Whether it's a casual family picnic to celebrate Memorial Day or Labor Day or a full-fledged sit down dinner for family and friends for the holidays, there are few things that are more fulfilling than planning, decorating and pulling off a holiday gala or a spontaneous get-together.
Using your desktop publishing tools and expertise opens up a wide world of options. For instance, you don't have to limit yourself to creating printables for just the traditional holidays because you can customize your project to fit your special circumstances and requirements. Want to throw a shin-dig to celebrate National Pizza Month? Create some invites and pass them around and you're ready to call for pizza delivery or make your own. Party on!
Note: Be sure to check out our "Party On" section at the end of this guide for more information on some bizarre, weird or just plain cool holidays and celebrations.
Spring Equinox
Have you ever wondered just what the Spring and Fall equinoxes were? Equinox is a Latin word, which translated means "equal nights." According to The Old Farmer's Almanac online, the spring and fall equinoxes occur each year as the sun crosses the celestial equator. On those two days, the hours of day and night are equal.
Some favorite springtime events are:
- Easter
- Mother's Day
- Earth Day
- Memorial Day
- National Arbor Day
- Cinco de Mayo
You'll want to bookmark your favorite articles so you can return to them for ideas, clip art, templates and more as you prepare for your holiday celebrations:
- Great Ideas for Easter Cards
- Creative Card Designs for Mother's Day and DIY Projects
- Easter Backgrounds For Greeting Cards
- 10 Free Rose Backgrounds
Note: The information given in this article regarding the various holidays is based on data from "American Holidays" on the USA.gov website.
Summer Solstice
Sunny summer days set the stage for picnics, pool parties and family reunions. Our patriotic spirits are exercised in June and July when we celebrate Flag Day and Independence Day, and we also have the opportunity to honor our fathers on the third Sunday in June. Use these resources as presented here or modify them as needed to suit any other celebration or event.
- Print Father’s Day Cards
- Free Father’s Day Templates
- Microsoft Word Summer Party Invitations
- 5 Great Hawaiian Borders
Fall Equinox
When the leaves change color and fall from the trees and the migrating birds wing their way to warmer climes, it's a sure sign that fall is on its way. The nights get gradually cooler and hours spent in front of a crackling fire planning for projects to celebrate the upcoming holidays are fun ways for families to bond.
The major fall holidays are:
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day
- Halloween
- Veteran's Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Here are ideas, templates and other tools to help you complete your holiday projects.
- Get Free Printables for Creating Labor Day Printable Projects
- Free Wizard of Oz Party Invitations
- Make Halloween Stickers for Kids with Microsoft Publisher
- Use Free Halloween Party Flyers to Make Invitations
- Make Thanksgiving Cards Fast
- Guide to Creating Your Own Thanksgiving e-Cards
- Make Your Own Spooky Halloween Party Invitations
- Halloween Wedding Invitations
Winter Solstice
When the weather outside is frightful, there's nothing more delightful than pulling out your winter-themed desktop publishing projects and creating some greeting cards, scrapbook pages or other crafts and printables.
Plan your projects around celebrations like these:
- Christmas
- New Year's Eve
- New Year's Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday
- Groundhog Day
- Valentine Day
- Washington's birthday
You'll find a wealth of resources here to help you with your winter publishing projects. Be sure to bookmark your favorites so you can use them season after season for guaranteed results.
- DIY Valentine’s Cards in Photoshop
- How to Make Your Own Valentine’s Day Invitations in Microsoft Word
- How to Create Valentine Stationary in Microsoft Word
- Create Christmas Puzzles with Word
- Create Christmas Angel Invitations
- Creating Your Own Christmas Coupons
- DIY Christmas Photo Postcards
- DIY Christmas Invitations
- Christmas Bazaar Flyer
General Holiday Resources
Sometimes you need a more generic template or format for a desktop publishing project. For instance, you could be preparing flyers or greeting cards that will go to a broad client base that may or may not celebrate a particular holiday such as Christmas. By using these tips and techniques, you can quickly create meaningful, personalized greetings and content for any audience or demographic. The project skills levels vary but most can be completed by beginners.
- Company Holiday Party Invitations
- Free Christmas Holiday Templates for Microsoft Office
- How to Create a Holiday Planner Template
- Better Holiday Newsletters DTP Tips
- Make Your Own Holiday Word Search Puzzles
- How to Create Greeting Cards in Adobe InDesign
Party On Year Round
For those who like to think outside the box and be unconventional, we're including a short list of some of the wackiest, craziest and least-known recorded holidays. You may find some you want to put on your personal bucket list for future celebrations, or they could just provide you with a little comic relief. If you are teacher or home educator, use these ideas to create unique and memorable lesson plans, activities, worksheets and art projects.
Here are our favorite picks complied from the 2010-2011 lists of events from Holidays for You (based on completely random criteria).
- January: International Get Over It and Hot Tea month
- February: Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket and Library Lovers month
- March: National Optimism and National Kite month
- April: National Anxiety and National Frog month
- May: Date Your Mate and Moms Are Marvelous month
- June: Adopt a Cat and Turkey Lovers month
- July: National Picnic, National Hot Dog and National Ice Cream month
- August: National Back to School and Eat Dessert First month
- September: Be Kind to Writers and Editors and Pink Flamingo month
- October: National Pizza and Adopt a Dog month
- November: National Raisin Bread and Peanut Butter Lovers month
- December: Cooked Grasshoppers and Learn a Foreign Language month
Whether you celebrate a traditional or unorthodox holiday or get-together, it's fun to personalize the event by adding a few of your own touches. There is a wealth of resources from which to choose in these articles to help you plan and produce a desktop publishing project of any size or scope.
References
- Image: SXC People color by biewoef under royalty free license
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1345231
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1347555
- Old Farmer's Almanac online, First Day of Fall: The Autumnal Equinox, http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-fall-autumnal-equinox
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1141883
- Image: SXC Thanksgiving table by falconreid under royalty free license
- American Holidays, USA.gov, http://www.usa.gov/citizens/holidays.shtml
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1086988
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/874879
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1208354
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1281977
