Free Printables | A Joyful Riot

April 18, 2016

Citrus Straw Umbrellas | Free Printable

So last week I was on vacation in Mexico and even though I came back to really quite freezing cold windy days here in Utah, there are some green leaves sprouting and lots of trees blossoming! This leads me to believe that Spring is in fact coming which then means that summer will eventually come too and I just could not be happier about this.

Of course, I don’t need the trees to tell me it’s going to happen, I do know it’s pretty inevitable, but you know seeing those little indications of life really do make the whole thing seem sooner and THANK GOODNESS! I never loved winter growing up, I’ve tried to reconcile myself to it in the last several years, but this year, for some unknown reason, my hate for it really came back with a vengeance. Look, I know it’s important, and beautiful, and after all, I am choosing to live here where it faithfully makes an appearance for at least five months every single year. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not painful every time I have to get into a below-freezing car, or slip on the ice, or look at my pale white skin and red nose in the mirror.

So, we’ve decided that whether or not the weather catches up any time super soon, AJR is done with winter and winter crafts and all things snow or cold-related (unless its a refreshing treat or drink) and we are diving head first into summery, bright, happy, colorful, warm crafts! I think we can all agree this is ok, right?

And to kick it off on a really bright and colorful, summery note, we made lemon, lime and orange fruit slice straw umbrellas that are free to you and a cinch to whip up! We’re big fans of paper straws, and adorning them with umbrellas (see these watermelon umbrellas and our donut umbrellas) and so this just seemed like the most natural thing to do, given the circumstances. Click through for the free download and instructions!

March 10, 2016

Free Printable Minimal Black & White Alphabet – 2 Ways

It’s always so fun to have an array of printable letters for any projects and home decor ideas you have! I find that I love to include our families initials within our decor. In fact I just realized today that Stella’s room has a decorative ‘S’ on literally every shelf in her built-in bookshelf (there’s five shelves….) which may be a little overkill…But I can tell you right now, there will be at least one more cus I haven’t printed one of these off for her yet and they match well in her room so I definitely will!

I have already included them in my bedroom, as see in our pillowcase post from Monday:

I’m really into the typographic decor look lately, especially when it has a really minimal feel, like these ones. It’s really just paying tribute to the fonts themselves rather than distracting with lots of other decorative elements. I just LOVE typography, don’t you? I remember when I was younger, like in high school, it was impossible to find free fonts so we never had ones we liked. In fact, when Malissa and I were the layout editors for our high school newspaper, we would create our own “fonts” in paint. And by fonts, I of course mean we just added fun little elements to the ones we already had. They were in no way actual fonts or even non-pixelated haha but they were fun! In reality though, I much prefer to just find what I already need online for free rather than make my own silly versions. And I just can’t believe how many we can find online these days!

February 29, 2016

World is your oyster | free printable

We featured this print a few months ago in this floral room inspiration board I made and we are finally sharing with you all! Come to think of it, we should have given you this freebie back at the very start of the year as a reminder to start 2016 with the attitude that the entire world is yours! But don’t worry, the world is still your oyster to grab and take a hold of.

Today feels especially great since it is the last day of February! No offense to those of you with really significant milestones this month but February is usually a pretty rough month for me. It is just not that pretty of a month and I just want it to be spring already. But even if flowers are not quite blooming yet this floral print will hopefully cheer you up!

Grab it below!

And this is certainly not exclusive to this but I think this print would be perfect in a nursery! So if any of you are expecting or know someone who is feel free to include this in your baby shower gift. And happy leap day!

February 25, 2016

DIY Bubblegum Popup Invitations

When it comes to party invites, I generally err on the side of a flat, simple card that I can just get printed and sent. Our Etsy shop is full of that kind of invite and it’s easy and I love it! But, what I love even more is added texture and fun/surprising elements. The only reason I don’t usually include these kind of parts to my party invites is simply because of time and money constraints. But, today I’m sharing a solution to that problem! Easy, easy popup invites!

These invites aren’t complicated at all, in fact you simply use honeycomb balls, which you can find at any party supply store, to get the popup effect! No crazy steps or intricate paper crafting to get this amazing wow factor.

And, I’ve created printables already for you that are free to use. They feature an adorable little boy or a girl, use whichever suits your party needs, in a cute little vintage style. The simple black and white, sketched style makes the invite not seem overwhelming with too many details and can also be super cost effective to print, since they don’t need to include any color.

I am just so in love with these sweet little invitations and I’m pretty sure I’ll use them soon for some fun party! I wish I had while I was growing up because I swear bubble gum was like MY THING :D

You could even do a variation of these invites using a photo of the person being celebrated. I love the idea of actually loading in a picture and still adding the fun honeycomb pop up element! If you go this route, just get a full frontal picture, load it into a photo editing program on a document in either 8″x6″ size or 10″x7″ size, this will result in cards that can be folded into 4″x6″ or 5″x7″, respectively, and will make your life so much easier since those will then fit in common envelopes.

For the front, we also provide a simple free printable or you could add your own embellishments after you’ve printed it, it’s just up to you! I love the idea of having your child, if that’s who the party is for, write a to and from on the front in their own handwriting! Just do what works and what you like and have fun! To see all the steps and get some tips for where to get the materials and also to grab the free printables, head right here!

February 15, 2016

DIY Oversized Minimal Calendar | Free Printable

The Stendig calendar is an institution. It has the prestigious claim to being the only calendar to be in the MOMA, and I mean, can you blame them??? ITS GORGEOUS!

Unfortunately I didn’t even know about the existence of this calendar until a little over a month ago (I feel stuuupid…) and the 2016 release of it is already sold out!I found some still available online for about $150. Which, for the size (and beauty) of it, that really is not a bad price. It’s just not a price I’m willing to pay. So I made my own! I included enough variation in the design so it’s not an exact copy by any means but it still has the minimal design appeal that I love in the original.

This calendar was actually SO EASY to put together, the hardest part by far was actually designing it and LUCK YOU, I’m making that part available for you for free!

Staples does large format prints, called engineer prints, in black and white for a super inexpensive cost. I decided to go with a much smaller version of this calendar (the original is 36″ x 48″ and mine is only 18″ x 24″) basically just to keep it super cheap and since I just moved into my house, I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted this to go and how it would all fit together. I still think it’s large enough to make a statement and be an artwork in itself but it isn’t overwhelming, and it only cost about $20!