Personalizing Garden Flags

 We just received a new shipment of summer garden flags.  As I am choosing which flags would make nice personalized flags, I am again researching the proper usage of last names in personalizations.    Do you use possessive or plural?  Is the decorative flag referring to The Smith's house so you make the name possessive? or is it a declaration that there is more than one "Smith" here therefore putting "The Smiths".   Then there is the problem with some names that end in "s" they can sound and look rather awkward when pluralized such as the Edwards becoming the Edwardses.

 

I have been doing personalizations for quite a few years now between my embroidery business and our garden flag venture. To simplify and remove any question I have found adding "family"  the last name helps to take away any doubts and makes the personalization sound more natural.  Putting "The Davis Family" on a flag sounds much better to most people than the "The Davises".  There are some decorative yard flags that could really benefit from a personalization but have limited space and on those have to opt for the last name only.  I have learned in those cases to ask the customer to write their name exactly as they would like it to appear.  Proper or not, I have found some people are not happy with the way their name looks or sounds in the plural.

As to whether to use  the last name in a possessive or plural form, possessive does work if you add "House" or "Getaway" or anything along those lines.  We have a new  Lake Garden Flag that is a good example.  We offer personalization of the last name

Personalized flags are a lot of fun and make your flag unique and a one of a kind. We have lots of flags that can be personalized. Come see us at www.FlagsandGifts.com .  If you see a flag that is not listed for personalization but you would like it to be, just let us know.  We will do our best to accommodate. 

Here is a few of the House Flags and Garden Flags we carry that can be personalized.

 

Personalized Welcome to the Lake Garden Flag

 

 

Decorative Yard Flags - For the Birds

We had the privilege over the last few weeks of watching a pair of House Wrens in action.  From a window in our house we have a perfect up close view of one of our birdhouses.  Several weeks ago we watched as a pair of house wrens started busily bringing building materials , they worked tirelessly.  As time went on we assumed they had layed and were setting on eggs.  Eventually we starting hearing lots of little tweets that started out very small and weak and gradually grew stronger and louder.  Finally we were able to see their little eyes and beaks, but mostly beaks.

 You could look out into the birdhouse and see nothing but opened mouths. 



Hungry baby House Wren
 

Again the mom and dad worked long and hard all day long feeding what we finally figured were four mouths. 

Then the time came to leave home and again we were lucky enough to be able to witness them leaving the safety of there home to venture out in the dangerous and huge outside world. 







There are  many garden flags and house flags that display the wonderful world of birds.  By displaying these decorative yard flags you promote awareness of their beauty and remind people to help and protect these delicate yet resourceful creatures.

The Birch Tree Songbirds garden flag by Custom Decor shows many different breeds of birds in all there gloriour color.

Birch Tree Songbirds
 





The Squirrel Dilemma Flag  by Carson is a humourous flag that anyone who likes to feed birds can relate to.

 

 

This great applique flag comes in both the small mini flag size and the larger house flag so you can have a matching pair. 

Check out all our great bird flags we're sure you'll find something you love.

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



Monogram Garden Flags

A monogram in its strictest terms is two or more letters, usually someone's initials, that are interwoven in a way to create one design.  Most of us also include any display of initials used for decorative or labeling uses.  Initials that are listed in any way interwoven or not and even just one letter that represents a first or last name initial. 

As an embroiderer for many years I have monogrammed purses, shirts, baby clothes and over the last few years have been introduced to monogram decorative yard flags.  These garden flags come in many themes and designs and are available for all the different seasons.  Most monogram flags display a single initial.  Some also spell out the name that initial represents and works it into the design.  I have also seen some decorative monogram flags that use the traditional 3-letter intertwined monogram.  In these monograms the initial of the last name is larger and in the middle.

At Custom Flags and Gifts, all our monogram flags are ones we have designed ourselves and print in our shop.  This gives us the freedom to offer unique products that are not offered anywhere else.  Here is a sampling of what we have:



Animal Print Monogram Flag
 



Flip Flop Welcome Garden Flag

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

Decorative Yard Flags 101

When I first started working at a flag store a few years ago, I didn't know the first thing about decorative flags.  Not that its rocket science but just like with anything else there are a few basic things you need to learn just so you know what you are buying.

Decorative Flags can be two sided, those can be viewed equally from  either side, or one sided.  Depending on how the flag is going to be displayed, often the one sided flags work just fine.  Next, these yard flags are made in two basic ways.  They are either printed, usually through a process called sublimation or they are appliqued.   Applique Flags are pieces of fabric sewn together that create a design or scene.  A row of satin stitch is sewn around each piece to secure it and prevent fraying.  There are the heavy double sided applique and single applique.

There are two basic sizes of Decorative Flags. Garden flags or Mini flags are the smaller ones.  They usually measure 12-13 inches wide and 15-18 inches tall.  They can be displayed with a variety of flag stands that either go in the ground or some attach to a post or wall.  House flags or standard flags are the larger variety.  They usually measure 28-30 inches wide and 36-42 inches long.  These are usually displayed from a pole that slides into a bracket that is attached to the house.  There are some stands that will display house flags and go in the ground.

I hope I have helped to clear up any questions you may have had.  Please browse our site and see what we offer.  If you have any questions feel free to write us at info@flagsandgifts.com .
Thanks for reading and we look forward to hearing from you.

Marilee and Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts


Heavy Double Applique Ladybug Flag



Sea Turtle Printed Garden FLag

Honoring our Veterans

Memorial Day is this Monday, May 27th.  It is a US federal holiday which occurs every year on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is to remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate both the Union and Confederate Soldiers who had died.

A great way to remember those who have given their lives while serving, is to help and honor those still alive who have served. 

Memorial Day 2013: Honor the Fallen by Lifting Up Veterans

by, Christine Pelosi CoFounder, DNC Veterans and Military Families Council

"As the president reminds us, our moment of national reflection should not be just a minute, but a sustained commitment to honor the fallen by lifting up our veterans."

SUPPORT HOMELESS VETERANS, INC.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 131,000 Veterans are homeless on any given night . In addition, approximately twice that many experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country

According to a study by Cornell University
In the year 2011, an estimated 19.1 percent (plus or minus 0.32 percentage points) of non-institutionalized civilian veterans aged 21 to 64 years reported having a VA service-connected disability in the United States.  Wounded Warrior Project is one of several organizations supporting and helping disabled veterans.  You can donate to their cause online.

We offer Military Garden Flags that can also be personalized to honor both veterans and those who are actively serving any time of year.

Thank you for reading.

Marilee and Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts



Navy Garden Flag





Personalized Air Force Flag

 

Creating Collages for Custom Garden Flags and Photo Gifts

I have always loved collages.  They are perfect for indecisive people like me.  When I have a group of photos and can't decide which ones I like best for a print or photo gift , I just mix them all together a make a collage.  Voila, the problem is solved. 

We would like to offer the same option to our customers who would also like to utilize the versatility of collages to print on our gift products or custom garden flags. I have made some really fun photo plaques for friends and koozies for parties all with collages.  We even have some ideas for some custom garden flags.  The problem sometimes can be actually putting together the collage.  It can be time consuming and not everyone has sophisticated photo editing software.  I knew there was some free software offered online, so I decided to do some research and find out if there w
ere any of them that I would recommend.

Once I began my search I was amazed at just how many free photo editing softwares there were online.  I started with the ones where you download the entire program to your hard drive. A program named Picasa is the only one of those that I would recommend.   Not that the other programs were bad, I actually never got that far, but every one of them had bunches of annoying add ons with them that downloaded with the program,like toolbars and search aids and there was no way to get the software without them.  With one program I even got a nasty bug that took several days to get rid of.

I had used Picasa in the past, but there were a couple small things I did not like about it so I ventured ahead to check out what else was available.  There are photo editing softwares where you upload your photos and do the editing and collage making all online.  This saves space on your hard drive and anytime you don't have to download you are reducing your risk of viruses.  Again there are tons of these, I tried maybe six or seven of them.  Most of them you can download your end product to your computer, some you can only share online.  Some of them would only upload one photo at a time and did so very slowly others would upload whole files of photos very quickly. There are a good variety of templates that vary from program to program depending on what you are wanting to do.  I would recommend you do your own experimenting to see what works best for you.  The one that I liked best was one called Kizoa .It would upload groups of photos that were large files very quickly, it had a great variey of templates and different effects you could use, you could even do animation.  You could crop your collage at the end to fit standard photo sizes and you could download your final product to your computer to print and store. The only drawback for me was that you could not choose a custom size for your collage which is needed for doing the different shaped items we were wanting to do.

My final choice was to stay with Picasa for most my collage making although I might still go back to Kizoa on ocassion. I must say there were a few quirky things about Picasa that drove me nuts, but once my daughter showed me a few basic tricks and I looked at a few tutorials online and basically knew a little better what I was doing, its really a very fun and functional program.  Also I found there is a Picasa forum with some very helpful members if you have some questions you can't find answers for yourself.  So give it a try and have fun.


Thank you for reading

Marilee and Josie
Custom Flags and Gifts


  http://flagsandgifts.com/upload/index.php?route=product/category&path=7

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is next weekend and like all holidays has a reason and an origin that goes beyond just the commercial part of gift giving, so I decided to do some research.  A woman named Anna Jarvis is considered the founder.  Her mother who had  eleven children had often mentioned the desire for a day set aside to honor motherhood.  After her mother died Anna decided to make her wish come true.  She campaigned tirelessly many years until it was officially declared a US holiday in 1914.   Anna's hopes was for children to show there love and respect for their mothers in simple and sincere ways with handwritten notes and handmade gifts.  Ironically, as the holiday became more and more commercialized, Ms Jarvis became very disillusioned with the holiday and spent the latter part of her life trying to get it removed from the calendar.

As gift giving on Mother's Day continues to be a tradition , which as a mom, I see nothing wrong with.  We do need to keep in mind what the holiday is all about and take the time to truly appreciate what Mom's do.  At this point in my life, Mother's Day becomes three layered.  As a mother myself, remembering my own mother and watching my daughter be a wonderful mom to my grandson.  So many grateflul memories and hopes for the future.

Simple gifts that show some effort and thought behind them are often the best, especially ones that are personalized.  Photo gifts are a perfect way to express sentiments and save memories. 

Here are some gift ideas at Custom Flags and Gifts.

Photo plaques

Happy Mother's Day and thanks for reading.
Josie and Marilee
www.FlagsandGifts.com