Collecting and Storing Scrap Paper

With all the amazing scrapbooking papers out there who doesn’t want to save every little leftover swatch? There are all kinds of elaborate storage options available for your crafting supplies, including scrap paper. But for a handy and cheap alternative think about using a simple gift box.

A small gift box works great for keeping leftover specialty papers flat and organized. And if you don’t scrapbook than it’s perfect for keeping extra bits of wrapping paper handy, which can transform plain cards and gift tags or fix mistakes in a pinch. Often scrap wrapping paper is saved but gets smashed before it can get used. By trimming the size down and laying it flat in a gift box, it can stay unwrinkled, work on getting its’ curl out and be ready when you need it.

Bake and Share: Sugar Cookies

This recipe is from Martha Stewart. Sugar cookies are perfect for anytime of year. Flowers and butterflies for spring, beach balls and flags for summer, leaves and pumpkins for fall. Beautifully decorated cookies make wonderful party gifts for birthday parties or showers, and are a great way to tie into a theme.

You can also divide the dough and freeze portions for up to three months. That way you can always be ready to enjoy a fresh batch with out all of the work.

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Using an electric mixer combine butter and sugar, beat until fluffy.

Beat in eggs.

Add flour mixture on low speed.

Stir in vanilla.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325˚ F.

On floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut shapes.

Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

It’s time consuming to chill the cookies before baking, but it helps the cookies maintain their shape and still stay soft. Cool before decorating with royal icing.

1 pound confectioners’ sugar

5 tablespoons meringue powder

Scant 1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients and mix on low for 7 minutes.

If too thick, add water. If too thin, beat for another 2-3 minutes

For a Martha Stewart how to video on making and decorating with royal icing click here.

If decorating with kids, gauge their age with the style of decorating. For real young kids sprinkle with colored sugar just before baking or make icing a little thinner and have them dip the tops of the cookies into the icing. Older kids can decorate by piping the icing. Squeezable containers make it easy. 

Baking with Kids

There is nothing better than a beautiful spring day when the kids can finally spend extended periods of time outside. But with spring also comes cold, rainy days. And when you’ve already exhausted the library and museums during winter, a great way to pass the time together is to bake.

Baking is great at any age, whether it’s a two year old rolling out dough and using cookie cutters, a three or four year old practicing fine motor skills in measuring, or a five year old starting to learn basic math concepts with quantities. The older they get the more they can do on their own.

Having everything out before you start is helpful, as well has having several wet wash clothes nearby. Have extra utensils for them to play with and let them get messy. A great apron can be very inspiring and save on cleanup. Bloom Woosie has an adorable selection of aprons for both girls and boys.

And most importantly always let them taste. If you're worried about exposing them to raw eggs, have some small bowls filled with different snacks- nuts, berries or raisins.

Baking for someone specific is a lovely idea. Sharing the fruits of their labor with a grandparent, a neighbor, a friend or even sending daddy to work with a treat can be exciting for a little one. A personalized kitchen stamp on a homemade gift tag is a great way to finish off their creation.

Oops: Gift Tag Fixes

There is nothing worse than feeling like you have wasted a gift tag with a poor stamp impression. Here is a great fix to transform the mistake into a usable card.

Cover the messed up impression with another piece of paper. Wrapping paper is a great option especially if the tag is to go on a present. The tiny pieces of wrapping paper you’ve saved forever now have a use. But don’t feel you have to match the wrapping paper on the gift- mixing it up can be fun and plain paper is always a good bet.

Adhere the messed up side to the paper. A glue stick or double-sided adhesive work good. If you’re looking to catch a specific area of the wrapping paper hold both the paper and tag up to a window to find the sweet spot.

Trim around the tag, using an X-acto knife or scissors. Grab a hole punch or use the knife to cut out space in the circle, but don’t worry about making it perfect. Remember that you’ll be putting ribbon or string through there.

You never know, it might even look as if you planned it.

Announcing the Oops Series

Rubber stamps are not perfect, that’s part of their charm. Yet a bad smudge or a missing part of the print can be a real bummer. So one of the tips we’d like to cover here on the blog is how to fix a bad rubber stamp impression.

Realizing that many of the fixes involve another sheet of paper, we’d like to start offering a mini pack of our eight papers free with any paper order. They are 5.5”x 4.25” and could fix many a notecard or gift tag mishap.

You never know when your mistake might turn in to a happy accident.

Out of the Box Gift

Have a children’s birthday party coming up? Here is a highly creative and very inexpensive present that works well for both boys and girls ages 4-8.

Not a Box, by Antoinette Portis is a delightfully series of simple drawings about a rabbit and a box. But it’s not a box- it’s a race car, a mountain and a robot among many things. The box transforms with bold red lines into a series of imaginative adventures. 

The book is wonderful by itself, but what makes this into a super cool gift is wrapping it in a very large box. The bigger the better, keeping in mind the child’s home. Also, make sure the box can fit into your car once it’s assembled and wrapped. The Container Store has a nice selection of boxes, which are white and great for drawing on. But you may want a brown box just like the one in the book, those can be found at any office supply store.

So not only are you giving a great book, but an opportunity for the child to explore his or her own imagination with their very own box. If you feel you need to or would like spend more add some arts and craft items, scarves, animal masks or anything that would fuel their creativity. Wrap, add curling ribbon and a gift tag and you are all set for another party.

Moving Announcements

Instead of buying separate moving announcements and a new address stamp, why not use a new address stamp to make your moving announcements? Here is one way to do it.

Create a template on the computer for your text. Four per page works well. Here we included boxes to know where to cut, but you can also create crop marks. Leave enough area for the stamp. Do a test print on plain office paper first to make sure your size and spacing is correct, then print on a fun, laser friendly paper. Stamp, trim and adhere to a card.

We made our template smaller than the card so we could have a contrasting border. Before adhering, we used an accent stamp to create a patterned border. If your paper feels good without a card, simply print, stamp and trim. An accent stamp placed on the envelope is always a nice touch.

If you love to create and have a friend that has just moved, consider giving them an address stamp and making them some announcements. It makes for a special housewarming present and will be one last thing they have to worry about as they search for silverware.

To get a pdf of the template above email us at info@butterflyfly.com.

Bake and Share: Banana Bread

Whether it’s no sugar for Lent, a continued commitment to a New Year’s resolution or an attempt at a calmer playgroup, everyone could use a yummy recipe that won’t leave you with regret. This banana bread recipe has no sugar and is made with whole wheat flour, and is still a crowd pleaser- honest. It’s from Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron.

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

Mix wet ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (the riper the better)

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs beaten

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

(if you don’t use this often keep it in the refrigerator)

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

Combine dry into wet, then fold in:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Bake in greased loaf pan for 50-60 minutes.

Cool, wrap, throw on a gift tag and make a neighbor very happy. But be warned, it makes your house smell fabulous so you might want to bake up two.

A great second child gift.

What do you give a family when they have a second or third child on the way and you know they already have all the baby basics? A special gift idea is a personalized bookplate stamp. By creating a family library stamp it not only celebrates the arrival of the newest member but it also includes the older child.

Some of the earliest Butterfly Fly stamps created were a set of three family library stamps to welcome a second child. The moth, ladybug and ant bookplate stamps make a great set and are gender neutral.

By using ‘family’ in the stamp text instead of individual names, you don’t have to wait until you know the name of the new baby and it still works if they have more children in years to come. Best of all, it may encourage sharing.

Until March 31, 2010 buy any three bookplate stamps and receive 20% off. When checking out use promotion code: BOOK20

Switching up rubber stamp designs.

As orders come in it’s always interesting to see how people are using different text in their personalized rubber stamps. Here are a few examples.

Some have used the teacher stamp layouts for a personalized library stamp. This is a great solution when you have a really long name or want to use a first and last name. 

On the flip side of that, if you are a teacher with a very short name and using your grade instead of the school’s name, then you don’t have much text to wrap around your stamp. Some people have added ‘from the desk of’ to their personalized teacher stamp and it looks great.

Our handmade by stamp designs are admittedly a bit more feminine in nature. But if you have a little Matisse pulling out the art supplies everyday then using one of our name stamps and giving it ‘handmade by’ text is an excellent option for boys.

And finally, we’re not sure if it’s a solution for twins, but having two names in one name stamp is really fun.

Of course we have changed the names in our examples. But if you have an interesting use of your stamp and would like to share please email photos to ideas@butterflyfly.com

We love seeing your creativity- keep it coming.