"Perfect is the enemy of the good" printable: Free for limited time

Some of you are probably familiar with the fight -- the fight against perfectionism.

Perfectionism leads to procrastination, second guessing, and self doubt. The pursuit of perfection has been holding me back from working quicker and accomplishing more. Frankly, I don't have time for that sh*t anymore. The path to perfection takes at least twice as long as very good. And no one notices the difference except me.

So, that's it perfection. I'm done with you.

If only it were that easy, right?

As a recovering life-long perfectionist, it's a daily struggle.

I created this print as a daily reminder to myself. It's hanging over my workbench and often knocks me to my senses when I'm being ridiculous and giving something another coat of paint.

Are you a recovering perfectionist too?

Download the printable! >>

For personal use only, please.

I'm making this print free for my blog readers for a limited time. After that, it will be available in my upcoming etsy shop. Don't wait! Download now!

Eat Fruit, Be Healthy Updated WPA poster + FREE printable

Searching through the WPA poster archives, I was totally charmed by this "Eat Fruit" poster, but the original color scheme was sorta wacky. Red, green and purple? Hmmm.

So I traded the colors for a simpler black and white and cleaned up the image in Photoshop. Then I printed it on a piece of off-white card stock and popped it into a glossy black frame. So much better, right?

I probably shouldn't need reminders to eat healthier, but I do. And maybe you do too! So I'm offering my doctored version as a free printable, available to print at 5"x7" or 8"x10".

Download the printable here >>
For personal use only, please.

In exchange for this free download, could I ask you to pin this post or share it with your friends? Thanks!

Free artwork spotlight: WPA Poster Archive at Library of Congress

Source: Information - Brookfield Zoo

One of my very early blog posts was about a piece of artwork from the WPA Poster archive at the Library of Congress. I'm sure that just about two percent of you were reading this blog at the time, so I thought I'd do another post about it.

The archive is a great source for high-resolution vintage artwork you can print and display at home for free!

Source: Once upon a time / Keep your teeth clean

I spent some time sorting through the entire database (oh yes, I went through all 900+ images), and I'm presenting a few of my favorites in this post.

The Library of Congress does not own the prints, but they do state that they have "no known restrictions," making them free to print and use without being in violation of any copyrights.

"Publication and other forms of distribution: Posters in this collection were made by artists working for the Works Projects Administration, a "New Deal" program of the U.S. Government. There are no known restrictions on the use of these posters."

More info on this page: Work Projects Administration Posters Rights and Restrictions Information

Source: See America / Protect your parks

In some cases, you may need to crop the scanned images and others could use some cleaning up in Photoshop, but it's a real treasure-trove. For best results, download the high-resolution TIFF image file and print on card stock or other nice paper.

Source: Grow it yourself

I also created a Pinterest board with a bunch more for easy browsing. There are many great posters in the archive, but there are also a lot of mediocre ones. (And an inordinate amount of posters aiming to curb syphilis.) So if you don't have time to dig through the giant Library of Congress database, take a look at my Pinterest board instead.

Stay tuned for another post soon about where I'm using one of these prints in my own house.

Sources: Exhibition / Pet Show

Quick and easy 'Happy Birthday' banner + printable

I did not do a lot of decorating for Elise's birthday party. I did, however, make a super quick and easy 'Happy Birthday' banner that made us both happy. And today I'm going to show you just how quick and easy it was.

First, I started off with a pre-cut pad of paper (called a mat stack or a mat pad in the scrapbooking world). I picked this one up at Michael's. It's basically just a bunch of sheets pre-cut to a certain size, which eliminates cutting up larger sheets.

I designed my banner, then fed the paper through the printer. After the ink was dry, I trimmed off those white margins.

I used some mini clothespins to hang them up onto a length of string and done! Fastest party decoration ever.

No gluing, no sewing, no tape. I'd be shocked if it took more than ten minutes to put together. A bonus: the whole thing can be disassembled and saved to use again at another birthday party.

Want to make one for your party? You're in luck! I've made a printable!

Download instantly from my Etsy shop >>

Pssst! Get $1 off with coupon code BANNER3 at checkout.

Three different versions available!

• 8.5" x 11" version, containing four letters to a page. Finished size of each letter = 4.25" x 5.5". (This version requires some cutting, but doesn't require special size paper.)


• 8.5" x 11" version in a more modern font.


• Quick 4.5" x 6.5" "Happy Birthday" banner, printable on 4.5" x 6.5" paper

All versions print in black ink on your choice of paper. Bright colors or subtly patterned paper look best!

But it looks great on kraft paper too, if you're going for a more subdued, adult color scheme.

Please e-mail with comments or questions: erin (at) lansdownelife (dot) com. I'd love to hear from you!

Preschool handwriting worksheet: FREE printable!

To my surprise, Elise has begun writing her name on her own. Nevermind that the letters aren't in order or in a straight line left to right. Proud mama, here. Can you see all the letters?

If I had known this was going to be the first time she wrote her name, I would have given her a better piece of paper.

I thought I would help her out by making her a traceable handwriting worksheet, and I'm sharing it with you as a free customizable printable!

Download handwriting worksheet (PDF)

Click on the link above, then save the file to your computer by selecting File > Download. (You won't be able to customize the form within your web browser.)

Enter your child's name in the first field, press TAB and the rest of the fields will fill automatically. Then print!

(Note: You won't be able to save the PDF with your typing unless you're using the full version of Adobe Acrobat, not just Acrobat Reader.)

The first page is simply fields to trace while the second page has blank lines below the fields in case they want to try writing without any guidance.

You can type upper case, lower case, mixed case. If your child's name is short, you might even be able to fit it twice on each line as I did above.

Of course, you're not limited to just a name. You can do numbers, letters or whatever other words you can fit in the width of the field. Let me know what clever ideas you come up with in the comments!

p.s. The font I used is called Quicksand Dash.

FREE printable: Disney World postcard party invitation

Remember Elise's birthday party invitations? I've gotten a couple of requests for the design I used on the back of the postcard, so I thought I'd offer it up as a free printable. Pair with a 4"x6" photo print on the front for quick handmade invitations.

I made up two versions of this 4"x6" invitation. If you are handy with design programs, download the JPG file. But if you're not, I also designed an interactive PDF form. Just type in your info and print on a 4"x6" card! Easy!

To save the file to your computer: click on the link below, and select File > Download.

Disney World postcard party invitation (JPG)

Disney World postcard party invitation (interactive PDF form)



This printable is for personal, non-commercial use only. Feel free to link to this blog post, but redistributing or selling the file or a printed version is not OK.

p.s. If you're looking for a Disney-ish font to use... The Walt Disney World retro logo font is called Florida Project and is free for non-commercial use. There are also so many Disney fonts at The Disney Experience.

Kids birthday interview questionnaire: FREE printable form!

I keep track of the funny things my daughter says, but like many moms, I don't note other details as often as I probably should.

When she turned three in April, I knew it was the perfect time to begin a new tradition that would allow me to shed some of that mom guilt about not journaling every detail of her life. I saw this "birthday questionnaire" idea years ago before she was even born, tucked it away, and since then, I've seen it on other blogs executed in a variety of ways.

Some do it on birthdays, some make a record on the first or last day of school, sometimes the answers are coupled with a photo. I don't scrapbook, so a one-page interview I could slip into her (incomplete!) baby book seemed like the easiest solution for me.

I had her answer the questions in the days surrounding her birthday, but I'm just now getting around to completing the design and printing it out.

She might be a bit confused about what the word "vacation" means...

I designed my own set of questions based on a few different sets I found online. At age three, she didn't answer some of them. If I had extra info, I made notes in parenthesis, but for a couple, I just left them blank so we could compare to future interviews.

But I didn't just make this form for myself... I'm sharing it with you as a free printable!

Download pink/yellow birthday interview questionnaire (PDF)

Download blue/green birthday interview questionnaire (PDF)

Click on the link above, then save the file to your computer by selecting File > Download. (You won't be able to customize the form within your web browser.)

Enter your child's name, type in their responses to the questions and print! Or you can enter your child's name, print it, and write your answers in by hand.

(Note: You won't be able to save the PDF with your typing unless you're using the full version of Adobe Acrobat, not just Acrobat Reader.)

Alternatively, if you're a Photoshop superstar, you can save the PDF as a jpg and type on top of it. (But if you're a Photoshop superstar, I'm not sure what you need me for!)

I made a "girl" form and a "boy" form, but they are still both somewhat neutral enough that (I think) you could use either one for either sex.

I tried to make the top of the form flexible enough to accommodate long names, but you can complete it in a number of ways. See my examples below!

Please let me know if the forms aren't performing as they should! I tested them pretty rigorously, but I definitely want to know of issues you may experience.

FREE printable: Mickey Mouse birthday party favor tags

Having a Mickey Mouse birthday party? I thought I'd share the printable for the party favor tag I created for my Mickey cake pops.

I printed them on an 8.5"x11" sheet of card stock and used a two-inch circular paper punch, but if you don't have a punch, they'd also work cut into squares.

These tags are free for personal, non-commercial use only. Feel free to link to this blog post, but redistributing or selling these tags is not OK.

Download: Mickey Mouse Party Favor Tags

p.s. The Walt Disney handwriting font I used is called Waltograph and is free for personal use. (It also includes the Mickey ears icon as a special character!)

Be Unafraid - FREE printable artwork!

I'm not generally a fearful person. I'm not afraid of spiders or tornadoes or zombies.

I'm not afraid of heights or small spaces or flying.

But like a lot of people, at times I am afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of what others might think, afraid of success (yes, there is such a thing). And it's getting in the way of working towards my goals.

So I've adopted a new mantra: BE UNAFRAID.

I made myself a visual reminder for those moments when I need a boost. A mantra or motto doesn't do the work for you (obviously), but hopefully this will remind me to push past those moments when I'm second-guessing myself and just go for it.

Do you need a push too?

Download the free printable! Personal use only, please

In exchange for this free download, consider "paying" with a pin, a tweet or a Facebook share. Thanks!

p.s. It looks great on brown kraft paper too!

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Simple number flashcards + Free download!

Elise has been counting from one to ten for a little while. She can recognize the symbols for two, four and eight consistently, but the rest are a little spottier. Just like her daddy, she loves numbers! (Maybe it's all the The Price is Right they watch together!) So to encourage her, I made her some really simple flashcards to practice.

I wanted them to be very plain without illustrations or distractions so she would focus on the figures themselves.

I printed them on the reverse side of a piece of patterned cardstock, but you could print them on plain or colored cardstock too. I also faux laminated them with Con-Tact paper, but it was a bit of a chore and would probably skip that altogether next time.

If you have a toddler/preschooler, I've made the flashcards available for download.

Download the number flashcards (PDF, 25 KB)

Even if you don't have a little kid, I'll let you download them if you ask nicely. You could probably use them for alternate purposes like tags or something.

p.s. These flashcards are for personal use only. It's not OK to redistribute or profit from any content on this blog.