Free February 2014 Wallpaper: A Month Full of Hearts

Free February 2014 Desktop and iPad Wallpaper: A Month of Hearts

I can't believe February will be here tomorrow. As the rest of the United States has been in a deep freeze, we've been quite Spring-like in California (and no rain!) Although I won't complain, because the weather has been wonderful, I'm missing a bit of that winter feeling. I always like how turning the calendar to February means Spring isn't too far away.

To celebrate February, I've created a heart-filled wallpaper calendar perfect for your iPad or desktop. It's hand painted, with playful hearts, arrows and a few flowers too... something to cheer up even the coldest of days!

Free February 2014 Desktop and iPad Wallpaper

Free February 2014 Desktop Wallpaper: A Month Full of Hearts

Free February 2014 Desktop Wallpaper: 1900x1200

Free February 2014 iPad Wallpaper: 1980x1600

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.

Digital wallpaper are copyright protected, and provided free of charge by B.Nute productions for personal use only. B.Nute's wallpapers 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.

Just Create: A Cast of Doggone Cute Characters

A Cast of Dog Gone Cute Characters by B.Nute productions

My son signed up for a cartooning class through our local rec. center and was so excited. He kept talking about the things he wanted to draw. Two days before the start date, I got a call that it was cancelled. He was so disappointed.

To cheer him up, I offered to teach him a cartooning class myself. Although I took a few animation classes in graduate school, I must admit, I have lots to learn when it comes to character drawing, and cartooning.  I've always admired playful illustrations of characters, and thought this would be a fun way for us to spend some time together and create art. Of course my daughter chimed in that she wanted to attend the class as well. The more the merrier, I say!

So, in preparation for tomorrow's first class, I spent a little time today working on this "dog gone cute" cast of characters. I love how it turned out, so bright and cheery. I printed it and put it in a frame on my desk to make me smile. I look forward to sharing how our class goes. I'll be sure to post the progress along the way.

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?