Lisa Storms

new teacher gift printable

Back by popular demand, I am sharing a new set of straw flag printables for last minute teacher gifts to accompany my original set from last year.  Fill a reusable cup with thank you notes and individual instant tea packets and top with a cute flag topper.

Between finding the new summer Copco cups with polka dotted straws (add white polka dots to anything and I'm sold) and the new Lipton tea packets, a new set of flags begged to be created.

One flag is specifically for a teacher, and the other is appropriate for any staff member at the end of the year.  The pdf for these can be found here: Download Straw Flag. Hit refresh if it doesn't load.

Here is a link to the original flags shown above.

And here is a link to all of my teacher gift posts.

owl gift box

It's time again to think about end-of-the-school-year gift ideas, and I have the sweetest candidate here...

I'm excited to join the altered arts design team over at BasicGrey, and this adorable fella is my first project to share.  He's easy to make using something you likely have in your pantry right now!  

You can find step-by-step directions and photos right here.  

tea party

A tea party would be a fun way to celebrate Mother's Day with your own mom, with your children, or with your mom friends.  It's also a fun theme for birthday parties, showers, or an excuse to get together with friends or family.

And it happens to be the theme of my newest article over at Fiskars.  

Get crafty with whimsical teacup rings made from cardstock ...

or a larger version for a fun favor holder.  

From the easiest tissue paper flower table runner ever to a teacup banner that can transform into a scalloped banner for extended use, you can see the full party, photos, and directions here.

baby shower continued

While I'm on the subject of babies, I wanted to share a couple of additional ideas to add to the "shower" themed baby shower I designed.

I am often asked about centerpiece ideas for this shower, and here is a super sweet one I had featured in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine using child-sized rain boots. Directions can be found here.

And for a simple invitation, add a shower of hearts raining down from a cute punched cloud. Directions for this one can be found here at Scrapbooks Etc.

(My original baby shower post can be found here.)

egg baby announcements

With Easter on the way along with the birth of my newest adorable nephew, I was reminded of a baby announcement I made long ago that was featured on Fiskars' old website.  If you are looking for a very creative announcement, baby shower invitation, or card for new parents, stock up on plastic eggs now while they are in stores.

1.  Drill hole into each half of egg near center opening.  Feed ribbon through holes and tie in a bow on outside of egg to create pretty hinge.

2.  Use Ultra ShapeXpress with Ovals template on a cutting mat to cut out multiple eggs for interior pages.  Cut photos (this size works well with wallet-sized photos) and formatted text from white cardstock.  Format one oval to say "Just Hatched" and top with punched chick (this particular chick punch was a limited edition and no longer available).

3.  Stack all ovals together and nest (pun intended) into egg and close to complete announcement.

While we're talking baby cards, here is another fun one I had featured in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine.  Directions can be found here.

easter egg hunt party

With less than two weeks until Easter (wow!), I have a new article up over at Fiskars full of ideas for decorating an Easter Egg Hunt Party (or your home for Easter in general).  I have such a soft spot for egg hunts!

I went with a carrots ...

and bunnies theme ...

with lots of ideas for easily turning simple paper into something special and festive.

View the full party here ... including a creative way to make adorable bunnies using an unexpected punch shape you may already have!

wedding favors

I wanted to share some inexpensive and easy-to-make wedding favors that were featured in Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine last year.  Details can be found on their website here.

They were part of a candy buffet I created for a fun wedding, which could also be used for really any festive event...

You can view the full candy buffet details here.  I'm very excited for wedding season to arrive!

from tee to cardigan

With spring's arrival, we have to do a lot of layering here in Oregon.  It's warm one minute and cold the next.  Enter my love of the cardigan.

Transform your tees into cardigans easily as I did here answering a Fiskars challenge for National Craft Month to make something using only a t-shirt, yard of fabric, rotary cutter, and hand/sewing machine.  Full photos and step-by-step directions can be found here.

easter egg holders

Happy Spring! Time keeps charging ahead, and Easter is less than three weeks away! I have some ideas for cute and easy Easter egg holders over at my new project at Fiskars.

These are fun to display your favorite eggs or use at place settings for a party or special meal.

Full photos and step-by-step directions can be found here.  I'll have more Easter fun soon!

winter color

As winter draws to a close, I wanted to share my happiest success in the yard this season.  Winter color is very important to me.  My yard in the winter is actually probably more important to me than any other time of year.  In Oregon the winters are damp and gray.  And my house color is gray.  It's all just so depressing!

So having color in my yard can actually lift my spirits.  I have tried many things (such as winter cabbage which literally disintegrated with all of our rain) but had little luck.  

This year I planted some 'Ghost Hills' Heather.  It's now the last day of winter, and it's still beautifully in bloom!  

In the background of the photo, I made sure to try to include a little bit of my Nandinas.  These turn a beautiful red all winter.  I have a ridiculous amount of them in my yard.  And I am happy to see some tulip leaves starting to pop up in the back there, too.  Flowers makes me so happy =).