Inspired by Kente Cloth From Ghana: A Tribal Invitation for All Occasions

Tribal Invitations Inspired by Kente Cloth from Ghana by B.Nute productions

I've been loving the tribal trend that's been happening in the design world. I've been seeing beautiful ethnic-inspired patterns on everything from shoes to skirts, purses to bowties. Of course, the paper world has been influenced too.

Over on my travel blog, Wanderlust Designer, I recently wrote about Kente cloth from Ghana, Africa. As I researched about the brightly colored geometric weavings, I was inspired to make an invitation design as well!

Milk and Cookies Party Games + Free Printable Game

Free Printable Milk and Cookies Party Game Pieces from B.Nute productions

The gang has arrived for your Milk and Cookies party -- now how do you entertain them? Well, some milk and cookies games, of course! Below are a bunch of game ideas including a free printable to get the party guests running around and having a ball. Before you know it, they will have worked up a great appetite for the delicious milk and cookie treats to follow!

Milk and Cookies Party Game Ideas
Cookie Hunt
This variation on an Easter egg hunt or hide and seek can be as hard or easy as you'd like, and easily tailored for the age of your party. Print out several sheets of the free printable milk and cookies below. Cut them out so they are ready to go. Now, hide the cookies around your house, yard, or party space. When the party guests arrive and have settled down, hand each of them a small basket or bag and send them on a cookie hunt.

The Milkman Relay Game
Print out several copies of the free printable milk and cookies below. Cut out the milk carton images to use for this game. Divide the guests into teams. Give each guest a location around the party space they must "deliver" their milk carton. Line the kids up, and one at a time (for each team) send them off to deliver their milk. Have the same destinations for each team, but vary the order, so each person is delivering the carton to a different location. Depending on the age of the guests, you can make the delivery destination far away or close. First team to finish delivering all their milk cartons wins.

Guess Your Cookie and Find Your Match
This game is a great way to get guests talking to each other. It is better suited for older guests (say at a Milk and Cookies Baby Shower), since each guest will need to be able to describe cookie flavors to each other without saying the name. Print out several copies of the free printable milk and cookies below. Lightly tape a cookie to the back of each guest. Once everyone has a cookie flavor, tell the crowd to mingle and ask questions to others to guess their cookie flavor. Make the rules as strict as you'd like on what types of questions you allow, but just don't let them say the name. Guests must ask questions like what ingredients may be in their cookie, or the crunchiness of their cookie, or the smell, etc. Once the guest has discovered her cookie flavor, she can take the cookie off her back.

Cookie Bakers Relay Race
Print out several copies of the free printable milk and cookies below. Print enough that there is one cookie for each guest. Divide the party guests into 2 teams. Hand the first player on each team a cookie tray. Place 2 baskets of the printed cookies at the far end of the party space. Have each guest run with the tray to the designated cookie basket, place a cookie on the tray, run back to the line and hand off the cookie tray (with the cookie[s]) to the next guest. The last guest in line should have a tray full of cookies as he/she runs. If any player drops a cookie along they way, they must stop to pick it up and put it back on the tray. First team to finish with all the cookies on the tray wins. To make this game more difficult, you can put obstacles in the way of the cookie basket. For instance, the guest may have to run around a chair, crawl under a table (with the tray!), or jump over a bag of flour. Keep in the theme and think of obstacles that might be found in a baker's kitchen.

Free Printable Milk and Cookies Game Pieces
Below are the free printable milk and cookie game pieces to use in the game ideas above.

Free Printable Milk and Cookies Game Pieces from B.Nute productions

Instructions for Making Your Milk and Cookies Game Pieces
1. Select the link above, and print out the page on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. Print on white cardstock to give some weight to the game pieces.
2. Cut out the cookies and milk cartons. Use in the games listed above in this blog post.

Printable items are copyright protected, and provided free of charge by B.Nute productions for personal use only. B.Nute's printables can not be sold, altered, or provided in any form for download on any other site. For questions or inquiries, please contact B.Nute productions.

Gettin' Crafty: DIY Little Book of Dreams and Wishes Free Printables

Free Printable DIY Little Book of Dreams and Wishes from B.Nute productions

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I thought I'd share a fun crafty project filled with dreams and wishes! Below are 2 printable little books, with prompts for you and possibly your little ones to fill out, from wishes for yourself to wishes for the world; dreams for today to dreams for a lifetime.

I love the mini-book format. It's perfect to slip into your night stand, and when you have that dream or wish you can jot it down. Below are the instructions

Free Printable Milk and Cookies Recipe Card

Free Printable Milk and Cookies Recipe Card from B.Nute productions

There's nothing like a batch of homemade cookies! Fresh out of the oven, my kids can't get enough. To accompany that homemade goodness, I've created a free printable Milk and Cookies Recipe card. With a playful, hand drawn look, they are prefect to print out, and update with your favorite recipe, then attach to some fresh baked cookies to give to a friend or loved one.

Milk and Cookies Party Invitations and Ideas

Milk and Cookies Party Invitations by B.Nute productions

A Milk and Cookies party is such a wonderful theme. I mean, who doesn't love a home made cookie and a tall glass of milk? What makes this theme also so great is it can be so versatile - you can throw a milk and cookies party for just about anyone, any age, and at any time of year!

A Milk and Cookies theme can be used for:

Just Create: Free Crafty Font and Printable Sign

Free Printable Just Create Everyday Sign by B.Nute productions

Today I gave myself the liberty to create anything I wanted - creative free reign. Of course this sent me into a good hour not knowing where to start! Finally, I opened up my iPad and decided to create a font. I've been wanting to design more fonts for a long time. I went with a crafty theme and just had fun.

This year I want to give myself many more "just create" days. Days where I try to take a couple hours and not stress about what I "should" be creating, but instead just create.

Inspired by Birch: A Woodsy Invitation for All Occasions

Birch Inspired Invitations by B.Nute productions

Last Thanksgiving we headed to Keystone, Colorado to visit my older sister and her family. Besides our delicious turkey feast and loads of hilarious sister time, I also loved our walks in the woods. Everyday we'd layer up and tromp out of their development onto one of several trails. At one turn you'd see a gleaming panorama of the Rockies, and the next we'd be nestled among the trees.

The birch trees were my favorite. Without leaves, and with the light snow on the ground it was the

Happy 2014 - New Year, New Look and New Energy!

A Few Pictures from 2013 by B.Nute productions

I love January. New Years always gives me fresh new energy. I'm ready to tackle projects I've put off for months or start something new. Yes, it's like setting New Years resolutions, but I don't make a big deal about it. So come February or March, if somethings have fallen to the wayside, that's OK. 

In December, I did a little soul searching. With 6 1/2 years of blogging on B.Nute productions, I was ready for a little change, but I didn't quite know what. A new look to the blog? Definitely needed. A little clean up and reorganization of content? Yes, of course. But what else?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning Smiles

I know, I know, the Christmas season is not all about the presents... but man, Christmas morning was sure fun when I was a kid. I mean, look at my face in the picture above. I am ecstatic over my doll... and that Knit Magic and finger paint set is also pretty darn cool!

We had a tradition growing up where my dad would tie a bow on our living room doorway, and we could not go in until my parents were both awake. As you can imagine, this was excruciating. I mean, how long would my mom take? Was she really brushing her teeth AND getting her coffee too?

The doorway had slats in it, and we'd scrunch our eyes, and peak through the gaps, trying to get a little clue of what lay behind. Finally, when the coffee was made, and my parents were ready, the door would open. It was magic. Presents piled high, and the tree glimmering with lights. We'd race to our stockings and being the frenzy.

We've carried on the bow tradition with my kids as well. They absolutely love it. They too have that same moment when the door opens and they see all the goodies! It really is magic.

Even with the present brigade, the season is much more than that - it's family, it's traditions, it's being together and enjoying the moment. I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with all those moments too!

Goodbye to an Old Friend

We said goodbye to an old friend this week... our 14 year old Jeep. It's been through a lot with us. It drove me to my wedding weekend and brought me home from the hospital with both kids. It bumbled up and down the streets of San Francisco, and commuted many years to Silicon Valley during the high tech frenzy. It went on countless road trips around the West, winding through the woods of the Northwest and cruising the flashy streets of Los Angeles. It spent many snowy days in Tahoe, and sunny afternoons at the beach. But most of all, it toodled around town and took us to places we needed to go. We loved our Jeep and will miss him dearly.

So, to you Jeepy, I say, "Cheers & thanks for all the adventures!"

Free Printable Hand Drawn Merry Christmas Tags

Free Printable Hand Drawn Holiday Tags by B.Nute productions

We're coming in to the holiday home stretch! Yesterday I made caramel for the first time. It was a simple recipe I found on How Does She called 15 Minute Caramels. Making them was easy, wrapping them up was a little more difficult, but either way, they are delicious and well worth the effort.

Felt Gift Card Holders with Vintage Jewelry Embellishments

Felt Gift Card Holders Embellished with Vintage Jewelry

I know, I know... gift cards can be so impersonal. I still do have a couple requests for some on my holiday list, though, so I decided to jazz up the delivery to make them a little more special. There is so much crafty goodness happening with felt these days. I've seen a couple examples of felt card holders on the web, but decided to put a little

Free Printable Vintage Ornament Note Card

Free Printable Vintage Ornament Holiday Note Card by B.Nute productions

Someday I'd love to have a Christmas tree filled with just vintage ornaments. The wonderful shapes, worn textures, retro designs would sparkle among the tree lights. I'd add a little tinsel too, just for more glitter and vintage charm. Since I don't own any of these

Free Printable Good Deeds Cootie Catcher / Fortune Teller

Free Printable Good Deeds Cootie Catcher by B.Nute productions

The holiday season always seems to rush by in a flurry of shopping trips, school events, and holiday parties. Many times my family can get so busy, that we start to loose focus of the real meaning of the season. To help remember the purpose, I've tried to carry on a tradition that my mom started when I was growing up. My mom would ask us to think up a good deed to do for the day during the holiday season. Then, at dinner time, we'd share what we'd done and talk about how it made us feel.

Free Printable Hand Lettered Joy Banner

Free Printable Hand Lettered Joy Banner from B.Nute productions

Here's to more joy coming your way! To match the sweet hand lettered printable JOY note cards I created, I've also made a festive holiday banner. Perfect for decorating a window, fire place mantle, door, or any place you want to add a little joy. En-JOY and have

Free Printable Hand Lettered Joy Holiday Note Cards

Free Printable Hand Lettered Joy Note Cards by B.Nute productions

As many of you may know, I just can't get enough of hand lettering! I had so much fun creating this free printable Joy Note Card. I've been experimenting with all types of drawing apps on my iPad and figuring out which ones I like best. For this card I used "Sketches." It gave me the graphic look I

Free Printable Homemade Goodness Tags

Free Printable Homemade Goodness Tags from B.Nute productions

Yesterday I spent the morning at a wonderful Christmas boutique at Filoli, a historic country estate in the Bay Area. The old mansion was decked out in all it's holiday glory, trees festooned with feathers, glitter and ornaments; gifts and goodies strewn about waiting to be purchased. At the end of the tour,

Free December 2013 Wallpaper: Deck the Halls

Free December 2013 Deck the Devices Desktop and iPad Wallpaper from B.Nute productions

Time to deck the halls (and your electronic devices) with holiday cheer! This month's free desktop and iPad wallpaper is adorned with hand drawn holiday ornaments, bright and cheery for this festive month. Enjoy!

Free December 2013 Desktop and iPad Wallpaper

Free December 2013 Ornament Desktop and iPad Wallpaper by B.Nute productions

1900x1200 December 2013 Deck the Halls Desktop Wallpaper

1980x1600 December 2013 Deck the Halls iPad Wallpaper

To set as your desktop image

Click on the 1900x1200 link above. When the image in view, on a PC, right click and select “Use Picture as Desktop Image”; For a Mac, Control-click and select “Use Image as Desktop Picture”. 

To set at your ipad wallpaper

Click on the 1980x1600 link above. When the image in in view, click and hold. Select "Save Image" from the popup menu. Once saved, select your "Settings -->Brightness & Wallpaper" and change your wall paper to the newly saved image in your photos.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at the Nute Home, 1959

I love this photo. It was taken Thanksgiving, 1959 at my grandparent's house. My parents were just newlyweds of 5 months (they are not in this picture), and I was not even an inkling in their mind (perhaps my older brother and sister were-- but definitely not me!)

I love this photo so much because it just says "family Thanksgiving." The men are in ties, the women are dressed up. The china is being used and my grandmother's fancy goblets are out. The candles are lit, and there is a welcoming pineapple/fruit centerpiece on display. It's not a Martha Stewart affair, and would not grace the boards of Pinterest for it's recipe or party idea potential, but it sure looks like a festive gathering.

The best part about this picture is everyone has a smile on their face. So even if this was just a down-home Thanksgiving, it must have been fun!

Wishing you and your family have a wonderful, down-home Thanksgiving of your own!

Free Printable Poinsettia Holiday Tags

Free Printable Hand Drawn Poinsettia Holiday Tags by B.Nute productions

Presents, hostess gifts, homemade goodies and more... the holidays are ramping up and gift giving is upon us! I had fun drawing these bright, cheerful and modern poinsettia tags perfect for this time of year. Tie one to a bottle of wine as you head over to a holiday party, or perhaps attach to a poinsettia plant and give to a neighbor to let them know how thankful you are to have them next door. Enjoy.

Free Printable Poinsettia Holiday Tags

Free Printable Hand Drawn Poinsettia Holiday Tags by B.Nute productions

Instructions for Making Your Poinsettia Tags
1. Select the link above, and print out the page on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. Print on white cardstock to give some weight to the tags.
2. Cut out the tags, and use as you'd like! Cut a small hole and string with ribbon to put on a gift of any kind.

Printable items are copyright protected, and provided free of charge by B.Nute productions for personal use only. B.Nute's printables can not be sold, altered, or provided for download on any other site. For questions or inquiries, please contact B.Nute productions.