QUINCEANERA
Estefany is about to turn 15. Our adorable little darling in her pretty yellow and white lace dress and pigtails ~ when we first sponsored her as an delightful five year old ~ is shortly to be considered a woman. :o In her culture (El Salvador), this very special Quinceanera birthday marks the important threshold between child and woman. For those able to afford it, there are lavish celebrations that would rival any expensive wedding. Sadly, for our Compassion children, they can only dream wistfully of such things.
FAMILY GIFT
However many sponsors are able to send a family gift and their Compassion centres will often organise a small party for them. If you are thinking about a sponsor visit, this would be a great time to go.
Quinceanera comes from ancient Aztec society. In Spanish ‘quince’ = ’15’, and ‘años’ = “years”. That was when the Aztec girls were groomed by the older women and taught the duties that an Aztec woman should know.
ESTEFANY LOVES PARIS
I sent Estefany some Paris photos a while ago and photoshopped her picture into them. Now she loves Paris! So for this special birthday, I did a Paris / Travel theme for her with more of a grown up feel to it. It was a totally frivolous package, but she will absolutely love it! Her dream is to travel to Paris one day…
I concentrated on gift items in soft colours or pink / black / white. There are so many beautiful Paris free printable gift items that it was so hard to choose. And it’s a good thing her package is posted, as I keep finding more! How many packages can we send again? :)
PARIS GIFT BOX
An adorable free printable Paris gift box in soft pink colours from Vectoria Designs was the star of my package. I printed it on craft photo paper with a slightly glossy finish and it turned out absolutely gorgeous with a soft sheen. Here is the how-to instructions.
PERSONALISED STATIONERY SET
Vintage map of Europe stationery set (free printable) and personalised with Estefany’s name on it. The map clearly shows France. Perfect. I had to send this stationery set as a separate posting, as it was almost 1/4 inch all by itself by the time I cut the stationery into 14 individual pieces; added half a dozen envelopes + envelope liners; plus the stationery band. Normally, I would send something like this, unassembled, to our older children and allow them to put it together, but chose this time to present it to Estefany as a complete and finished gift. The band can also be personalised, so we added Estefany’s name; our names; and the words Congratulations and Feliz Quinceanera!
CALENDAR
A pretty black and white vintage style Paris calendar by Call Me Victorian with the Eiffel Tower on it. (You may find an updated calendar for this year here); free printable
PARIS PAPER CITY
Paris paper city to make; from Made by Joel; free printable
BUSINESS CARDS
Paris business cards (free printable) with Estefany’s name on it. These also look pretty recoloured in pink. If you are using MS Publisher: right click on the image – click ‘format’ – then ‘picture’ – ‘recolor’.
BUSINESS CARD HOLDER
And her own fun free printable Black tie Butler (Business) Card Holder to hold her business cards or Bible verse wallet cards for her. He can solemnly hold up and display a new Bible verse for her every day, if she wishes.
*
*
PARIS COLLAGE
Next, I did a Paris collage for her in soft, pretty colours and laminated it. It was more art, than photos. The main photo I used was this pretty Eiffel Tower with flowers. I also used this Eiffel Tower image from the top left corner; this Paris sunset reflection; this photo and one of snow in Paris. I used this pretty background paper for my collage. Across the main image, I added Estefany’s name; Feliz Quinceanera; our names; a couple of heart embellishments; and a Bible verse in Spanish from Deuteronomy 6:5.
TRAVEL JOURNAL / SKETCHING PAGE
Travel journal (Dover sample) I fitted 2 of these on the one A4 page (landscape) and added Estefany’s name arching across the top of each one.
Travel Journal and Paris Sketching page By this time, I was rapidly running out of room, so I only sent the sketching page.
PRETTY SCRAPBOOKING GIFT TAGS, PAPERS AND LABELS
Okay, that made up the bulk of her package. I also made up a few of my own pages from some of these various bits and pieces that I thought she may like. There are also some other links you may also like to check out. Remember to open them up in an editing program and add a text box so you can include some Bible verses.
Free digital decorations for your scrapbooking page scroll down to the vintage Travel Tags, and brads with tiny bits of maps; pretty blue butterfly decorations; 3 vintage crowns; shabby chic brads; and vintage tea in Paris tags (while you are there, make sure you check out the scrumptious Pink Piccadilly Pastries Tearoom Pinterest link)
Pretty shabby scrapbooking tags – check out this pretty rose gift box and gift tags and heart shaped shabby flower tags
Paris scrapbooking papers and tags scroll past the first couple of entries and right down to the end of post. There are lots of suitable mix and match items for a Paris theme here.
Soft pink hearts and rose labels
*
*
Travel to-do list and travel tags free printable
Paris scrapbook paper (pink shabby) free printable
Paris free printable scrapbook paper (vintage chair + music notes)
What a wonderful site this one is: Fabulous Paris images in soft colors (there is also a calendar to purchase if you wish); some lovely photos of Paris and have a flick through the beautiful e-mag Paris photos.
I wish I had seen this photo scrapbook page idea earlier. I only spotted this mini album afterwards as well. Imagine a paper version of these.
Paris scrapbook templates and freebies from Marisa Lerin – you will have to register if you wish to download, but you can get free downloads every day and Marisa has heaps of great ideas to choose from.
*
MORE PARIS PRINTABLES
Paris Stationery free printable
Paris sunset photos from goodsearch
More Paris photos from goodsearch
Paris free printables from Pinterest
Paris free printables from goodsearch
Paris printables from Pinterest (some free, some to purchase)
Paris village this looked interesting for younger children
*
MORE CREATIVE IDEAS
Add a Bible verse to your favourite Paris image to make your own:
Bible Poster or Verse Card
Bible Wallet Cards
Bible Note Cards
Bible Stickers
Board Game
Stationery
If you are doing a travel theme for your child, you may also like to jazz up your colouring pages, jazz up your envelopes with some cute clip art or stickers; and make your own puzzles specifically for your child.
*
MORE TRAVEL IDEAS
I also thought about making up more travel items for Estefany with pink, white and black colours ~ a passport; a plane ticket and boarding pass; some Paris postcards. I really liked these sweet, girly ideas from Simone Made It. There are also some travel / world map / country flags / geography ideas in Cool Links that I could have used. In fact, I found so many great free printable Paris / travel ideas, I think I could have done a Paris theme all year! :)
*
RELATED LINKS
And maybe you may like to ‘bless your child’s mom’ or teacher with some of these wonderful Paris ideas as well.
*
*
If you like my work, please tell others; leave a comment and ‘like’ this page. Your kind comments make my day!
*¨*•.ღ.•*¨*
Come and say Hi to Paper Gifts for Estefany on…
Collect your FREE BONUS GIFTS when you sign up to follow me. What will they be? Click here to find out. And collect your additional FREE BONUS GIFTS when you follow me on Facebook (click on ‘Secret Treasure’ on the left hand side in the apps section).
*
*
*
*
******
Pingback: How will you Bless your child’s Mom? | Paper Gifts for Estefany
How special your 15 year old will feel! You are so good at developing creative ideas. Now wondering about boys? I do not sponsor any girls in El Salvador, but do have 3 boys, and wondering if there is a special age to celebrate for them too?
LikeLike
Hmmm… that’s a great question, Susan. I haven’t heard anything about the boys, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? I’m not sure about this. I only found out about the girls side of things from someone on http://ourcompassion.org/ who had been able to visit their sponsor girls and had been able to give a decent enough family gift, so they could celebrate it in style. Otherwise I would not have known about this all. His girls looked absolutely gorgeous. Like princesses. It was like a wedding! If you wanted to be sure, go to OC and check there. Someone on the forum is sure to know. Sadly, we were only able to send Estefany a small family gift for this special birthday. :( But at least it may be enough for a small quinc party for her at her Compassion centre, with her friends. In her last letter, she told us that she was not having a quinc, but when she wrote that, she would not have received our gift by then. I hope that her Paris package of love will bring her great joy. Thanks so much for your kind comments.
LikeLike
Pingback: 10 Letters in One Week! | Paper Gifts for Estefany
Pingback: Teacher Appreciation ~ Links | Paper Gifts for Estefany
Pingback: Free Printable Stationery | Paper Gifts for Estefany
Pingback: Letters via Camels and Waterbags? | Paper Gifts for Estefany
Pingback: Christmas Gift Ideas… DIY Activity Book for Kids (or adults) | Paper Gifts for Estefany
Pingback: FREE Bible Bookmarks | Paper Gifts for Estefany