Free Printable Fun for Everyone

I’m not dead…

2009-10-02T18:24:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe I haven’t posted since July! That makes me a terrible, terrible person.

This blog isn’t closed and nothing terrible has happened to me. I decided to go back to school and I’m in mid-terms right now so I just haven’t had any time.

I hope no one is angry. :) Oh! And aside from school I’ve been doing glitter body art at events. You can check that out at http://www.glitteratiarmy.com if you’re curious.

So basically I’m just a really, really busy girl! If you have anything you’d like to see on the site let me know and I’ll get it up. If you have something cool on YOUR website and you’d like a shout out let me know.

FFP’s FIRST GAME!!! (click for full screen)

2009-07-27T17:36:00.001-07:00

This is amazing. You see that? That little computer game was made by programmer Billy Collins from Aven’s Corner. Aven’s Corner was inspired by Billy’s son Aven, a delightful 3 year old boy who has Autism. The games, crafts, and activities on this site are geared specifically to the skills and interests of small children with Autism.

Billy contacted me a while back to ask if he could use my printable emotions bingo game to create an interactive emotions game for his site. I can’t tell you how thrilled that made me. I’m always stunned and overjoyed when a reader adapts one of my ideas for their own child – even more so when they share that adaption with others. Billy even went so far as to let me put the game on my site – making it the first non-printable game to grace this blog.

THANK YOU BILLY!

If you get a chance stop by Aven’s Corner and tell him how much he rocks!

Free Printable Daily Affirmations

2009-07-21T20:14:00.001-07:00

Kind over Matter and their friends have put together this wonderful daily affirmations printable. I really love the idea and the affirmations are awesome.

The four files that comprise this set are spread over different blogs. It’s like a scavenger hunt. There are also files for making the cute scallop box and matching papers you see below.

Sometimes we need a little push to get our mind and hearts in the right place. These would be perfect for doing just that. They would also make an awesome gift. Get them while you can.

Some nice finds… Download some Joy

2009-07-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

I found some pretty stuff today that made me smile and thought I’d share.

Print a Day is sharing some charming stationery. She’s got such an eye for design. It should be criminal to be so talented.

I love Boxy Papercraft Toys, partly because they are quick to assemble and require little in the way of materials and partly because they are so beautifully and energetically illustrated that I can’t help but smile when I see them. I’m seriously considering building all of them and pinning them to the wall all art-installation style.

Paper Crave bestows on us these great love stamp inspired printables. There are flat cards, address labels, patterned paper, and some cute gift tags. The gift tags would make perfect stickers.

Speaking of stickers (smooth transition, eh?) here’s a great tutorial for making your own stickers using flavored gelatin. Sounds pretty kid friendly to me.

Thank you Go Make Something for all the awesome free printable collage sheets. You ROCK!

I might have mentioned these before, but Creature Comforts, is providing a wonderful free download of uber cute mini note sheets, library cards, and library card pocket templates. I’m sure you can find more than one way to use those little pockets.

Stationery Style is a commercial site, but they have some nice looking card downloads.

Lotta Bruhn, fab graphic designer and altruistic sticker maker, has some of the cutest little space and animal themed sticker downloads I’ve ever seen. I’m sure these little guys can become other forms of busy papery goodness as well.

Free Printable Stationery Set: Lyrical Tree Style

2009-06-30T10:18:00.001-07:00

Here is the stationery set that features the art print I put up earlier. This set includes the following designs:

2 Note Papers
2 Note Cards
2 Envelopes
9 Gift Tags
3 Note Pad Sheets (To-Do list style)

As for the look and style… It’s kind of a swirly, curly, lyrical tree doodle in a cranberry red. When you download the zip file you’ll find that the tree was titled “Tree of Contemplation.” Sounds all deep right? That was the result of me not being able to figure out what to title the files since I have other tree related files on my computer. Get it? HA! I’m hilarious.

Anyways, if you enjoy it—tell me about it.

Who and When Monkey: Reader Contribution

2009-06-23T17:56:00.001-07:00

I love it when people send me things to post (even if I take FOREVER to post them!) Candace sent me her versions of Who Monkey and When Monkey (the two remaining Monkey books that I swear I’ll get around to making one day) for me to share here. THANK YOU CANDACE!!! You are AWESOME! She even used my cute little Monkey. I love that Monkey and it’s great to see him travel all over the internets having various fun and adventures.

These are in .pptx format. That’s PowerPoint for the new Microsoft Office Suite (2007.) I don’t like to mess with other people’s creations so I won’t be changing the file format.

I’ll still be making my own versions of these books, with a different focus on language than Candace used so you’ll have even more resources use.

Who Monkey By CANDACE

When Monkey By CANDACE

What a neglectful blogger!

2009-06-22T20:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.mediafire.com/file/njyiznnmqdn/tree%20copy.pdf Can you believe the nerve of some people? They go a whole MONTH without posting a blog entry and then expect every one to be all “ooohhh” and “ahhhh” the next time they post. Well, if I was you dear reader, I wouldn’t stand for it!
You’ve probably figured out that I’m talking about myself, right? I’m sorry! Life got the best of me again. I have LOTS of stuff I need to post and I’m going to try to get it up this week. Don’t give up on my yet folks!
But, I do have a present. This art print is going to be the basis for some nice new stationery. I hope you like it!

Memorial Day Zombies

2009-05-22T07:57:00.001-07:00

I’m not sure why, but the internet theme of the day seems to be Memorial Day (understandable) and Zombies. Who am I to disagree.

Enjoy these printable Zombie Posters.

Memorial Day Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets to help your child understand Memorial Day.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Where is Monkey Board Maker Files and User Video

2009-05-06T07:46:00.001-07:00

This is wicked cool. A reader, Carol, has done something truly wonderful by creating Board Maker files to accompany Where is Monkey?.

If you have BoardMaker version six (or compatible) you can download them here. I don’t have BoardMaker myself, so I can’t offer support on the files.

I want to thank Carol for this. It really makes my day when someone gets use out of one of my downloads. Seeing a video of it is even better.

Messages to my readers

2009-05-03T16:23:00.001-07:00

My email ate a message from Dwight. Dwight if you are out there in the cyber ether, could you please send it again?

And if any one else is having issues with the size of the seed packet download don’t worry I’m going to see if I can shrink it down.

On another note, I’ve been getting messages from wonderful individuals who want to share printables they’ve made with readers of this site. I can’t tell you how awesome I think that is!!!!!

If you EVER want to send something you made my way, just contact me. I love to hear from people who visit FPF!

Free Printable Seed Packets

2009-04-22T19:06:00.001-07:00

My dad always said that I grew great winter gardens. “Winter gardens” of course, being ideas that are wonderfully conceived but are not, or can not be, acted upon. He was right of course-- I spend an inordinately large amount of my time dreaming and planning but quickly loose interest once its time to actually get the project under way.

I was *thinking* of growing a garden this year. I’ve been *thinking* about doing it all winter long. Of course, just as the weather starts to turn hospitable, I’ve lost all interest.

That’s ok, though.

There are lots of seed packet printables online. A person could spend all day clicking through pages. So, here’s my round up of the ones I liked best.

I’m going to start with this blank template for creating your own seed packets. If you have a closet full of scrapbooking supplies (like me) this is a good template for putting those papers to task.

These photo seed packets from Kodak would make a great wedding or baby shower favor. They have a template for mother’s day too, which is coming up soon from what I hear.

Now, I want you to visit two links that may or may not be active at the time of your visit. I know, everyone hates dead links, but if the links are active they are well worth the visit. The printable seed packets from Siggy Rose and D Dusterr are very nice and worth a look, but their websites seem in a state of flux, so there’s no guarantee.

Over at Dave’s Garden there’s a strange mix of user submitted seed packets that is worth poking through. Some are country chic, some are whimsical, some included accurate information for particular types of plants.

There are three great seed packet posts on the Modish blog, but they are best read in order – One Two Three. I love Modish for great inspiration and stunning designs.

I don’t know what kind of wicked cool stuff is lurking over at the Wild Life Gardeners forum because my membership hasn’t been approved yet, but it must be awesome if it’s so well guarded.

Here’s some seed packets I made up to share.

8 printable seed packets in PDF format in a zip file.

I used the Modish template to create these and various digi-scrap kits (attributed on the PDFs.) Enjoy.

Free Printable Doodle Bird Stationery

2009-04-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

Here’s some stationary, an envelope, and envelope liners. I whipped these up to make use of these beautiful bird doodles from Jessica Bell. Right click and save then print them from your graphics program. Yeah, I know they aren't stellar quality, but I just wanted something neat to write a letter on.

Free Printable Sizes Book

2009-04-11T17:53:00.001-07:00

I was researching resources for subtest 4 of the Bracken Concepts Scale and I couldn’t find a printable that teaches children about sizes. Well, that’s not entirely true. I could find a lot of stuff for big, little, short, and tall--but the concept test asks about shallow and deep and I couldn’t find anything that addressed that. There weren’t many things that mentioned wide and thin either. So, I made something. It’s just a little book, nothing too fancy. It's a powerpoint so if you need a PDF let me know. You should be able to print it pretty easy, but if you have issues please let me know and I’ll work something out. It takes a little bit to load on Google, so far warning. I printed it with 2 slides per page, cut apart the sides leaving the left hand margin in place and stapled it together. Sorry about the pitiful webcam photo, I’m feeling too lazy for the real camera today.

Teach children about sizes.

Great printables and ideas for Preschoolers - PreKinders

2009-04-05T07:56:00.001-07:00

Just showing some love to PreKinders for all their hard work! This is a wonderful site full of printables and activity ideas suitable to preschool students or children with special needs. If you are following my Bracken Concepts Scale post (which I am updating today) then you should definitely check this site out.

Pre-K Teachers Page - PreKinders

Board Book Tutorial

2009-04-05T07:31:00.001-07:00

Ever notice how dull and generic children’s board books are? Want to make your own? Here are instructions for creating a Board Book. I thought this would be a great way to use some of the printables you find online.

Free Easter Crafts, Recipes, and Ideas Book

2009-04-02T17:15:00.001-07:00

Ok. I’ve just gotten my computer back from the shop (yeah, it had to go back in) so I’m not totally in the swing of things yet. But, I did find something cool I wanted to share with you today:

Free Easter Crafting and Recipe eBook
* 130 Pages of Craft Ideas for Easter
* 12 Easter Egg Decorating Projects
* 20 Easter Table Ideas: Centerpieces, Napkin Rings and More
* 10 Easter Chick Craft Projects
* 20 Easter Bunny Craft Projects
* 10 Easter Recipes

Ok, I’ve got a lot of internetting to catch up on so I need to get to it!!

Study guide for Bracken Concepts Scale

2009-03-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

An Associate Behavior Analyst from Canada recently contacted me regarding the possibility of posting study resources that correspond with sections of commonly used language tests. I thought this was a great idea. Because I’m in the US I’m going to work with those tests that I, as a parent, am familiar with. I am not a speech therapist so my understanding of the material is limited, however I hope to compile resources that are both useful for parents seeking to improve their child’s language and for speech therapists looking for new or additional materials. This post won’t conform to my standard “printables only” so you will find a variety of materials.

I’m also working with a very tetchy internet connection, so there’s a good chance that this project will be completed in spurts. I’m not sure if I will break sections apart for navigation or if I will leave it in total. I would love some reader advice on this.

I’m beginning with the Bracken Basic Concept Scale. This scale is copyrighted by The Psychological Corporation and was recently used to evaluate my son’s ability to understand various concepts. I am working from the record form that was completed using my son’s input, so if anyone has any additional suggestions please feel free to contact me. It is my hope that therapists and educators will find my resource list useful enough to refer parents to it.

Bracken Basic Concept Scale

Resources for Subtest 1: Colors

In this subtest my son was asked to identify colors by pointing to the correct color on the chart.

Colors seem like such a simple concept to teach, but for a child that has problem making generalizations the variations in colors may make identification difficult. For example: Grass and limes may both be green, but they are not the same shade of green and children realize this. To further complicate the identification of colors, colors are subjective. Varying shades or tints of colors can be registered differently by different persons. Colors like puce may seem reddish to some, brownish to others, or even purplish. Learn more about teaching children colors.

It is my personal opinion as a hack artist that children should initially be taught colors using the primary and secondary colors of the color wheel along with a 64 color box of crayons. The primary and secondary colors of a color wheel are the most recognizable colors and will be used often in elementary school. The standard 64 color box of crayons is an amazingly versatile learning tool which will provide many opportunities for categorization of colors, exploration of tints and shades, and chances to increase interest in color and their variations.

If your child likes to color these printable color recognition worksheets would be a great way to introduce your child to variations in colors. Spend time sorting crayons with your child, putting those 64 crayons into groups according to their similarity. Match them to the color wheel. Expand the lesson by using groups of similar crayons (shades of blue, for example) to color the worksheets. Create your own color flash cards by coloring index cards with varying shades of each color. I prefer this over using printable color flash cards because the variations in screen colors and printer colors can lead to issues where colors are hard to distinguish.

Take time to explore colors in the “real world.” Walk around the house and match the colors in your 64 box to those colors you see in your home. Expand the lesson by having the child gather household items and arrange them in a color wheel.

Songs for Teaching has songs about colors set to popular tunes that you can sing with your child. The lyrics are free and the songs are available for download at a reasonable cost.

Quick Lesson Plan

Simple

Print out a color wheel. Use this wheel to identify the various colors. If a color wheel is over whelming try using a rainbow.

Using only the primary and secondary color crayons have the child match the crayons to the color wheel or rainbow.

Have the child match the colors of the crayons to objects in the room.

Using small toys or objects arrange the toys to make a color wheel or rainbow.

Help the child create “flash cards” on index cards using the crayons by coloring the blank side of the card while talking about the color and objects that are that color.

Lay colored construction paper on the floor (a few colors at a time) hold up a flash card and ask the child to hop to (throw a bean bag on, pick up, etc.) the matching color.

Complex

If the child has mouse skills play these games from Sheppard software.

Help the child sort the crayons in groups of colors (ie. Shades of red)

Using objects in the room or small toys sort piles of similar shades (things that are shades of red)

Using colored modeling clay explore the various colors.

Attempt to have the child identify the colors on the color wheel or rainbow.

Using photos of familiar scenes (the child’s room, parents, family car) try to identify the various colors present.

Help the child create finger paint using one of these recipes paint a picture. Identify the colors as you go.

Resources for Subtest 2: Letters

In this subtest my son was asked to identify, by pointing, various letters on the chart. The letters were a mix of upper case and lower case, beginning first with the upper case, then continuing with the lower case.

If I had a favorite online resource for teaching children about letters it would be StarFall. While this site is geared towards early reading the delightful colors, illustrations, music, simple push button interface and visual rewards make it a great website for engaging the child’s attention. For reinforcing these lessons First School comes to the rescue with hundreds of printables ELS Flash cards has a nice set of simple, no nonsense alphabet flashcards featuring upper and lowercase letters. Don’t forget to identify those letters in your alphabet soup or cereal and on road signs!

To be honest though, I owe my son’s letter recognition to the LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Set that graced our refrigerator door during his early years. The combination of physical manipulation of letters and the instant reward of music makes this toy a must have for children who need help identifying letters or letter sounds. This toy taught my son his letter way before I thought he was “ready” to learn them and led to an almost obsessive interest in letter sound identification that eventual corresponded to reading. We had an older version of this toy than the one listed on Amazon, but from reading the reviews I am assured that they both function the same. You can purchase expansion packs to cover the lowercase letters.

Most any big box or toy store will have flash cards, puzzles, games, and toys for teaching letter identification. Look for those items that are multifunctional and can be used to teach other concepts like colors, shapes, or vocabulary words so that they are still useful after your child has mastered their letters.

Quick Lesson Plan

Simple

Spend some time using Fisher Price’s Learn the Alphabet game. The child sees the letter and hears the name when he or she presses a key on the key board. This game uses capital letters. For lower case letters try Magic Mailbox. A new letter will appear each time the child clicks the mailbox with the mouse.

Use this printable from Do2Learn to create a letter matching game. Do only a few letters at a time. Using the letter dots tracing printable to help the child trace the letters with their fingers. Capital and lower case letters are available.

Create puzzle letters for the child to assemble. Lower case. Use objects like pencils, crayons, or yarn to create letters.

Make some Alphabet Art. There are a variety of mediums that you can make letters from.

Complex

Try creating a letter fishing toy. I recommend completing the bulk of the tedious bits of the project for the child. You don’t want them to get bogged down in the cutting, paper clipping, or painting portions. Use a photocopier to shrink down these letter fish if you want something cuter than just plain letters. Have fun catching and identifying the letters.

For children learning the lower case try this nice matching game.

Borrow a copy of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to read to the child then watch the video (if for some reason this video link breaks, try searching for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Cartoon on YouTube.)

Use letter flash cards for quick recall and study.

Go on a letter safari. Using a digital camera (instant gratification) help the child find and identify letters in the environment. This can be actual letters on signs and labels or items that look like letters. Capture photos of the letters, arrange and print the captured letters for the child to review. Classrooms, homes, hospital therapy rooms, etc. all have tons of letters waiting to be discovered.

Resources for Subtest 3: Numbers/ Counting

This test involved two different skills. My son was asked to identify numbers in the same way that he was asked to identify letters, include double digit numbers. He was also asked to identify and count sets of objects such as 9 bubble bees.

For number identification and rote counting there is no greater tool than the humble ruler. A yard stick is my favorite because it is more interesting than a ruler (kids like sticks!) and has double digits. We often used a yard stick as a road on which my son drove his toy cars. Sometimes they stopped at 5, sometimes at 36. Sometimes they backed up to 16. It made the yard stick more fun.

Tlsbooks (which is likely to be mentioned in a post by itself soon) has a GREAT assortment of number flash cards, worksheets, counting practice, etc. worksheets to download and print.

Don’t forget the value of counting during play time. Count beads when you and your child string them, count cars when they are being rolled across the tables, count everything! Here are ten creative “real world” ways to incorporate counting into daily activities.

Quick Lesson Plan

Simple

Print out and color the numbers posters from ABC Teach. The posters for numbers 1-10 are at the bottom of the page. Do two or three posters each day (what ever the child has patience for) and hang them up.

Read books about counting. There are too many books about counting on the market for me to narrow it down, so just find books about counting that interest your child. They can be of a particular subject matter (like trains or animals) or interactive (moving parts) or they can make noise. The best way to find books that interest your child is to take them with you to the book store or library. Lay out several books that accomplish your goal (counting and number identification) and let the child choose which one they want to read.

Count objects in the home. Count toys, beads, appliances, clothes, or what ever is around. Count the steps you take, fingers and toes, just keep counting.

Make a file folder game for matching numbers. You can use these instructions for an apple file folder game or you can print this watermelon themed game from Preschool Printables.

Complex

Once the child has a good grasp of numbers one through ten you can expand your lessons to include double digit numbers. I find that once a child gets past counting the teens and into the twenties and thirties the rest is easy. This is where the humble yard stick comes into play. With a yard stick a child can see the progression of numbers up to the double digits. Practice identifying the numbers on yardstick, once the child is secure in numbers 1-36 ask the child to guess what comes after 36.

Create a 100 numbers chart. Read the numbers with the child and cover each number with a tile. Use the same color tiles for the same sets of numbers (for example, at the numbers in the thirties could be green and all the numbers in the fifties could be red.) Explore the numbers with the child. This is not so much for rote memorization but for the child to learn the pattern of counting into the double digits.

Play numbers bingo.

For Both Simple and Complex

The good people at PreKinders have created a great list of activities, books, and ideas for counting. I highly suggest giving them a visit.

THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED FREQUENTLY TILL IT IS COMPLETED. CHECK BACK OFTEN.

Not Gone...

2009-03-09T11:03:00.001-07:00

I haven't left. I'm having computer issues. :) Hope to be back to posting soon!!

Free Printable Book: 100 FREE things to do with your grandkids (or any kids for that matter)

2009-01-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

My Aunt Maggie sent me a link to this wonderful printable book full of quick and easy activities to entertain kids. There's a few things I really like about this book. First off, it's not strictly an e-book. It's only 37 pages long (which sounds like a lot, but isn't considering the volume of information in it) and isn't heavy on pictures. Second, the ideas are wonderful. They are engaging, low cost, and are the kind of activities that build great memories. They are ideas that are so simple that you've likely never thought of them. It would make a handy reference for when the kiddos are getting bored.

Sometimes I think we try to hard to entertain children. We forget that the biggest joys are those usually found in the most simple activities. This is a great book to help anyone who deals with children "get back to basics."

Have an Un-Happy Valentine's Day

2009-01-22T15:49:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day carries with it a lot of unhealthy expectations.
First of which is that on that one day a year you should be terribly, fiercely, deeply, in love with somebody.
Second, that you express your all encompassing love for your selected other in the form of gifts, candy, and poetry.
Let's be straight about it. Most Valentine's Day celebrations in a swirl of disappointment, bitterness, and shame. So why not be up front about the impending doom that is Hallmark's most sacred holiday?
Meet Jilted and Scorned from the Sullen Collection. These two are unlucky in love and are here to share their stories of failed relationships with any who will listen.
This stationery set includes:
4 Stationery Papers
4 Note Cards
3 To Do Lists
9 Gift Tags
2 Envelopes
2 Envelope Liners
4 Wrappers
and is available for free download for the next two weeks. After which I will transfer it to my new Etsy store for purchase.

Free Printable for teaching Adjectives

2009-01-11T08:10:00.001-08:00

As promised earlier in the week here is a copy of the printable I created to teach adjectives to my son. This isn't a grammar lesson. The purpose of this printable is to:

1. Expose the child to a variety of adjectives.

2. Categorize objects by adjective.

3. Establish that objects can have more than one adjective to describe them.

Ways to use this adjectives printable:

Print the entire file. Fold all the pages in half and staple them together to create a book. Read the book with the child saving the review section for last.

Print the pages and cut apart the adjectives. Expose the child to a new adjective each day. Discuss the adjectives and look for things that can be described by that adjective. Hang the adjective pages up or add them to a folder for review.

Download this printable adjectives PDF.

or you can contact me to request the PDF in other formats (I have it in Power Point and Publisher and with all the images right side up.) The pictures are better in other formats, of course.

They love me, they really love me...

2009-01-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

I got a couple of blog awards today. That makes me happy. I love blog awards. They are like little "Thinking of you... and how awesome you are" cards for the internet. Some have rules, some don't, but they all invite us to spread the love around. We can all use a little love, right?

I got this Blog Love award from Kat at Candles, Crafts, and More. Her blog is full of cute ideas and she produces some wonderful crafts herself. This is definitely the prettiest blog award I've ever been given.

I received two awards from Nancy's Arts, Crafts, and Favorites. The purple one came with the following rules:

Reasons to receive blog recognition are:

... blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in the PROXIMITY in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that even more friendships are propagated". The award recognizes the quality of the person writing the blog. I consider your blog to one of the best. You take the time to provide enjoyable tutorials. You are a giving talented person and I decided other people should know!

The Noblesse award is presented to bloggers who display consistency in any one or a combination of these conditions:

1. The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.
2. The Blog contents inspire; it strives to encourage and offers solutions.
3. There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Culture and Sciences, and Beliefs.
4. The Blog is refreshing and creative.
5. The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking. The Blogger who receives this Award will need to perform the following steps:

1. Create a Post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.
2. The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post.
3. Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved- preferably citing one or more older post to support.
4. The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award Conditions.
5. The Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.

As for meeting the conditions for the award:

I created Free Printable Fun for several reasons. My son, Daaks, was diagnosed with Autism 2006. In trying to find ways to improve his communication skills I came across a lot of specialized teaching materials that were simple to use and simple to replicate but very expensive to own. I started to create learning materials for my son. I posted them online to help other families with children with Autism. Along the way I found a great venue to share all the fun printables I was finding online.

Examples of some of my recent posts incorporating the above criteria are:

Autism printables

Thank you Nancy and Kat! I really do appreciate the love. Now to pass on the award: The following really trip my trigger. I read them on a regular basis and am often inspired by them. Just copy the pictures of the awards and pass them along according to the rules.

Tricia-Rennea Art
Whip-Up
One Pretty Thing
Super Punch
Modish
Wolfie and the Sneak

Printables to start off the New Year

2009-01-07T16:31:00.001-08:00

I'm always late to the party so you'll have to excuse the fact that my New Year's post is a week late. Actually this isn't much of a New Year's post. I just wanted to share some great printables I found online.

Tricia Rennea has some really cute planner pages that you can download and print. From what I can tell she creates new ones with a new color theme each month. Sometimes she even makes cute coordinating pintables that match her planner pages.

Etsy has a link to these too cute printable planner pages. These are perfect for people like me... who don't have a real sense of direction.

Black Pio has a 3-D printable calendar for 2009 for you to print and assemble.

Live Journal user Shakty created these funny little paper milk carton people. I love them. They make me giggle.

Ok. I'm off to go finish my adjectives project for my son. He uses a handful of them in speech but not with much frequency so I want to expand that. When I'm done I'll put the download up for anyone who wants it.

Free Printable Rulers, Conversion Charts, and Reference Guides

2008-12-29T15:11:00.001-08:00

This is one of those posts that kind of got away from me. I started out looking for a printable ruler, which was easy enough to find. I use this particular printable measuring ruler quite a bit since I can NEVER locate any one of the five various rulers in my house on any given point in time. You'd think I'd have it book marked by now, but I'm notoriously bad for that.

Of course, that got me thinking about other types of printable rulers I've used. This ring size ruler has come in handy more than once (that pun was wholly unintentional) and these printable shoe size rulers are great, especially for keeping track of my son's ever changing shoe size.

Shoe size rulers made me think of a hat size ruler and printable measuring tape.

So far so good. All of these things kind of go together. But for some reason measuring tape made me think of slide rules. I went looking everywhere online for a printable slide rule and all I could come up with was this circular slide rule. That's fine I suppose, since I don't foresee the need for a slide rule any time soon, but the circular slide rule reminded me of a color wheel so I went off to look for one of those.

I love color guides. Aside from their obvious use in selecting color palettes they are actually quite beautiful by themselves. I found a couple of great resources for learning about color theory. I like this printable color guide as a quick reference for the various color schemes and this handout is a good beginners lesson on color theory. As far as functional color wheels that you can print, that's a bit trickier. Out of all the color guides I came across I believe that the Real Color Wheel by Donald Jusko is the most accurate in terms of colors that can be achieved when mixing paints. His website is an AWESOME resource for learning everything you could ever want to know about color. If I had any complaints they would be a) the website has so much information that it is at times overwhelming b) that the end user has to convert the real color wheel into a usable .tiff format before printing or that you email to obtain a copy of it pre converted. I went ahead and converted the color wheel, you can download it here. I included a slotted cover for it if you need one (I did because the range of colors is so great I got distracted.) Even if you download a converted copy from FreePrintableFun to save time, PLEASE visit Real Color Wheel online to learn more about the dynamics of color and what the Real Color Wheel offers over other color wheels out there.

Color wheels made me think of compasses because more often or not, when I've seen a solar compass it was pretty and colorful and round like a color wheel. Of course, this printable solar compass isn't round, but it is colorful and that works for me.

Compasses made me think of protractors. Mostly because early in my high school years I kept confusing the word compass with the word protractor. Not that I confused the tools themselves, just the words. Any how... here's a printable protractor for you.

So protractors sent me off on another tangent -- conversions. I love conversion cheat sheets because I'm terrible at math and even worse at remembering how to convert basic measurements. One big problem I had when I went to Thailand was figuring out how to convert currency. It seems so small but I could have really used a printable currency conversion cheat sheet then. And though I doubt I'll ever use them I'm happy I found a site with a comprehensive list of conversions used in building, like roof size versus number of shingles and how to estimate the number the amount of materials needed to drywall a wall.

I created a little pocket conversion cheat sheet for basic facts. How much to tip, US versus European clothing and shoe sizes, time zones, cooking measurements, temperature... you know the kind of stuff that could trip you up while you were out and about shopping or if you were ambushed by Cash Cab. Feel free to download it. It's a .pdf. If you want it in .doc just email me. :)

Paper Presents and A New Look

2008-12-18T07:56:00.001-08:00

I can't remember if I posted this or not, but Small Notebook has some really cute ideas for presents made from paper. Not printables, mind you, just a list of cute paper crafts. I thought you might like to check it out.

In the meantime, here's a heads up on some changes that should be happening later today. Judi of Doodlebug Web Design has created a new look for Free Printable Fun. There will be more color, more movement, and well... more fun. I hope you will like it. Judi did a great job! She was professional, prompt, and oh so tolerant of all my nit picking!

Here is a sneak peak of the new look...