Put a bird on it!  

Look how cute this egg wreath is!  The patterned paper paired with the solid makes for an adorable layout, or have your kids decorate solid colored eggs and make a wreath with those.  Great variations of this would be to use solid color paper/cardstock and “mix media” it up with distress inks, acrylic paint, Nuvo Crystal dots and more or create one from gelli prints that you make on a gelli plate.   

Die cut an adorable cupcake topper.

Rip it, layer it and make an awesome tag to use on a gift or as a base which you can stamp, add hand letting to, etc.

Embellish a scrapbook layout.

The holiday weekend is upon us along with an array of activities and cookouts to attend. We thought we would share a quick round-up of some of our favorite 4th of July Hostess Gifts. Remember, hostess gifts don't have to be elaborate or expensive, but a little something to show your appreciation for the event coordinator's hospitality and hard work is always a nice touch.

Picture 1 - Make a S'mores pack with graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows. Bonus points for using decorative paper to wrap them (we've got you cover with that!).

Picture 2 - Buy a potted succulent or plant and add a festive tag with your appreciation (see below for tag idea).

Picture 3 - Fill up an empty bottle with patriotic candies like M&M's and add a tag.

Picture 4 - Put some goodies in a plain brown lunch sack and decorate with punches from patriotic paper and red and blue washi tape. This idea is especially good if you are headed to an event with lots of kids and want to take them some goodies.

Picture 5 - Fill a clear container with popcorn or another treat and decorate with patriotic paper and washi tape.

Picture 6 - It doesn't get any easier than this, dress up a watermelon with some ribbon or washi tape and add a decorative tag.

Picture 7 - Buy a bucket of Red Vines or similar licorice and decorate with a patriotic theme.

Picture 8 - Create a little bucket of goodies including sparklers, pop-its and candy in a red, white and blue theme.

All of these hostess gifts would look great decorated with paper from Photoplay's Main Street Parade Collection or Little B's foiled flag washi tape (both are available at Palette & Paper).  The sheet of Photoplay paper pictured above makes great tags for all of these ideas shown.  Simply cut it apart (10 tags for a $1!), punch a hole in the corner and tie on to the hostess gift with a message on the back.

We are open today and tomorrow and hope to see you soon! Wishing you a fun and safe 4th of July weekend!
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​With every trip I take I like to create an album of some sort to house pictures and memories in.  I absolutely love revisiting the album and walking down memory lane for years to come afterwards.  The type of albums I have made have differed over the years – everything from chipboard albums to Project Life type binders and more.  The past couple of years though I have been using the “Travelers Notebook” system to keep track of everything from grocery lists to expenses to to-do lists and so much more.  I have also started creating a Traveler’s Notebook insert for each trip.  It ends up being a great size and very “manageable” when it comes to getting it complete.  That is a big factor for me – the easier it is to complete the more apt I am to getting it completed.  These types of inserts are also great for kids to record their travels and summertime adventures in.  

Step 2:  While on vacation take pictures.  Lots of pictures and don’t forget to ask a stranger to take a picture of you/your group or use the selfie method.  This is a no-brainer because pictures really are worth a 1,000 words and even more words with your smiling face in them!  With so many cell phones having good cameras nowadays there’s no excuse to not take a lot of pictures. 

Tip 1: Before heading out on your vacation be sure to have lots of storage space on your phone or memory card in your phone.

Tip 2: Find something “cool” about the place you are traveling to and take repetitive type pictures.  For example, take pictures of front doors on houses if the city you are visiting has interesting architecture or do a series of pictures featuring “round” things (i.e. man hole covers, tile designs, anything and everything that has a circle on it).  This will make you look at everything through a new set of eyes.  Recently, I toured the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  The whole estate was amazing, and I took pictures of a lot of things, but one thing I focused on was the ceilings.  On the first floor of the house each room had a different ceiling.  I love the little “series” of pictures that this provided. 

Step 3: Collect ephemera.  I always pick up a variety of those “free publications” you can find while on vacation and business cards.  I use pictures from brochures, snippets about restaurants and places to go, along with postcards and bookmarks I buy in my Traveler’s Notebook insert.  Also, I keep receipts from everything, including the fast food place we lunched at while on the road.  Not everything will make it in the final album, but it helps me remember places and locations.

Step 4: Take notes.  Use the notes section in your phone or a little notebook to document little things – a funny saying that keeps coming up during the vacation, list the songs in your road trip play list or the podcasts you listened to, what everyone ate at dinner, historic facts or fun tidbits about the locale, etc.  Spending a few minutes a day keeping track of things like this will help greatly when putting your album together.

Step 5: Within the first couple of days of being home revisit your notes and try to “round them out”.  Add information to your notes, google for information you can’t quite remember.  If you didn’t get a picture of something or place you really would like to include, google it!  Collaborate with others that you vacationed with and share pictures or tidbits.
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Tip 1: Make an A to Z list capturing memories from the trip. I learned this tip from Amy Tan (aka Amy Tangerine) and have loved incorporating it into my albums. It is a good way to include random snippets or memories. 

Check back tomorrow for Steps 6 - 10!