Printable Summer Quotes

June 21 By American Greetings Leave a Comment

Blue skies. Warm sunshine. Gentle, swaying breezes. Summer’s such a beautiful time of year, isn’t it? Yet with the many demands of our busy lives, we may all be just a little guilty of forgetting that we can make it as fun and rewarding as we want to. The most important thing to remember is to give meaning to what really matters: relationships, not activities or events. So let’s rediscover the true joys of this season all over again — together. Plus, to help spread Summer Joy, we have beautiful, printable summer quotes you can cut out and leave for others, or use for your as your own inspirational reminders to soak in the season!

How to Make a Meaningful Summer with Kids

The secret here is to avoid just absentmindedly and randomly making a list of things to do. Instead, plan your activities thoughtfully and with purpose. Be sure to actively involve your kids, and find out what’s most important to them as well. Some sample questions to ask them: “What do you think would be a fun thing for us to do together this summer and why?” “If you could imagine the best summer adventure in the world, what would it be?” “What can we do to make a difference?” Here are a few fun examples to spark an idea of your own:

Learn something new. Share an experience that’s both novel and interactive. Ask your child if there’s something they’ve always wanted to try and maybe never had the courage to do. What a great way to discuss feelings of insecurity, how to handle life’s challenges, and satisfaction of accomplishment. Just having you there may be all the encouragement they need to get past their comfort zone.
Volunteer for a worthy cause. Work side-by-side helping others while discussing the importance of giving back. Do some crafts with the elderly in a nursing home. Walk a dog at an animal shelter. Or offer popsicles to the garbage truck workers in your neighborhood. You may even make a few new friends along the way.
Nurture relationships. Who do your kids want to spend more quality time with and get to know better? And why? Talk to them about the importance of relationships, whether it’s with their cousins, grandparents, or next-door neighbor. Then coordinate the visits and discuss afterwards.

How to Make a Meaningful Summer with Friends

This is all about spending quality time with your BFFs. That means stowing away cell phones and carving out time for lots of personal interaction. Take a day off work. Heck, take off a whole week of vacation and do something serendipitous. We like to call it “deliberate fun.” Here are some suggestions to get you started on your own brainstorming:

Get personal. Instead of just “liking” the social media posts and photos of friends you haven’t seen in a while, take the time to actually call or visit them. Try doing this on a regular basis, and you’ll soon see how special you make each of them feel.
Go unplugged. Pick an activity to do with your friends (liking eating out, going bowling, or hiking trails) and leave all electronics behind. Focus on your friends and give them your undivided attention. Bonus: Have your friends do the same.
Make it “write.” There’s nothing quite as meaningful as a handwritten note, letter, or card from a friend. Get out your pen and rekindle an old friendship, or strengthen a new one.

How to Make a Meaningful Summer for Yourself

We all need some alone time once in a while. And summer is the perfect excuse to wind down and enjoy yourself — by yourself. Forget the errands and chores. They can wait. You can’t. This is your time. Make the most of it.

Research your roots. If you’ve always wanted to find out more about your family history, now’s the time to do it. Reach out to family members who can fill in the gaps. You may even discover relatives you never knew you had! Your next family reunion will be that much bigger.
Take some time just for you. Start the day with a nature walk to set a calm mood and take plenty of deep breaths to drink in your surroundings. Read a book, or write in a journal. Watch your favorite movie, or catch up on some much-needed sleep. Take the day to revisit yourself and see how refreshing some true “me time” can be.

We hope this helps you in planning to make it a meaningful summer this year, no matter who you’re with! To make it even a bit more fun and exciting, here are some super-cute summer quotes we’ve created just for you. Download and print today. use the blank notes to fill in activities or ideas you want to accomplish this season. Happy summer, everyone!

Printable Summer Quotes

How to Make Tissue Paper Flower Pens

April 6 By American Greetings Leave a Comment

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Tissue paper flower pens are a fun, inexpensive and easy way to make someone a gift from the heart. For less than $1.00 per pen, you can create a festive keepsake that’s sure to make them smile—without breaking your wallet. And the best news is, you don’t have to be super crafty to make one!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Pens (straight ones without a clip work the best)
Tissue paper
Curling ribbon
Double-sided tape
Scissors

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Lay a single piece of tissue paper flat and smooth it out. Fold it in half four times, smoothing it out each time to avoid wrinkles.
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Take your scissors and free-hand cut a cloud shape, cutting through all layers of tissue paper at the same time. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfectly symmetrical or that it resembles a perfect flower-shape. (In fact, we found that the uneven cloud-shape gives you a fuller look.)

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Take your stack of petal-clouds and restack them on top of each other, flipping some of them over and rotating them around so that they’re in an uneven stack, not perfectly one-on-top of each other.

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Use the tip of your pen and press down on your stack of petals. Carefully pull the petals up 2-3 layers at a time onto the handle of the pen. AG_FB_LINK_Tissue_Paper_Flower_Pen

Once all of the tissue paper is pulled onto the pen, wrap the flat end of the pen in double-sided tape. Pull up a single piece of tissue paper and gently press it onto the tape from several sides. Gently squeeze the tissue paper to pull it all close together.

Now you pull all of your petals a few at a time towards the end of the pen. Gently pull your petals through your thumb and index finger to smooth them out and bring the flower together.

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Holding the flower between your thumb and index finger, wrap the very base of the flower in double-sided tape. Apply double-sided tape length-wise down both sides of the pen and wrap the base of it as well. Then starting at the base of the flower, wrap the pen in the green curling ribbon.

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Move slowly and overlap it so that the pen is completely wrapped in ribbon. When you reach the base of the pen, cut of the excess curling ribbon. If the ribbon feels loose at the tip, you can tuck another piece of double-sided tape under the tail end of the ribbon for extra security.

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And there you have it–an adorable tissue paper pen, perfect for celebrating any occasion! If you want to make a dozen, it will take about two packages of tissue paper and about a roll and a half of curling ribbon, keeping the total cost of this project under $1/pen.

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Still need some extra help? Watch our full video tutorial below:

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Printable Valentine’s Day Shopping List

February 2 By American Greetings Leave a Comment

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If Valentine’s Day seems to be sneaking up on you, you’re not alone. The holiday is fast approaching, and it can be hard to stay organized when there’s a lot to be done – treats to make for class parties, finding valentines for your kids to exchange with friends, picking out the perfect Valentine’s Day cards for everyone on your list, etc. Speaking of lists, we thought we’d do our part to help keep you organized with this fun, (and FREE) printable Valentine’s Day shopping list.

This sweet printable includes a shopping list so you won’t forget anything you need, and open notes section to write down extra reminders, and adorable little love notes you can cut out and leave in lunch boxes, school folders, or around the house for your sweetie.

Printable Valentine's Day Shopping List

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Printable Inspirational Quotes

September 21 By American Greetings Leave a Comment

Fall is here, and there is something about this season that makes us want to bring out the warmest and kindest versions of ourselves. A really beautiful way to do that is carrying out little random acts of kindness for the people around us. We’ve collected some of our favorite inspirational quotes, and put them together on one printable sheet that you can cut out and leave for those around you.

Use them to remind people that you’re thinking about them, or even leave them for someone you may not know at all – because we could all use some gentle words for the soul to lift us up every once in while. Below are some suggestions for how you can use these little bits of inspirations.

People you live with:
Why not have one of these waiting first thing in the morning for someone to encourage a great day – especially if they had a not-so-great day yesterday. In that case, the “Don’t ruin a good day because of a bad yesterday” quote is a perfect choice.

Another option for a good pick-me-up is the “All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt,” quote. Leave this with a mini chocolate bar on the kitchen table and it’s pretty much guaranteed to make their morning bright.

Friends going through a tough time:
Sometimes life can be hard, and stressful, and busy, but knowing that a friend has your back and is there when you need them can make all the difference. “You’ll always have the help and support of people who care, especially me,” is a great quote to leave with a friend as a reminder that you’ll always be there when they need you the most.

“Let your faith be bigger than your fear,” is also nice thought to leave with someone who might need a few words of encouragement.

Someone you may not know:
We don’t always have to know someone to make a difference in their day. Simply leaving the “Today seemed like a good day to wish you a good day,” quote on someone’s desk is a great prompt to start a “pay it forward” movement around the office. Also, “Color the world with goodness,” is a warm reminder for all of us to be as kind as possible.