Free printable cards and invitations

In my neck of the woods, babies keep popping out all over the place. Now I'll be ready to pounce on them with a "welcome baby" card. Find boy and girl versions of Olliegraphic's free printable at Oh My! Handmade Goodness.

Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic continues to churn out beautifully styled stationery to print yourself. Get her DIY picnic invitation set right here.

Print your own recipe cards featuring hand-drawn owls by Suz Sanchez, free from My Owl Barn. Download the PDF here. Update: now there's a fillable version you can type out and print!

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How to sew 9 different bags and purses

Thanks to the ever-generous citizens of the internet, we can learn to sew a whole crop of totes, pouches, and bags. Find free patterns and tutorials right here:
Boxy pouches made from a thrifted suit at See Kate Sew
Phoebe Bag from Artsy Crafty Babe
Nature Explorer Bag at Chez Beeper Bebe
Olivia Bag from Dixie Mango
Hip pouch by Daisie Janie
Madras summer tote from Noodlehead
Pleated tote by Artsy Crafty Babe
iPhone pouch from During Quiet Time
Denim tote at Between the Lines

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Various How About Orange sightings

Dorkys Ramos, New York City magazine writer extraordinaire who blogs at Dry as Toast, has posted an interview with me today in which I blabber on about blenders, running an Etsy shop, and the color orange. Read it right here.

How About Orange also received a brief mention at Women's Health Magazine this week. They linked to my post about Kimanh's recipe cards, in which I stated my love for carbs. Now I fear they're secretly judging me.

Finally, thank you to Flipboard for featuring How About Orange in the "Living" section of the Flipboard app. Look at that: sandwiched between Bob Vila and Oprah. It doesn't get much better than that. For those who aren't familiar with Flipboard, it's a free social magazine app for the iPad. Load it up with your Facebook and Twitter accounts, favorite blogs and news sites, then read them all like a magazine, turning pages as you go. I use it. I love it.

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How to make easy paint chip wall art

If your apartment needs some decorating, you can't draw, and you're broke, consider chopping up paint chips. (Yep, I'm still on the paint chip kick.) These are Glidden swatches from Home Depot made into a simple triangle pattern. I put it inside a mat and frame I already had, and it looks fairly respectable. Put anything inside a mat and frame and it will look respectable. Heck, you could frame a crumpled-up Kleenex and somebody will assume it's a very special piece of modern art.

To make this fancy paint chip art, cut swatches into triangles. I found it easiest to trim the swatches into strips first, then cut the angled sides using one triangle as a template.

I laid the shapes out in an arrangement I liked, then transferred them one by one to a sheet of paper cut to the size I needed. I ran the paper through my Xyron machine first to make it sticky, but you could also coat your paper with spray adhesive or attach your pieces with rubber cement or other adhesive.

Trim off any overhanging triangles, put it under glass, and you're done.

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Fonts from the Lost Type Co-op

Founded by Riley Cran and Tyler Galpin, the Lost Type Co-Op is a pay-what-you-want foundry. Browse through the retro-inspired typefaces, and when you see one you must have, enter a donation amount from $0 to infinity. After entering an amount and downloading the font, you'll be directed to Paypal if you typed something other than zero. 100% of the funds go directly to the font designer. Enjoy!

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DIY tutorials for the home

Some interesting do-it-yourself ideas from around the internet:
Chalkboard headboard by Fly Chicks
Mini laptop desk from Fresh Home Ideas
Chevron shoebox-lid wall art at Spunky Junky
Place setting table by KC and Sara via Apartment Therapy

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Generate seamless Japanese patterns

At Pugly Pixel I discovered the Japonizer. It sounds like an Asian pro wrestler, but it's actually a pattern generator that creates seamless files for tiling—useful for Twitter backgrounds, websites, or your computer desktop. Choose a traditional Japanese pattern, select a size and your favorite colors, and download your file. (Should you need to generate a professional wrestling name as well, click here.)

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Printable recipe cards

A take-off on the iconic "I love NY" logo, this "I love my food" recipe set from Scissors Paper Wok is a nifty download. Print your own cards for soup, salad, sauce, baking, roast, drink, dessert, bread, breakfast, main dish and side dish. Though if I had my way, I'd eat only bread and dessert, but I've heard you're not supposed to do that. Get the cards right here.

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How to make boxes from paint swatches

If you've got paint chips sitting around begging to be made into something, try folding them into boxes for paperclips, thumbtacks, party favor candies, or tiny gifts. I made these from Behr swatches, available at Home Depot.

You'll need paint swatches, double-stick tape, an X-acto knife, ruler, and cutting mat.

For the box bottom, cut a 1/2" strip off each of the two rounded ends of the swatch. You should be left with a 5" x 5" square. At a point slightly more than 1 1/2" from one edge—about 1 17/32" if you want to be picky, but I just eyeballed it—score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides. These scoring lines are shown as dashed lines above. Then cut out the gray shaded sections. This is what the box bottom should look like:

The box lid is constructed the same way. Trim a swatch down to a 3" x 3" square. At a point slightly less than 1/2" from one edge, score a line with your knife. Repeat on the remaining three sides and cut out the gray shaded sections.

Fold each sheet on the scored lines, bending flaps inward and securing them with double-stick tape.

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16 printable party invitations (free!)

HGTV features a collection of all-occasion party invitations to download and print. If you've got a party coming up and the stick people you've scrawled on your homemade invites don't look quite right, click here! Created by different designers, there's something for everyone.

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Quiz: HomeGoods Stylescope

A little fun for Friday: take a quiz from HomeGoods to help you determine your decorating style. Created by Deborah Needleman, former editor-in-chief of Domino magazine, the test also offers tips for how to fix up your space. I was deemed an "Earthy Modern" (nice) but my "Happy Home Colors" were all tints of lavender (no thanks). See how you turn out!

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Free font: Ostrich Sans

Greetings, font hoarders. You might enjoy adding Tyler Finck's Ostrich Sans to your ever-growing collection of type. It comes in six styles, including dashed and rounded—all available for free at The League of Moveable Type.

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Fabric sighting in Woman's World

A How About Orange operative emailed me a scan of a recent page in Woman's World magazine. There's my Fireworks fabric lounging on a sofa. Thanks, Amy! I've also heard of a Calliope sighting in HGTV's Sarah 101. It's like playing Where's Waldo, but with fabric.

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Something funny for the sewing box

I spotted this silly measuring tape at Yozo Craft and had to get one for my mum. A tiny, goofy thank you for sewing me endless wonderful goodies. And... fine, I'll confess. I got one for myself, too. I can never resist a panda with a removable ear.

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Print it yourself: Airmail thank you notes

Hello, everyone! I've returned from the Pacific Northwest and planned to hit the ground running today... until the electricity went out first thing this morning after a brief storm. It's expected to take a few days to restore power to the entire Chicago area, so I'm typing from the public library. Alex and I have hauled a pile of gadgets over here, including my desktop computer with its large monitor (good for graphic design work, but not ultra portable) along with various cords, phones, the iPad, and some rechargeable batteries for my booklight. I considered bringing along the the refrigerator, but concluded that might be a bit much. We plan to suck up as much power as they'll let us tonight before heading home to our sauna of an apartment.

On the bright side: Amy Lowry of Vancouver's Thank You Cards Shop has created a charming free printable just for How About Orange readers. Who doesn't love an airmail theme, especially when it's done up in summery pink and orange? Download the three-page PDF right here, complete with note paper, matching envelope, and zillions of coordinating stickers. If you'd like a personalized version of the notecard with a custom postmark and wording, head to Amy's shop where they're available for purchase in six colors.

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Funny catalog blogs

Last but not least in the "Wish I'd Thought of That" series: blogs that provide humorous captions to home interior magazine photos. I could amuse myself for years on a project like this. The image above is from Unhappy Hipsters, captioned, "The plant wandered over to see what he could do to help."

Catalog Living is also entertaining, offering "a glimpse into the exciting world of the people living in your catalogs."

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How to make your own scratch-offs

Continuing the "Wish I'd Thought of That" series, learn to make your own scratch-offs from Martha Stewart. I've seen several tutorials for creating scratch-off tickets using dish soap and paint, and always wanted to test it. At Martha, the mixture is applied to a save-the-date wedding announcement. To see the instructions, click here. (Note the tips in the comments, too.)

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Make your own sugar cubes

Next up in this week's "Wish I'd Thought of That" series: DIY sugar cubes from Nifty Thrifty Things. They're completely adorable, are they not? Learn how to make them right here. It looks fun to try at least once.

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Use binder clips to secure cords

The first installment in this week's "Wish I'd Thought of That" series:

You know how the cords that charge your stuff tend to slip down into the nether regions behind your desk? Here's an easy solution from David Bakker for organizing cables. I can't read the original post, but a picture's worth a thousand words. Via Unplggd.

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Free font: Lobster Two

Pablo Impallari has crafted a sequel to his popular Lobster font—say hello to Lobster Two, a friendly, retro script. Get all four styles for free right here.

Have a festive fourth of July weekend, everyone! I'm taking next week off, but to prevent How About Orange from collecting dust, I've prepared a series of posts entitled "Wish I'd Thought of That"—good ideas from around the internet. Stay tuned!

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