Decorate with Christmas Flags Indoors and Out

The holiday season is in full swing.  Flashing lights , glittery decorations and Christmas garden flags are everywhere.  I'm a sucker for Christmas decorations, I love them.  I love seeing all the houses lit up and the ways people come up with to portray the holiday season. It is also fun to see all the different decorative holiday flags that people choose to display .  There is one house in our neighborhood that is legend.  People line up to drive by it.  They even have their own radio station that plays Christmas music and is in sync with the blinking of the lights.

Coming up with ideas for decorating is a lot of fun.  You can spend hours on the internet looking at all the clever do it yourself decorations and ornaments.  Many of them are very inexpensive made from items from Dollar Tree or even recycling things that would normally be thrown away.  This is one link from woohome of 23 Simple Ideas of things made from bottle caps, computer chips and other items.

Christmas Garden Flags and Christmas House Flags arebb easy and versatile items to use for decorating.  They come in so many different tstyles from whimsical designs with elves and santas to more traditional nativity and religious themes.  Everyone knows holiday flags make a great addtion to outdoor holiday decor, but I think the fact that these lovely flags can also be used as wall art and hung on a wall in your house or your front door, too often gets forgotten. 

The Believe in the Magic Christmas Garden Flag, shown above, is one of my favorites and would be a great choice, I think for an indoor decoration.  This Poinsettia Wreath Christmas Garden Flag would be nice to hang on your front door and you can even have it personalized with your name which makes it even better for a door decoration.


Use your imagination ,there are so many holiday flags to choose from that will add beauty and charm to you Christmas decor. 

Thank you for reading
Marilee and Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts

Personalized Flags make the Perfect Christmas Gift

It is the time of year when everyone starts racking their brain trying to decide what to buy everyone on their Christmas list.  Gifts mean so much more when you receive something you know the person put some thought and effort into.  When you receive something personalized such as a personalized flag, you know the giver did just that. Personalized garden flags and house flags make the perfect Christmas gift.  For a flag lover its the perfect addition to their collection and also a keepsake to keep for years to come.  Almost any decorative flag can be personalized although there are some that work better than others.

 A lot of what makes a flag a good personalized flag is its design and theme and if there is even an area on the flag where a personalization will fit.  Some flags, as my daughter and I say, "Scream for a personalization".  Dog Breed Garden Flags are a good example of that and one of the most popular

types of decorative flags to get personalized.  They almost always have a nice blank area where the pet's name can be added.  A really special idea is to do a Custom Photo Pet Flag, these are truly unique.  For the pet lover on your list, you cannot go wrong with a personalized pet flag.

There are also flags for firefighters along with garden flags and house flags for all five active branches of the military that are great for personalizing.  To add someone's name to a military garden flag or firefighter flag and display that flag or give as a gift, shows that loved one the pride you feel. A personalized military makes a great gift any time of year.

In addition to the flags mentioned above we have a great variety of  Custom Monogram Flags

and Personalized Welcome Decorative flags all of which could make great gifts and keepsakes. Some of our most popular flags is our line of RV Camper Garden Flags.   These personalized Camper Flags make a fun and unique gift that can be used all year long.
Custom

So while doing your shopping for Christmas browse the decorative flags at Custom Flags and Gifts and explore all the possibilities.

Thanks for reading.
Josie and Marilee
Custom Flags and Gifts

Personalized Birthday Banner Garden Flags

I have always loved birthdays.  Even now when I dread my age increasing by "1" I still secretly look forward to my birthday.  It is the one holiday of the year that is especially for you.  So personalizing Birthday Garden Flags just makes sense.

To display the same birthday flag for everyone in your family doesn't represent what birthdays are all about, which is celebrating the life of one individual.  Personalized Birthday Flags do the job much better.  This Happy Birthday Wishes Garden Flag is a great example and is such a cheerful birthday flag appropriate for any age.  Just by adding a name, makes this flag so much more special. This is just one of many birthday flags that are available for personalizing.

 

 

A Custom Photo Birthday Garden Flag is also a great choice.  These are great fun for all ages.  When we created this Happy Birthday Custom Photo Flag we thought this would be popular for children, but we have actually gotten more orders using this flag for adult birthdays.  This decorative flag is great to display at birthday parties either outside or inside and makes a great keepsake to have for years to come.

 

 

If you have an idea of your own for a personalized birthday flag that you would like to have made for a loved one, let us know.  We do offer a "Design your Own" Garden Flag at our website where you can upload a design or photo and add your own text.  We are always happy to help with suggestions if you need them.

 

Thanks for reading and hope that you all , when it arrives, have a very Happy Birthday.

Marilee and Josie

Custom Flags and Gifts

 

Decorative Flags for November

This time of year is such a busy time.  Halloween is now over and the abundance of fall festivals is decreasing as the holidays quickly approach.  It is now time to take down the Halloween Garden Flag and choose a more appropriate decorative yard flag for this time of year. 

It is a good idea to have a base Fall Garden Flag that can be displayed all the way from the first of October to December such as this Autumn Leaves Applique Garden Flag.  This is a very nice high quality double applique flag. Or our Custom Monogram Flag, The Magic of Autumn. 

If you are someone that likes to change out your yard flags frequently you can add to your collection holiday flags for both Halloween and Thanksgiving to switch out as these holidays come and go.  Thanksgiving Garden Flags usually don't stay up very long but they are still fun to have.  There is this nice garden flag by Carson called Gratitude Cornucopia  and our Custom Thanksgiving Flag called We are Grateful for Many Things, this custom flag is a great project to do with your kids asking them to list things they are grateful for to add to this personalized flag.

Once Thanksgiving is over your fall flag could possibly be put up again for a short time.  It depends on where you live and how much winter has progressed in your region.  But after a week at the most, it is probably time to put away your fall flags till next year and move on to winter and Christmas yard flags.

Thank you for reading.
Marilee & Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is breast cancer awareness month.  This disease has affected countless people either themselves having the disease or by it having affected a loved one.  Breast Cancer Awareness helps to keep this deadly disease in the forefront to accomplish numerous things.   You can wear pink, wear breast cancer awareness buttons or T-shrits or even display a Breast Cancer Awareness Garden Flag.

One purpose is to educate.  To point out both risk factors and steps toward prevention.  I just learned that just simple physical exercise is one of those prevention methods.  I read that just three hours of exercise a week helps to boost the immune system which helps to fight off this disease.  Another important purpose of  Awareness Month is to remind women to get their mammograms and routinely do self exams.  It is so easy to forget these things in our busy lives,even though they take so little time.
Encouraging donations by stressing the importance of these contributions .  Giving either your time as a volunteer or a gift of money can help a woman who is both financially and mentally drained get through a challenge of a lifetime.

So as the month of October comes to an end, the need for Breast Cancer Awareness does not end.  The simple act of occasionally wearing that pink T-shirt or displaying a pink ribbon garden flag can help remind people to do what they have withing their power to help fight this disease.

There are countless awareness decorative flags to be found.  We offer two that are also personalized flags   These flags help you support a loved one fighting the disease or remember someone you have lost.  Using personalized banners such as these with an actual person's name on it makes the devasting affects of breast cancer more real and therefore hopefully creating more action.  Our thoughts and best wishes are with all.


Thank you for reading.
Josie and Marilee
Custom Flags and Gifts

Fall time is Pumpkin Time

Nothing says fall quite like pumpkins, they are everywhere this time of year.  There are pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin muffins just to name a few.  I'm not complaining, I love just about anything with pumpkin in it.

People make such creative fall decorations and Jack-O-Lanterns.  They're not just for carving anymore.  They paint them, use decals, wrap them in cloth, use rhinestones, googley eyes and the list goes on.  I've wasted many an hour browsing the internet looking at all the different ways people decorate with pumpkins.  Here is an article of 45 Pumpkin Decorating Projects from Midwest Living. 

 I also enjoy all the fall garden flags with pumpkins on them.  There are so many nice ones.  The Pumpin Welcome Applique Fall Garden Flag above is one of my favorite with the blackbird and large sunflower.  There is also the Autumn Wagon Applique Flag and Pumpkin Birdhouse Autumn Flag to name a few.  I haven't had a lot of time this fall to do much with pumpkins myself, even though I had grand plans.  For right now, I'll just settle with a nice decorative yard flag or two with the orange symbol of fall to add color to my outdoor autumn decor.

 

Thank you for reading.

Marilee & Josie

Custom Flags and Gifts

Decorative Halloween Yard Flags

Halloween is just around the corner and we are taking inventory of our Halloween Garden Flags  and Halloween House Flags.  I can still remember as a child going trick or treating door to door. Back then we didn't worry about if we knew the people or not.  Neither did we worry about what was in our bags.  Our parents didn't inspect our goods before we could eat them.  We just came home, marveled over our spoils and down the hatch they went.  That included homemade cookies, cupcakes, unwrapped candy in baggies all sorts of dangerous stuff.  Those were different times.

Although people are much more cautious today as far as trick-or-treating goes, enthusiasm for the holiday has not waned one bit.  Outdoor Halloween decor seems to get more sophsticated and abundant each year.  One of my neighbors this year had a yard full of extravagant Halloween decorations before the end of September.  Its fun to see the creative ways people express their love for the season.  My favorite are the handmade items; stuffed scarecrows and witches and pumpkins carved with imagination. I also enjoy, of course, seeing all the different decorative Halloween yard flags.  There is such a wide variey of Halloween flags to choose from, and if you are too busy to do a lot of decorating this year, a Halloween Garden Flag displayed in your yard is a quick way to show you are in the spirit of the fun that this holiday brings.



Here are some decorative flags we are offering this year for Halloween.  We even have a few that can be personalized and a couple that are Custom Made Garden Flags.





Thanks for reading.
Josie and Marilee
Custom Flags and Gifts

Decorative Yard Flags Featuring Pets

Decorative flags exist for every occasion and every holiday.  There are garden flags that promote a cause and house flags that say congratulations.  Some of the most popular yard flags are those that feature people's beloved pets. 
I have always heard owning pets can actually be good for our health.  That the act of petting an animal is actually soothing to us also and helps to reduce stress.  They are also great companions for elderly folk who cannot get out much and gives them a feeling of usefulness and boosts mental heath.  But after finding the article on CNN at this link ,I was amazed at other health benefits owning a pet creates. Like its been shown that children who are exposed to pet dander at an early age by growing up with pets, tend to have less allergies.  That's a new one on me.  So give them some recognition and show your love by displaying yard flags with pets.

There are lots of very nice dog flags by your favorite brands. Most of these can be personalized with the pet's name. One popular brand that does dog flags and only dog flags along with some other dog products is Best of Breed.  This Chocolate Lab flag is by Best of Breed., the Boxer flag is by Evergreen.

 

There are also several custom dog and cat garden flags.  Some support the cause of Rescue Dogs others just declare the master's love for their pet.  One of the newest custom cat flags we offer is this Spoiled Cat Custom Flag.  It allows you not only to personalize the flag with the cat's name, you also get to choose from four different adorable cartoon cats as to which one will represent your cat on the flag. 

Custom flags make such fun garden flags to display.  They are made just for you and have your personal touch. These custom dog flags and cat flags would make great gifts for someone on your list that loves their pet. 

Thanks for reading.
Josie and Marilee
Custom Flags and Gifts

Frequently Asked Questions about Applique Flags

There are two main types of decorative flags; printed art flags and applique flags.

 So what is applique?  Applique is a form of needlework where pieces of fabric of different colors and designs are sewn together to create a picture or design.  Applique garden flags and house flags are made this exact way.  Because of the way these decorative flags are constructed they may have less detail than a printed flag, but they make up for it with other types of detail such as embroidery and other embellishments that often make them three dimensional.  For example, on this Just Married Wedding Garden Flag by Two Group,which is a double applique flag, they added some netting material for the  bride's veil

What is the difference between single applique and double applique?   Single applique is just one layer.  The pieces of fabric are sewn together with topstitch embroidery and the flag is hemmed so there are no raw edges, but it is a single layer. very often a single applique flag can be viewed correctly from one side only.  This Love Birds Garden Flag is single applique, but is a very lovely, well maded quality flag. A double applique decorative yard flag is basically two complete flags sewn together.

Why are double applique flags sometimes more expensive than other flags?   Since double applique flags are basically two complete flags sewn together, it is twice the material and twice the labor.  You do end up with a nice heavy durable flag, usually well worth the money.

What does it mean when it says double sided?  Double sided means the garden flag or house flag can be viewed equally from either side, including being able to read the text correctly from either side.  Double applique flags are almost always double sided.   With single applique it varies, but more and more, decorative flag companies are making an effort to make flags that are double sided.  Just check the description or ask the company if having the flag double sided is important to you. The Autumn Wagon Applique Garden Flag shown here is one of our heavy double sided, double applique flags by FlagCenter.  These are wonderful high quality flags. 

If you have any other questions about applique decorative flags you can e-mail us at info@flagsandgifts.com

Thank you for reading
Marilee & Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts

Adding Colors of Autumn with Fall Garden Flags

Autumn is such a beautiful time of year.  The colors that represent this season are my personal favorite.  By displaying fall garden flags in your yard or garden you can add even more of these glorious colors to your yard.  These double applique autumn garden flags by FlagCenter show fall leaves in all their glory.  These decorative flags are just wonderful and so pleasing to the eye. They also can be viewed equally from either side.

 There are other applique flags for fall along with many lovely printed fall flags with scarecrows, pumpkins, mums and other fall elements. 















There are also some custom fall flags that you personalize with your name or monogram.  This Magic of Autumn Monogram Flag is one example.   

 

 



Enjoy browsing the colors of the season while shopping for your fall garden flags at
 Custom Flags and Gifts.

Garden Flags - a way to show support

September 11th is quickly approaching and as our 9/11 Garden Flag says, to "Always Remember" is so very important.  Remembering any tragic times or particular days is important for those who suffered, those who lost loved ones and to help prevent them from happening again.


Displaying our "Always Remember" Flag or any patriotic garden flag is a small thing you can do with very little cost or effort to show that you care.  An American Flag is another perfect choice.  For those who find dealing with full size flags difficult, there are garden size American Flags.  These are great to have in your flag collection to display on various patriotic holidays.   

 

There are any number of patriotic garden flags or house flags that would be appropriate.  But whether you display a flag or not, give a small prayer for those who suffered and be sure to never forget.

 

Thanks for reading.

Josie and Marilee

Custom Flags and Gifts

FlagsandGifts.com 

Late Summer Garden Flags

As summer is winding down with shorter days and cooler nights the beach themed and flip flop garden flags in our front yards just don't seem as appropriate as they did a month or two ago.  It's still not time though, for fall garden flags with pumpkins or leaves of autumn colors.

There are lots of decorative flags that do suit this time of year.  Flags with late season flowers such as sunflowers and marigolds, neutral monogram flags and welcome flags. There are also a lot of bird flags that fit well with this time of year like this Heron Applique House Flag or the Birch Tree Songbirds Garden Flag.

Many flags with a country folk feel to them are also good for displaying in between seasons, like some of the pineapple flags and this Peace and Grace Applique Garden Flag that can also be made inot a personalized flag.  

So check your flag collection or browse the thousands of flags online for a new one to perk up your yard or garden.  We invite you to browse our selection at FlagsandGifts.com

Thank you for reading.

Marilee and Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts

Personalized Back to School Garden Flags

Summer is flying by so quickly.  Back to School time is just around the corner so it is time to get your Back to School Garden Flag to display in your yard to welcome and support all who are starting a new year of learning.  There are many different decorative flags to celebrate this occasion from many different brands such as Custom Decor and FlagCenter. There is the School Time double applique flag that is a silhouette cut flag and even has bells that jingle in the breeze.  Another decorative school flag is School Days Garden Flag by Premiere Designs. 

A Personalized Back to School Flag is another great choice.  We offer personalized garden flags for Back to School that thank a teacher or a bus driver and also a couple that display your school's mascot or cheer for a school football team.  These flags would be great to put out before a big game or just leave up all season. We also have a custom garden flag that we designed by request for a couple teachers who had their classrooms in outside trailers.  They were looking for a flag to put outside these trailers to help students and parents find the correct class.  We decided to go ahead and add it to our stock for other teachers with the same dilemma.

We wish all the students, teachers, bus drivers and support staff a wonderful and safe new school year. 

 

Custom Flags and Gifts 

Helping to Keep Wild Birds Healthy

I very much enjoy wild birds.  I have lots of vintage bird prints hanging in home and of course lots of my favorite garden flags and house flags are decorative bird flags. We try to cater to birds in our back yard.  We have cardinals that sit on the powerlines overhead that I swear are fussing at me until I put out food.  My favorite are the bird baths, we keep 3 or 4 full at all times.  I love to watch them splash around in the water.  They look like they are having such fun.
While feeding and offering the bird baths are great fun for us.  I started reading recently about the drawbacks of this after a couple years ago when House Finches started showing up at our feeders with a crusty coating that was affecting their eyes.  I found out it is caused by bacteria that is often picked up at feeders and bird baths.  It is so very important to keep these clean.  Bird droppings and molding seed contribute to this bacteria.  Cleaning feeding and watering containers and the area around them, including picking up old seed from the ground, helps to prevent the spread of all the contagious diseases birds carry.  Here is some good information and tips from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

While you are enjoying your backyard birds here are some nice bird garden flags to add to your outdoor decor.  These can all be found at Custom Flags and Gifts.

Personalize Your Summer Garden Flag

Summer is such a wonderful time of year and the variety of summer garden flags out there help to express that.  To me decorative flags help you express your personality and interests. Depending on what you enjoy doing most in the summer there are beach flags, bird flags, art flags that show beautiful flowers and garden flags with gardening themes. 

To express yourself even further, why not go with a personalized flag or custom garden flag.  A personalized summer garden flag makes your flag one of a kind.  It can be personalized with first names, last name or a monogram.  Some even allow more expression with full lines of text that can be customized to suit your taste.

We have a couple custom summer flags that are personalized with your name such as our Flip Flop Monogram Flag and our Ladybug Welcome Garden Flag.

 We also personalize some of the garden flags and house flags that come from your favorite brands.  Some of the personalizations are free, some require an additional fee.

This Welcome to the Lake garden flag by Custom Decor is very popular for personalizing.  We also have a beach flag and pool party flag that you can add text and a name to.

We are always open to ideas for personalizing.  If you see a flag on our site that we do not offer with a personalization please contact us and we will see if it is possible. 

personalized pool party garden flag

Thanks for reading
Marilee & Josie
Custom Flags and GiftsFlip Flop Monogram Flag