Free Clip Art from Vintage Holiday Crafts » Children

Free Patriotic Vintage July 4th Clip Art

Holiday Crafts — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:03:40 +0000

These 4th of July clip art images are such beautiful examples of vintage July 4th art! Fireworks are featured in half of them, because what would the July 4th be without fireworks? Children are represented in most of them, as they frequently are in vintage art images. And what would the Fourth of July be without two of our most influential presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? They’re here, too, ready to help you celebrate the fourth of July.

Read our TERMS OF USE, just click the images below to view and download larger versions of the vintage July 4th clip art (enlarged sizes vary):

More patriotic images:

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NOTE: Please follow our terms of use when posting these images to any blog, Web site or forum, either commercial or non-commercial.

Free Vintage Mother’s Day Clip Art

Holiday Crafts — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:55:39 +0000

I’m not sure there’s such a thing as vintage Mother’s Day clip art created exclusively for Mother’s Day, at least not that I’ve seen. But much like vintage birthday cards for women, it’s pretty easy to find images that will fill the bill. So I’ve chosen an assortment of floral vintage clip art, as well as images of women (their hands at least) and children. I even embellished one piece of flower clip art with the words “Happy Mother’s Day,” in case you absolutely have to have clip art that is just for this holiday.

I chose each of these free vintage clip art images for a reason. I couldn’t resist the turquoise boot, although I’m sure the Victorian woman who had to wear boots like that probably had chronically sore feet. I chose the various hands because of their elegance and how they symbolize Mom’s loving care without even showing all of her. I picked the children due to the adorable factor and because a mom obviously wouldn’t be a mom without children. And last but not least, I chose the flowers just because the colors make me happy.

I hope you’ll find a few favorites among these images and that you (and your mom) enjoy them in good health!

Read our TERMS OF USE, then click on the free vintage Mother’s Day clip art images below to see and download the full-size art (enlarged sizes vary):

Like what you see? Please help others find our free printable Mother’s Day cards and free vintage clip art by linking to us from your blog or Web site.

Please note that posting these images to any blog, Web site or forum – either commercial or non-commercial – without following the rules in our terms of use is considered copyright infringement.

Free Vintage Kids Valentine Cards

Holiday Crafts — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:33:25 +0000

I absolutely love these colorful vintage kids Valentine cards. They come from different eras but seem to be mostly from the mid-20th century.

Some of the expressions on these cards aren’t heard much these days. An example is the sock saying “‘Darn’ it.” People still say “darn it,” of course, just not in reference to sewing up holes in their socks. I’m sure many of the crafters who visit this site will know what darning is, but how many people actually darn their socks any more? Arcane references like that are part of what makes these cards charming. Also cute is the fact that the people who created these kids valentine cards had no fear of being corny, because the designs were aimed at children. So this is your opportunity to be as corny as you want this Valentine’s Day; just blame it on the art.

Click one of the free vintage kids Valentine cards below to view and download a larger version (enlarged sizes vary):

Other free Valentine’s Day art:

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Please read and honor our our terms of use when printing or posting these images to any blog, Web site or forum. Thank you for your cooperation.

Free Vintage Christmas Clip Art Images

Holiday Crafts — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:36:14 +0000

I love vintage Christmas clip art, and from my experience so do a lot of other people. These nine free vintage clip art images are particularly nice, in my opinion. Not only are they fine examples of authentic vintage Christmas art but they’re also large-sized, which means you can use them for far more than just the web.

People who prefer a more religious or spiritual slant to their Christmas images should appreciate these, as their are several that depict the baby Jesus in the manger with angels. There are also angels by themselves; two of them even look like they’re delivering a Christmas tree. Speaking of Christmas trees, there is also an image of Victorian children playing with their toys beneath one, and a woman carrying one in miniature. Together these form a nice collection that I’m sure you’ll find useful for Web sites, blogs, handmade Christmas cards, scrapbooking and other crafts.

To see and download larger versions of the free images, just click on the images below (enlarged sizes vary)

As I look at these illustrations, I have to wonder how many different artists are represented. If you look closely, the style of each image is a little different. When you think about how many vintage images are on this site or out on the Internet, they must represent a huge number of talented people. Unfortunately, these people go mostly unnoticed.

The same could probably be said for modern greeting card and clip art artists. They do what they do for pay, because the electric bill needs to be paid — no matter how talented they are. Some of today’s artists might even have huge portfolios of outstanding images, yet you’ll never know their names. So here’s to the unsung artists who enrich our lives silently every day. With any luck they enjoy their work and so will continue to give us images that will become the next millennium’s vintage art. And if you know artists who toil in obscurity, be sure to give them liberal praise. You just might be encouraging tomorrow’s masterpieces.

You might also be interested in these other images:

We also have some colorful contemporary Hanukkah clip art. And letâ€™s not forget New Yearâ€™s! Check out our free vintage New Year cards, vintage New Year clip art and contemporary New Yearâ€™s Eve clip art.

Free Vintage Children Clip Art

Holiday Crafts — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:07:27 +0000

It wasn’t until I posted all the free vintage children clip art images on this page that I realized all but one features flowers in some way. Once I noticed that, I looked at the rest of my vintage children clip art images and found that almost every one of them has some sort of floral theme. Apparently it used to be popular for children to sell flowers, because there are a disproportionate number of vintage clip art images in my collection that look like the kids are geared up to go out on the street and sell. You see one example of that in the image of the little boy selling violets.

There are also a disproportionate number of fair-skinned children. I included the one suitable African American children clip art image I had but as you can see, the image is presented quite differently than the others. No flowers, fancy clothes or elegant poses for those boys. You can clearly see the difference in racial perception that was so prevalent at the time these vintage clip art images were created. Not that there’s anything wrong with the image of the four boys; it’s cute. It’s just that it’s a grittier portrayal than found in the fair-skinned children clip art images.

Thankfully, today we see images of children of all colors together as equals in advertising and other forms of public imagery. That means the next generation of vintage art will more accurately reflect the fact that we live on a diverse planet.

Read our TERMS OF USE and then click on the images below to see and download larger versions of the free vintage children clip art (enlarged sizes vary):

Update: This post has been up for four months now and I have seen these images of children popping up all over the Internet on the blogs of creative people — mostly women — who do any number of crafts. Although it’s not surprising, it’s interesting to see how much these creative women resonate with images of children. I love children, too, and see myself as a crafty sort, so I feel like I have a lot in common with all these women I’ve never met.

When I actually cross paths with some of them who write to me to ask about particular images or permission for use, I find there are a lot of kind souls out there in the crafting community. That has been great for me, because I also run across a lot of people into making money online in other ways who aren’t so nice. Frankly, I find some of them a little hard to take.

I’ve always maintained that you can make money doing what you love. Granted, some of the people who make money online make a lot more money than I do. But I’ve tried a lot of those methods and they don’t work for me. What does work for me is to give value to other people and to also use my creativity. In short, I’m true to my nature. I did have to study quite a bit to understand how to incorporate my talent with online practices that would produce money. But no matter how much I learned or how many techniques I tried, I’ve always come back to the fact that I’m an artist and a writer and I need to honor that to succeed. Hence, the vast collection of clip art and scrapbooking resources you see on this site and in the pages linked from the sidebars. I hope you enjoy using these resources as much as I enjoy bringing them to you!

Like what you see? Please help others find more vintage children clip art, plus all the rest of our free vintage clip art and greeting cards by linking to us from your blog or Web site.

Please note that posting these images to any blog, Web site or forum â€” either commercial or non-commercial â€” without following the rules in our terms of use is considered copyright infringement.

Free Vintage St. Patrick’s Day Cute Kids Greeting Cards

Holiday Crafts — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:35:31 +0000

Since kids love St. Patrick’s Day (even if they don’t know it’s actually an ancient religious holiday celebrating a real saint named Patrick), it’s only fitting that they be featured on these vintage St. Patrick’s Day greeting cards. Two of these iconic “cute kids” cards (the two on the bottom right) are by Ellen Clapsaddle, who is the most prolific greeting card artist ever. Ellen had a relatively sad life that came to a bad end when she died alone and penniless, so it’s ironic that her cards were always so cheerful and downright cute. The two little girls below are perfect examples of her talent for featuring extra-cute kids in her greeting card designs.

I hope you enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day greeting cards and find them useful as St. Patrick’s Day cards and in holiday crafts.

Click one of the free vintage St. Patrick’s Day cute kids greeting cards below to view and download a larger version:

Like what you see? Please help others find our free vintage St. Patrick’s Day images by linking to us from your blog or Web site.