nifty hey?

I made some of my favourite chicken sandwiches for Afternoon Tea. You must try them...

I'll have some more ideas for you next post on using these printable buttons.

How would you use them? I'd love to hear.

           

 

May all your buttons be diamonds...

Don't you just love buttons?

At my house I have a huge platter, full of antique, retro and vintage buttons, some are sparkly, some are plain, some are bobbly and all are wonderfully colourful- all kinds of buttons that I have collected over the years.

When I get little visitors to the house, they love to sit and play with these buttons- run their fingers through them, discuss them, use them for toys. Sometimes they play shops with the buttons as a currency, sometimes it's a fairy tea party with the buttons as plates, other times playdough gets added and the buttons become decorations for all kinds of imaginative play.

So tell me, does this happen at your house? How do your buttons get used for other than their intended use? I'd love to know...

Buttons are such a great thing to collect, aren't they? They don't take up much room, and look great in storage jars and platters. Sort them by colour and you'll have a fantastic display.

If you haven't noticed I'm in the middle of giving my blog a bit of a "spring clean" and have painted some buttons for my "buttons" in the sidebar.

I thought that these would make great craft printables, so I've made a sheet of Red Brolly painted buttons for you to download, print and do something crafty with for free. I'll be showing you lots of uses for these over the next few days. So make sure you come back and be inspired.

 

Here's your free PDF Red brolly button sheets.

Don't forget to change your printer setting to landscape and not portrait when printing the buttons.

The first idea is to use the buttons for gift wrapping.

Download and print the buttons onto 1 large A4 sticker paper. Cut out around each individual buttons and use to gift wrap a special gift.

 

 

           

 

Wrap yourselves around these :: Red Brolly chocolate wrappers

Are you a chocoholic? Maybe you're looking for a special handmade gift for someone who is? Maybe you have a friend who is stitching the Blueberry Girls at the moment and would like to give them a bit of encouragement as they sit and stitch?

I had a lot of fun designing these and the girls and I think they've turned out fantastic.

They would make a great gift for someone using also the Bumbleberry Cobbler jar labels and my free printable notepaper. Maybe you have the ladies (& gents) coming over and could use these and my free invitations. I don't know, what do you think? How would you use these?

Anyway, it was a good excuse to open some chocolate. Well?? It needed to be done in the sake of a photo shoot...no other reason ;-)

Would you like to make some Red Brolly Bluberry Girls chocolate wrappers? Here's the how to...(as usual it's for A4 standard sized paper, but, I have centred it and it should print on US paper-the edges will just get chopped- it's the white bits anyway.)

You will need:-

Chocolate wrapper designs

Chocolate bars- In Australia I used Cadbury "Furry Friends" chocolate bars, which were the perfect size. I also experimented with just breaking up rows of chocolate to fit the size needed, and this worked too. You may need to play around a little...and any leftovers would naturally become taste testers!

Glue

Scissors

So, download your free chocolate wrapper designs.Here's the PDF file.

Print out the file. There's 3 different designs to a page.

Cut out the wrappers.

Next, unwrap your chocolate. Tidying up any loose crumbs...

Turn over one wrapper to the wrong side, and place chocolate in the middle of the design.

Once you have carefully glued down one side, fold over the unglued edge and then fold the glued edge on top. Press firmly, but carefully, you don't want the glue to splodge onto the chocolate. I tried to take a photo of this but it was very hard to do and hold the camera and press the button at the same time!

Finished! Now, repeat with the remaining designs, and TA-DA, you have a lovely homemade gift.

 

           

 

Home Sweet Home Recipe :: Bumbleberry Cobbler in a jar & free gift labels

Do you have someone who loves to cook that you would like to give a special gift to?

Here's an idea that's really lovely and delicious too!

Remember recently I gave you free printable bluebird gift tags and also free printable notepaper? Well, I thought that I would combine these 2 designs so you can make a personal gift for that special friend.

...my very delicious modern take on the apple crumble....BUMBLEBERRY COBBLER!

It's very simple, you see, you just need to:-

1. Print off the labels and instructions onto sticker paper....I'm about to give you these in a moment. Don't forget to print your Red Brolly Bluebird Gift tags also, and your free matching notepaper!

2. Cut out the labels and place the designs onto a lovely, clean jar (about a 500ml size jar)- one on the front and the instructions on the back.

3. Carefully put the dry ingredients into the jar.

4. Write a personal message onto your gift tag and attach the Bluebird gift tag with a gorgeous ribbon.

5. Give your friend the Bumbleberry Cobbler and matching notepaper as a special gift.

Would you like the step-by-step instructions...WITH photos?

Ok....

What to do...

Firstly I'll give you the free downloads. Here's the link to the Red Brolly notepaper and here's the link to your Bluebird Gift tags. There you'll can find all instructions and necessary files to download.

Next, you'll need to download and print onto one A4  size sticker sheet the following design. I know that the paper size in the US is a different size, but I've placed the design in the centre so when you do print, it will only be the white edges that will get chopped....make sense??

If you need a JPEG file, click on the design above, this will take you to the larger exact image, and print from there. Here's the PDF Bumbleberry cobbler file should you need it.

Cut out the labels and carefully stick onto the sides of a pretty and clean jar. Stick one on the front and the instructions on the back of the jar.

Next, in your jar place:-

125g plain (all-purpose) flour

60g brown sugar

1/4tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup rolled oats

Now, seal your jar. Cut out your Bluebird gift tag, punch a hole in the top and thread a ribbon through. Write a personal message to the receiver and then tie around the top of the jar.

Tie together with your notepaper....
And...TA-DA! A lovely and special gift for someone who enjoys cooking. All instructions on how to make the Bumbleberry Cobbler are on the back, and ready to make. Tomorrow I'll give you step-by-step instructions on how to make my scrumptious Bumbleberry Cobbler.

On another note, for those in Australia attending or hosting a "Big Morning Tea," I hope that you have all had a wonderful morning gossiping, laughing, drinking tea and also raising money for a wonderful cause.

See you tomorrow...

 

           

Pink Cabbages and Baskets!

   

 

                                      Good question!

Remember the Pink Cabbages in a Basket design I was painting for Mother for Mothers Day? And didn't quite get it finished in time?

 

 

 

 

Well I finally finished it! This is the design SJVH was talking about.

 

BUT - now I have it finished it - the question is- "What Do I Do with It?"

 

                         Mothers Day has been and gone.

  I thought maybe you might like to use the design yourselves.

 

 So I've laid it out in a couple of different ways.And- thanks to Cat Nix mentioning this- I've laid it out in the U.S A4 format- so it can be downloaded in the U.S.as well.

 

  The first design is for a party invitation- seeing as the Big Morning Tea is coming up. This is the version that doesn't use much ink.

Works best on good quality paper with the printer settings on "photo"- or for best printing.

  Go to the Layout page to download this design- Download Invitation

 

 

 This is the second layout- and takes a bit more ink to print.

 

 

 

Go to the Layout page for this design Download Flowerbasket invites 2

 

Then I thought maybe you'd like some pretty notepaper to write to all your friends......

 

Download the notepaper design-   Download Flowerbasket Notepaper2

 

  These are large files and may take a bit of time to download.

  So remember....

 

 

                               As always- any problems downloading- please email me at:

                                                   bronwyn@red-brolly.com.au

 

 

 

 

           

Blueberry Girls Bouquet Swizzles

This idea came from one of my readers, Susan Adams and I think it's f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!

The Blueberry Girls Bouquet Swizzles!

I just had to make them and share the idea with everyone.

As always, I've made some free printable designs for you to use, which you can download here. There's instructions and a tutorial for making them. I just used a long skewer rather than a toothpick size skewer as shown in the tutorial.

Then I placed the skewers into the gorgeous bouquet of flowers...TA-DA!

Bouquet Swizzles!

Great idea Susan! What do you think?

Happy weekending!

 

Another idea for your Blueberry Girls :: Decorative gift tags

Have you printed your Blueberry Girls toppers yet?

Another idea is to use the Red Brolly Girls as decorative gift tags. 

Print your free designs onto card stock, cut out and on the blank side of the tag write a special message.

 Turn tag over and cover with glue, take one long skewer and place in the middle of one side of the tag. Fold the other side over and carefully match up all edges. Press down firmly and TA-DA one decorative tag!

           

Sizzle and swizzle with the Blueberry Girls

Remember I showed you last week how to make these OTT cake toppers, featuring, of course, "The Blueberry Girls?"

COMPLETLY...Over the top...but that's the girls for you!

Well, I've been at the drawing board over the weekend and have been thinking of other things you could do with them. I'll be showing you alternative uses for these cupcake toppers that you can make over the course of the week.

So, to start you off...instead of OTT cupcake toppers, you could make...TA-DA...

...Red Brolly "Sizzle and Swizzle" sticks!

PLUS...use your vase belts and make glass belts! Each person could have a different one for their drinks. Makes it easy to identify who's drink belongs to whom.

Click here for a tutorial on how to make the glass belts.

Instead of gluing the free printable designs onto short toothpicks, use long skewers-like the ones you'd use for satay sticks or kebabs- instead. For instructions and your free downloads, go to my earlier post here.

 

Stay tuned for more ideas :-)

           

Print your own "Over the top Blueberry Girls cupcake toppers."

Are you just loving the Blueberry Girls?

I can tell you that I'm really enjoying having them around at the moment. Brutus, my cat,  thinks it's fantastic as they are making a HUGE fuss over him.

We were having a good gossip over a coffee and some cakes and we decided that "The Girls" needed their own cupcake toppers. They had to be big, bold, fun and completely over the top... !!

So I got to work.....

and these were what we came up with. Over the top cupcake toppers! Do you like them?

We were thinking that they would look great on the table for Mother's Day or even at your next stitching gathering. As always, they are really easy to make.

Here's what you'll need...

- your free PDF Over the top cupcake topper designs (click on your chosen size below)

      there's 3 different sizes- large, for the muffins-

                                          medium, for cupcakes-

                                          and teeny topper girls for smaller goodies.

(As with everything on this site, please remember that they are for personal use only and are subject to copyright).

- card stock, or, I used photograph paper

- glue

- toothpicks

- scissors

-ribbon...if you like

How to make them...

1. Download and print your chosen topper design onto card stock.

2. Cut out the designs.

3. Glue one side of the topper.

4. Place your toothpick-about 2 cm up the toothpick- in the centre of the topper, on the glue side.

5. Place the other half of the topper directly on top of the toothpick and glue side. Take care to match the sides up exactly.

6. If you like you can tie a ribbon around the base. 

7. TA-DA! Ready to jazz up your cupcakes!

I also designed a gift tag for you to use. If you would like to make this gift tag, as shown above, download your free Red Brolly PDF design, print onto some card stock, cut out each individual label, hole punch a hole in the top and thread some ribbon through. 

You can use this for labels, gift tags, cards etc...you get the idea.

 Click here to download your free PDF Red Brolly Bluebird Tags.

And, because Mary asked, below is the JPEG file. You should be able to click on it and then print.

As usual....the best bit was the end after we had finished the photography.

Have a lovely Mother's Day this weekend and hope you get to enjoy yourself.

           

Tutorial:: Blueberry Girls free printable cutlery holder

 

Looking for something to decorate the brunch table for Mother's Day on Sunday?

How about a very easy and quick Blueberry Girls Cutlery Holder? I think Mum, or perhaps your BFF, will really love them.

Would you like to see how to make them?

Here's what you'll need....

Download your free Cutlery holder design (either click on the the image below and then right click, or if you prefer, you can grab your PDF pattern here ) It prints to your standard A4 paper size, but I think if you are in the States, the standard paper size is different. I think I've worked it out so it will still print everything, but maybe the instructions may get a little cropped.

Some card stock- you can also just use regular paper, but I liked mine a still bit stiff. Remember, not too thick as it still has to pass through your printer.

Glue or your trusty sewing machine

Scissors

 

How to make...

1. Print the cutlery holder, as many as you need, onto regular A4 paper or card stock. 

2. Cut out around the whole design.

3. Carefully fold in half along the fold line. Press firmly.

4. Either use your sewing machine and stitch along the 2 edges shown-leaving the top open, or, you can glue along the side and bottom.

5. TA-DA! Finished. Slip some cutlery in and place on the table to make your setting look fabulous. I served my brunch to the Girls on a French bread board, a.k.a Jamie Oliver style, so we could all join in and share together.

I must say, the Girls and I had a great morning preparing for this tutorial and setting up for the photography. I think they got a little carried away...

I think they enjoyed this part the best, what do you think?

We had picked up the croissants from one of our faaaavourite patisseries-"The Gumnut Patisserie-" and found some delicious, local, handmade raspberry jam, on one of our weekend jaunts to the Southern Highlands. And, can you see the butter balls? The Girls whipped these up using my fruit baller and cold butter. They quickly dipped the baller into hot water and then in the butter to make the butter look a bit special for brunch.

There was lots of fun,giggles and gossip involved...a very enjoyable morning.

What will you be doing this Sunday?

-Bronwyn...

P.S-Look out for more table decoration ideas in the next upcoming posts.