Does it ever occur to you that your poor old printer is bored? Day after day it churns out the same old Word documents, bank statements and round-robin letters to the residents’ association. Every now and then it gets a bit excited by a flight boarding pass, then it’s back to complaints to the council and “Do not disturb” signs.
Not any more, though. After you’ve read through these fun and amazing activities and functions, you and your trusty old printer will have a new lease of life and creativity, so eyes down for some brilliant ideas.
Personalised napkins
The kids will love this one! If you’re having a small party – either a birthday or a seasonal bashlike Halloween or Easter, you can use your inkjet printer to make personalised napkins for each child to use.
You can use clip art, or you can even make your own design in MS Paint or another graphic design programme. Once you’re happy with the design, you need to unfold the napkin once (so it’s rectangular), before feeding it into the printer. Voila – memorable napkins!
Fabric Printing
You probably haven’t considered this before, but your printer will also print on fabric, as long as it’s thin enough. Cottons and linens work best, as they’re thin, have an even weave and absorb ink well. If you’ve got a decent stock of cheap ink cartridges, you can experiment and maybe come up with some innovations of your own. Muslin bags are a popular choice of product.
Personalised paper bags
When the party’s over and the napkins have all been scrunched up, you can present your guests with personalised party bags! It’s paper, after all. You can make each bag as individual as you like, with the child’s name on, as well as a design you know they’ll love. You could even print some puzzles, or a thank-you note. This also works well for individual lunch bags. The bag size that works best is a 5” by 8.5”.
Personalised or customised ribbons
This last idea is possibly the most complicated, as it involves a couple of stages (and probably a few mistakes along the way, but that’s all part of the fun). Using a personalised ribbon, with a message or a repeating design on it, is a great way to celebrate an event, or to wrap a present. You can create the text in Word, or the design in a graphics programme, then get to work.
You’ll need to print the design on regular paper first, then you use double-sided sticky tape to secure the ribbon over the printed area. Set your printer to “transparency” and print again, over the ribbon.
Feeling inspired now? Have a go at some of these ideas and you’ll have fun and maybe even make family life a bit less chaotic (arguments over lunch bags, anyone?). Of course you can’t expect perfect results the first time, but trial-and-error is the best part of the creative process.
Featured image credit: ShutterStock
