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July 27, 2012

Planning the Paper Anniversary – Tips for the First Year Party

Filed under: Seasonal & Special Events Ideas — PDWriter @ 8:00 am

Ardor Casual InvitationsMany married couples say their first anniversary (symbolized by paper) is the most exciting and most memorable. A first wedding anniversary is a great time to plan a celebration that gives the newlyweds many heartfelt memories for years to come. Paper Anniversary wedding parties are usually casual and inexpensive; after all, you have to save up for when you make it to your silver and gold anniversaries!

Paper Anniversary Party Tips

If you are hosting your own paper anniversary party or are hosting for a friend or family member, here are some tips to help make your paper anniversary party a huge success:

  • After deciding on your guest list, order your anniversary invitations from PaperDirect way ahead of the date of the party, so you have plenty of time to get them organized, Formal Engagement Casual Invitationsaddressed and mailed out. For a special added touch, include a wedding photo or a fun photo from your honeymoon or any experience in your first year (maybe a picture of your child or children?). In the invitation, include all the pertinent information the guests will need: reason for the event, location, time, attire (if it’s even necessary to mention this), and remind guests that the theme is “paper anniversary.” Include information in the invitation such as whether or not children and/or pets are welcome, if no alcohol will be served may guests bring their own and items of that nature.
  • If the party is outdoors, be sure the area is clean and safe; if there is a pool present, hire a trained lifeguard to protect your guests. While parents should always watch their children while at a pool party, you need a trained professional on hand because parents will look away, and tragic accidents can happen in a split second. If there is a pool that is off limits, be sure a gate or barrier of some sort surrounds the pool and that there is no way a child could get close enough to the pool to fall in.
  • Help your guests by including fun and inexpensive gift ideas related to paper such as paper products for house (e.g. paper towels, paper napkins, toilet tissue, paper plates and other practical gifts any new couple could certainly use).
  • Choose festive decorations that match the theme of the party if you have a theme in addition to the obvious “paper anniversary” theme. So, if you’re doing a Mardi Gras theme, order decorations from PaperDirect that will make your theme obvious to the Carnival Casual Invitationsguests. PaperDirect has a huge selection of vinyl party banners to choose from, so we’re sure you’ll find all the decorations you need at the best one-stop online shopping source for event planning and hosting–PaperDirect.com.
  • Plan the menu and beverages. Are you going to have it catered? Are you going to cook the food yourself or have friends and family help? As you plan your menu, consider food safety and how long certain foods can sit out in the sun (such as mayonnaise-based salads and desserts with cream/milk in them). Be sure to have enough food and be sensitive to food allergies your guests may have. Many people do not eat meat, foods with gluten or shellfish (due to allergies), so in the invitation, you can include a note asking your guests to please let you know about special food requests they have. Strategically place plenty of trash bins around the party venue, so your guests are not stuck holding dirty plates, cups and napkins.
  • Make sure restrooms are available, clean and well stocked.
  • If alcohol is served, be sure no one drives home after drinking. Either provide transportation via cab or sober driver or insist the intoxicated guest spend the night at your home or nearby hotel. You can be held legally responsible if someone is injured or killed in a car accident after drinking at your home.

If you are throwing a party, any type of party, PaperDirect not only has a lot of the supplies you’ll need, but the blog includes an entire section devoted strictly to all types of event planning. Here are just a few PaperDirect blogs that offer tips on throwing a really great party!

 

July 25, 2012

How to Design a Certificate for Student Achievements

Filed under: Student Recognition Ideas — Tags: , , , , — PDWriter @ 8:00 am
Excellence Specialty Certificates

With the new school year just a few weeks away for many students in the United States, it’s time for teachers, other school personnel, and parents to begin thinking of ways to reward students for good grades, improved behavior, better attendance, a more positive attitude, and increased effort, just to name a few. There are a number of student achievements that can be acknowledged with a certificate that you can design and print (with a little  help from PaperDirect) in no time at all. Whether you want to print a single certificate or a large number at once, PaperDirect can help you produce lovely, professional-looking student award certificates for all types of school achievements for children of all ages!

Design Your Own Student Achievement Certificates

Festive Streamers Casual Certificates

Standard certificates are inexpensive, and PaperDirect has student achievement templates available to download allowing you to print certificates in a matter of minutes because the layout and wording have already been done for you. All you have to do is put the recipient’s name and date on the certificate and print it out! With the ease and convenience of designing and printing your own student award certificates, what, at first, may have seemed like a daunting task, is a breeze!

Templates for Student Certificates

PaperDirect has templates for virtually every occasion, and if you have a student achievement that requires a certificate of appreciation template that is not featured on our website, making changes to templates is easy. And the certificate design templates are  to the exact specifications of the paper so there they will come out perfectly every time.

Festive Starlight Specialty Certificates

To really jazz up student achievement certificates, you can order certificate frames for them. Not only do the frames look great, but they will preserve the quality of the certificate, so it can last forever. Low cost, ease of production and flexibility with the student achievements templates make giving student award certificates one of the best parts of a very challenging job!

PaperDirect is your one-stop online shopping source for all your student (and employee) recognition needs. If you need ideas on how to recognize students for a job well done, check out these PaperDirect blogs:

July 23, 2012

Stylish Top Performer Trophies for the New School Year

Filed under: Student Recognition Ideas — Tags: — PDWriter @ 1:07 pm

Star Accent AwardWith the new school year quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about ordering top performer trophies for your star students. PaperDirect has a large selection of trophies of all shapes and sizes, and they can be engraved with whatever message you need. Being recognized for a job well done is a very good feeling, and it’s so very important that children of all ages receive some sort of recognition when they do well or even just put forth their best effort but don’t necessarily “win” top honors. Getting a trophy not only inspires the recipient but affects those around the recipient as well.

Even when a student tries to appear too “cool” to receive a trophy or acts like he doesn’treally want it, it’s a natural human emotion to feel pride when you’re rewarded for doing a good job. It’s normal to feel proud

Shooting Star Award

of accomplishing something or being the best at something. Even the coolest kid will probably rush home to show off the trophy and display it in the living room or bedroom with a huge smile on his face. No one is too cool to get a trophy, no matter how hard they try to act like it’s no big deal.

Custom Engraved Top Performers’ Trophies (and Plaques)

With PaperDirect, after you choose the trophy or trophies you like, you can add an engraved logo and the text of your choice to our custom trophies and plaques. You can put the name of the recipient, the date, and the specific name of the award such as “Most Improved Student,” “Highest Math Grade,” “Best Attendance,” or “Most Helpful.” If you’re the mother (or father) of a senior in high school, you may be asked to help out on the graduation ceremony or what is called the Senior Superlatives Night. This is a fun ceremony in which senior are recognized for being the “Funniest,” “Most Likely to Succeed,” “Best Personality,” Prettiest Eyes,” “Best Couple,” “Most Athletic,” and “Best Friends.”

Star Acrylic AwardWith PaperDirect’s custom engraving, the top performers in your school will have something they can keep forever–something that will become more meaningful to them with each passing year.

Check out these stylish top performer trophies and note the variety of styles and designs PaperDirect offers. With custom engraving on all trophies and plaques and easy online ordering, PaperDirect is your one-stop online shopping source for student recognition and motivation ideas that really work.

If trophies are a bit out of your budget range, there are creative, inexpensive ways to reward students. Check out these PaperDirect blogs for some ideas:

 

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2012

Wedding Place Card Presentation Ideas

Filed under: DIY Wedding Accessories — Tags: — PDWriter @ 8:00 am

Wedding place cards may not seem like an important detail for a wedding reception, but Rich and Radiant Folded Place Cardsnot only are they important, they’re a fun detail because place cards are a great way to accentuate the theme of your wedding. Let’s take a look at some ways you can enhance your wedding theme with place card presentation.

Wedding place cards are as important as the wedding menu or wedding program. Careful seating will save time and eliminate stress by creating great conversation, introducing new people to each other and avoiding family conflicts. There are many ways to display your wedding place cards for easy access and to avoid mix-ups. Traditionally, place card presentation is simple. Guests mill about and find their names on the reception tables.

Place Card Presentation by Seasonal Theme

When it comes to place card presentation, following your seasonal themed wedding is a great way to go. For instance, winter weddings call for a classic white card with tones of ivory and powder blue. You can jazz up your place cards even more with crystals and little pearls to give off a chilly, snowy feel.

Summer weddings, especially those around July 4th, can have a patriotic flair with red, white and blue accents. Summer weddings call for bright, vivid colors that shout Summer is in the Air! Easter/spring weddings call for pastels and lovely flowers of all shapes, colors and sizes.

Fall weddings are a perfect time to get those creative juices flowing when it comes to place card presentation. Think of all the autumn symbols you can use to highlight your place cards and autumn theme: gourds, pumpkins, leaves, fall colors, etc. The more creative you, the more options you have. If you don’t feel very creative, you can always come to the PaperDirect blog for great suggestions.

Place card Presentation by Tropical/Locale ThemeSeashore Scene Folded Place Cards

For your Hawaiian luau themed wedding, carve your guests’ names into tropical fruits such as mangos and pineapples. For seaside weddings, you can present guests with seashell place card holders and arrange them in an eye-catching display.

Frequently Asked Questions About Place Cards

The PaperDirect blog offers a great deal of advice on a variety of topics, and DIY weddings is a topic that many people have a lot of questions about. Let’s look at some commonly asked questions about DIY wedding place cards:

Q. How do you handle place card presentation for single wedding guests with dates? Do you just put the word “guest” on the place card?

A. You must make the effort to learn the name of each of your single guests’ dates. Putting the word “guest” is not acceptable. If the guest did not fill in the name of his or her guest, you must phone or email your guest to find out the full name of the person who will be joining him/her for your wedding. Once your guest list is complete, create a place card for each individual guest rather than putting both names on one place card.

Q. Are place cards absolutely necessary for my wedding reception?

Golden Sunflowers Folded Place CardsA. Wedding place cards are not an absolute must have for every type of wedding, especially small, informal weddings with very few guests; however, for large wedding receptions, place cards make things much easier for you (and your guests). With assigned seats, stress is eliminated and things just seem to go more smoothly. With thoughtful, proper wedding place card presentation, you can decide which guests sit at which tables allowing you to ensure couples stay together and feuding family members keep a distance.

Please keep in mind that PaperDirect is your one-stop online shopping source for many of your do-it-yourself (DIY) wedding needs like invitations, reception cards, response cards, envelopes, save the date magnets, wedding program paper, personalized napkins and thank you notes.

Do you feel you need more information about wedding place cards? Please read these PaperDirect blogs:

 

 

 

 

July 18, 2012

Creative Student Recognition Ideas for the New School Year

Filed under: Student Recognition Ideas — Tags: , — PDWriter @ 8:00 am

Achievement Border Specialty CertificatesComing up with creative student recognition ideas can be a challenge with each new school year. PaperDirect is here to help. If you’re a veteran teacher, or even if you’re a rookie, you may be struggling with student recognition ideas so you don’t give out the same old rewards that are given out each year and have come to be less meaningful to the recipients. The first step in the process of buying or making creative student recognition “prizes” for the new school year is to spend some time getting to know your students.

Show Interest by Asking Questions

Many teachers, on the very first day of Honor Roll Award Casual Certificatesschool, ask their students to fill out a questionnaire so they can find out what their students are “into” when they’re not in school. If you have not tried this, you will find yourself amazed at what some of your students do in their free time. Many have jobs, fascinating hobbies, interesting family lives and other things going on that you’d never suspect had you not shown interest through your questions. Of course, you must be careful to not ask personal questions concerning religion, ethnicity, political beliefs, etc.

If you’re a new teacher, have a veteran teacher review your questions just to make sure they’re “politically correct.” What you may consider an innocent question, such as “What does your father do for a living?” may be a sore subject with a student and cause him/her to shut down and refuse to answer any other questions. Be as neutral and benign in your questions as possible. To be safe, you can make the questionnaire optional or emphasize that the students answer only the questions they feel comfortable addressing.

Match the Reward to the Accomplishment and Student

PaperDirect has a large selection of award certificates, plaques and trophies that you can Academic Award Casual Certificatesengrave or design with special messages to your students. Whether it’s most improved, best attendance or highest grade, be sure the reward matches the accomplishment and the student’s personality. If you think a student will find a certificate or plaque corny, then that’s where the creativity must come in. Here are some creative student recognition ideas to get the new year started off right:

  • Buy the student breakfast
  • Award privileges to the student (leaving early, running errands to other classrooms, time in the library or media room)
  • A homework pass
  • Ice cream party at end of day
  • Pizza party
  • Gift cards to favorite hangouts and restaurants
  • Hand-written thank you card
  • Positive phone call home to the parents
  • Lunch with the principal
  • Lunch off campus
  • Lunch delivered to the student compliments of the school or teacher

Creative student recognition ideas need not be expensive. Some of the most meaningful rewards for well-deserving students don’t cost any money at all! Check out these PaperDirect blogs to get more ideas about student recognition for the new year:

 

 

July 11, 2012

Motivational Pins Are Cost Effective Student Rewards

Filed under: Employee Recognition Ideas — Tags: — PDWriter @ 8:00 am

Together we make a Difference Pin by PaperDirectStudents of all ages (no matter how “cool” they are) appreciate being acknowledged for doing a good job or for improving upon something like behavior, perfect attendance or grades. While certificate awards are definitely morale boosters and plaques and trophies look great on the wall or shelf, there really isn’t any way a student can take his/her reward around where it can be seen (nothing wrong with showing off a bit, right?).

Motivational pins can be used as a reward for student achievement and as an incentive for other students striving to better themselves. While some students may act as though recognition is not a big deal, every parent and teacher knows that children of all ages like a pat on the back every now and then. Motivational pins are inexpensive, attractive and can be worn on any type of clothing.

Recognition awards like motivational pins not only shows the student his good work, attitude, behavior, or attendance is being acknowledged, but they show other students that good work does not go unnoticed. Whether it’s an award for achievement such as “Highest Math Grade” or an award for someone who is showing improvement like “Most Improved Classroom Behavior,” motivational pins can be worn every day and serve as a constant reminder of what the student did to earn that pin.

Perfect Attendance PinStudent recognition awards like motivational pins actually serve two purposes. They’re designed to show appreciation for deserving students, and they’re designed to help boost morale amongst in other students. Having a recognition program using certificate awards, lapel pins, plaques and trophies is an effective tool to reward and motivate students throughout the school year.

Seeing all the awesome recognition lapel pins available from PaperDirect will give you ideas about how to best utilize them for motivating and rewarding students.

July 4, 2012

Customizable Back to School Flyers for Your Events

Filed under: Marketing & Sales Promotion Techniques — Tags: , — PDWriter @ 2:04 pm

Flyers are, perhaps, one of the most under-utilized tools to get information out to a Backpack Border Paperslarge number of people in a short amount of time and at a fairly low cost. You will most often see flyers advertising new businesses, promoting upcoming concerts, touting certain religious beliefs, or spreading political messages.

Why You Need Back to School Flyers

The uses for flyers are practically endless. And with back to school time quickly approaching, let’s think about some ways you can use back to school flyers to get your message out. A lot goes on at the beginning of the school year: sports teams, cheerleaders and dance teams often hold tryouts at the beginning of the year. Clubs, such as the Student Council and Young Republicans, are often formed at the beginning of the year, and sometimes class elections for “Class President” are held early in the year. Here are some tips on how to design flyers for any occasion, especially those related to back to school events.

Back to School Flyer ContentDetermination Border Papers

One of the first and most important things that needs to be done is to plan your content. Gather all necessary information that must be included in the flyer and organize it so it’s easy to read and fun for the recipients. Too much content will be unappealing and your flyer will likely end up in the trash. Use short, succinct sentences and lots of vibrant language representative of whatever you are promoting. People are busy and attention spans are short. In order for your flyer to get noticed, it must stand out. If you don’t consider yourself a creative person, then enlist the help of others who are. Be sure the content is error free, and if contact information is necessary, make sure that it’s included: name, phone number, email address, physical address and even the website URL are all important information if some type of response is necessary.

Eye-Grabbing Graphics

Choosing attention-getting images related to your back to school event is the next step in designing your back to school flyer. Football team tryouts flyers could include helmets, footballs, goal posts and a scoreboard. Glee Club back to school flyers could include music notes and images from the popular TV show, “Glee” that has taken the nation by storm over the last three years. One important tip is to make sure your content does not get lost in the images. You do want to have enough appealing images to entice your recipients into becoming involved in whatever you’re announcing or advertising.

Enrichment Border PapersDo-it-yourself Back to School Flyers

If you want to design and print your own back to school flyers, there are some things to consider. First, your file layout may need to account for bleed and trim if you’re working with a commercial printing service. You can save yourself a lot of time and effort by ordering your flyers from PaperDirect, an online store with an extensive line of flyers for your back to school announcement.

Flyer Production Made Easy

PaperDirect will custom design and print your back to school flyers. Simply provide the information and in no time at all, you’ll have durable, professional, attractive flyers printed on high quality, durable paper.

Save time and money by using PaperDirect’s flyer templates; follow these easy steps and your back to school flyers will be done quickly and professionally:

  • Pick out the flyer design from the hundreds offered from PaperDirect.
  • Next, customize your flyer template by using personalization tools such as text boxes to fill in necessary information. Choose the font and text size, add images, borders, tabs, and continue to format your back to school flyer.
  • Continue to format the flyer to achieve your desired look. Click the big blue “help” button in the upper right hand corner at any time you need help.
  • Preview the flyer to ensure it is exactly what you want. When it’s perfect, click the “next” button to see what the flyer will look like.
  • Click the “checkout” button to pay for your purchase.
  • Finally, load blank stock paper (available from PaperDirect) into your printer and start printing. You can print one single flyer or hundreds at one time.

PaperDirect is your one-stop online shopping source for business supplies, event planning necessities and party supplies including invitations, place cards and table tents.

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