Inexpensive and Personalized Gift Ideas For Pet Lovers

With the holidays rapidly approaching, are you trying to come up with creative and unique gift ideas for pet-loving friends and family members? There are a variety of simple yet personalized items that you can craft yourself with just a little time and effort. You will, however, need access to the pet (or at least the pet's photographs) to complete these works of art. Following are just a few suggestions that are sure to please pet parents!

If the pet in question is one that you visit frequently, a paw print in clay can become a meaningful ornament. You can purchase kits for making these prints, or you can search for clay in various colors and textures, roll it out and take a paw print impression. You can inscribe the pet's name on the ornament as well. Put a little hole in the top of the print and, once it is dry, thread a colorful ribbon through it. There are a number of different types of clay that will work for this, the easiest being air-dry clay such as Crayola. However, some of the clays that require baking, such as Sculpey products, come in a number of different colors and can make a more festive ornament. Websites such as createforless.com offer a plethora of choices!

A different type of ornament can be made using a lock of a pet's fur. You can purchase clear glass ornaments such as those from Darice and insert a lock of hair into the sphere with a ribbon. You can further personalize the ornament by painting the pet's name and the date on the exterior surface. Add a ribbon and it is ready to hang! A third suggestion is to purchase a flat surfaced, "ready-to-finish" ornament to which you can affix a pet's photo. These can be decorated around the edges with ribbon, and the pet's name and the date painted on the back. Michael's, Hobby Lobby or other craft stores should have these on hand.

For those who are not quite as artistic, or don't have the time to spend on these projects, there are a number of options for purchasing pet-themed ornaments that allow for personalization. Theanimalrescuesite.com is one choice for finding reasonably priced gifts that can be personalized...and each purchase also helps animal welfare organizations and other charities!

If you would like to try something other than an ornament, a personalized keepsake box is another simple, yet meaningful gift idea. Purchase a nice wooden box (at least 7" x 7" x 7") and affix different photos of the pet on all sides and the top of the box. You can further decorate with the pet's name as well as with paw print or other decals. You should be able to find boxes like this at Michael's, Hobby Lobby or other craft stores.

A personalized pet calendar is yet another gift idea. If you are particularly creative, you can make a one-year hanging wall calendar with scrapbook paper, an 8 1/2 x 11" 2010 calendar printout, and the pet's photos. You can find printable calendars on-line (2010calendar.org is one option). Once you have printed the landscape calendar on a good quality paper, affix it to a background such as scrapbook paper, cut large enough to accommodate the calendar as well as any pet photographs you wish to include. Laminate the calendar, cut a small hole at the top and thread a festive ribbon through it for a year-long tribute to your pet-lover's best buddy.

Other calendar options are available through websites such as smilebox.com, which allows you to create and personalize greeting cards, notecards, photo albums and collages in addition to calendars, with a variety of pre-selected designs. Output can be shared electronically or can be printed.

These are just a few holiday gift ideas for the pet-lovers in your life...and any of them are sure to be appreciated and cherished.

Joy Lee is co-owner and general manager of Rover Oaks Pet Resort in Katy, Texas. She is also passionate about animal rescue, and has authored a book, "Rover's Rescues...True Stories of Shelter Dogs and Second Chances", for which a portion of each book sale will be donated to Citizens for Animal Protection in Houston. Visit her website, http://www.joyleebooks.com/, for more information. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joy_Lee

Find More : gift shop , gift delivery , gift personalized , Gifts Corporate , gift shop online

Wrought Iron Designs For the New Year

With the New Year fast approaching, it's time to think about sprucing up your home with a new look. After the gloom of winter, you'll be ready for the beauty of wrought iron designs for every room in your home, and your balcony, patio, yard and garden as well.

Explore the beautiful pieces that are painted white. This will cheer up your home and add a touch of elegance. Patio furniture is especially beautiful in white and the items can be as plain or as fancy as you like.

Here are some ideas for the different rooms and places at your home:

• In the bathroom you can add several fixtures, like a towel rack, toilet paper holder, even mirrors can add elegance. If you have space, put a shelf rack in the corner, and add a plant or two. Use it as a place to stack your colorful towels;
• Kitchen - my favorite place for wrought iron! I love baker's racks, hanging pot holders, and paper towel holders, just to mention a few things. Actually, baker's racks look good in other rooms, too. Try putting a white baker's rack by your front entrance with a lot of green hanging plants. Or another one in your front room to hold you stereo or favorite books;
• Bedroom - what could be more elegant than a lovely white wrought iron bed with a fluffy goose down comforter? Other choices for the bedroom include mirrors, wall art, candle holders, lamps, or a lovely necklace holder for the lady of the house;
• Dining Room and Front Room - This is the perfect place for a beautiful table and chairs, as well as wall decor, mirrors, candle holders, lamps, and unique pieces of sculpture. These rooms would also benefit by a lovely wrought iron chandelier;
• A staircase and railing in wrought iron inside your home would be an incredible and easy to take care of;
• Outdoor furniture for your patio, balcony, back porch, or yard is great for the warmer months and only requires a minimum of hosing off at the end of the season. Wrought iron furniture is well-built and strong, and won't embarrass your most robust BBQ guest by collapsing;
• I love GAZEBOS. You could have one tucked into the corner of your garden to enjoy as a quiet place to read on a summer's day, or to host a fun tea party with your favorite youngster;
• Put a wrought iron fence around your property or a gate to the entry of your yard, and you will have the most envied and unique home in YOUR neighborhood.

The nice thing about wrought iron is that it's designed to last a lifetime with a minimum of maintenance. You won't be repainting, repairing, or replacing your purchases every couple of years.

I hand picked several lovely items for YOUR home. Please visit the special Store at my Wrought Iron Designs Blog. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Renee_Benzaim

Find More : timber door , wrought iron gate , iron gate , gate designs

How to Create Indoor and Outdoor Banners

Banners are used for almost every kind of business. They announce "grand openings" and also "closeout sales" they provide information about new ownership and improved services and can communicate a wide variety of messages and information.

Many businesses and organizations use banners on a regular basis and have them professionally printed on a large range of materials. There are indoor and outdoor banners, and some intended to be used in any possible environment.

How do you go about creating indoor and outdoor banners? The first step to having a banner created is to identify a few potential commercial printers. Because banners will always be printed on unique materials and in oversized formats, they require the services of specialized commercial printing companies. Luckily there are many such organizations at work around the country and on the Internet, and finding them is quite simple for almost any area.

The next step is to understand how a banner should be designed. The text will need to be legible, or readable, from a distance. This could be from across a parking lot or across a room. The wording selected must be able to be taken in and read in a reasonable amount of time. Banners are not something that people stop and take a few minutes to read, but look at as they pass by. This is a key factor in creating an affective banner and an appropriate amount of text.

The next step in creating an indoor or outdoor banner is choosing the material and size for the print job. For example, many businesses make frequent appearances at trade shows and conventions. They would require a different type of banner from a company using a banner to advertise their "grand opening". Fortunately there are banner materials specifically for repeated use and those meant to be used and discarded.

Many banner printing companies offer "pre printed" signage, such as the opening, closing, sale and other banners so frequently used by businesses for only a brief time.

When deciding on a custom banner design it is important to remember that a banner is supposed to serve as a visual version of the phrase "hey, you!" and this means it should have bold colors, clear text and a brief but clear message. Many banner printing companies offer design services and assistance because of the special nature of banner signs.

If a company has a photographic image or special art, such items are also usually easy to place on a banner as well. Many companies also tie their banners into their corporate identity and create items that match existing print materials like posters, flyers, brochures, catalogs, business cards and other materials.

When a design has been settled on it usually requires the correct file format, such as a .pdf file from which the printing company creates the banner. In today's highly technological world there are many companies that can offer design to print services for banners of all sizes, and all of them can be created from the convenience of a computer or lap top.

David Granoff is a 25 year veteran printing business owner. His company specializes in self publishing for authors as well as other services such as digital printing, color copies, book printing, and indoor/outdoor banner printing [http://theprintplace.com/index.iml?mdl=subPage/view.mdl&PAGE_ID=39110] in Dallas/Addison. For more information on indoor/outdoor banner printing in Dallas , Texas, check out The Print Place [http://www.ThePrintPlace.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Granoff

Find More : banner printing , banner design , create banner , banner maker , advertising banner