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Hey, it's Chelsy, with a Y! I am a wife to my sweet prince, and mother to one spunky little princess and one handsome little ham of a prince. Painting is my drug of choice. Wine is good too. I'm known to speak without thinking and eat to much chocolate. I love meeting new people, and learning new things. So this is my journey through some not so glorious moments, some not so intelligent thoughts and some possibly crafty ideas.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Great Neighbor or Teacher gift

I know...I know... I said I was going to post a new tutorial every day this week, but don't call me a  slacker just yet! I got ALOT of Christmas presents made and am very proud of myself for being one-step ahead!

So on to today's tonight's craft:

I know you have probably seen these everywhere, but I L.O.V.E. them, they are so super easy to make. They are also cheap, and take no time- which is something I adore :)

In fact these puppies are so easy, that I didn't even take pictures, during the process. But don't sweat it, you won't need them.

Here's what your gonna need:
* Composition Book
*Scrapbook paper, or fabric
*Mod Podge
*Embellishments (i.e. Ribbon, flowers, paint, stickers, chip board, anything you want)

The Composition Books can be found at the Dollar Store for $1. They also have little comp. books that come in packs of 2, they would make cute stocking stuffers, or "just because" gifts for the kiddo's to put in their backpacks.  I'm sure you have the rest of the ingredients on hand. If not they are cheap too.


Here's what your gonna do:
*Pick out 2 pieces of scrapbook paper, (One for the front, one for the back. They can match or coordinate, but don't have to:)
*Coat the back of the notebook with Mod Podge and slowly lay your scrapbook piece on the back where one edge is lined up with the black band, and the other is somewhat flush with the top. You should have extra paper hanging off the bottom and the opening of the notebook.
*Smooth out any wrinkles of bubbles in the paper. (I use a rolling pin) And let your Mod Podge dry for about 15-20 min
*Now you can either trim off the extra paper, or fold it over and Mod Podge it to the inside. If you cut it off then go ahead and add a layer of Mod Podge on top of the back piece of paper to seal it. If you chose to Mod Podge the extras to the inside then wait for them to dry, then add a top coat.
*Then repeat the previous steps for the front of the notebook :) Easy peasy, right?! I know it seems like alot but it really isn't.

Now that your notebook is covered and oh-so pretty, you can give her some accessories.
The one above is a little something I made for my Aunt. She's down in Houston right now kickin some cancer butt, so I kept the acc. to a minimum so it wasn't to much. Use your imagination and consider the person you are creating for.
All I did was sponge some brown paint around the edges, added a little "D" to the bottom and glued a ribbon around it so it will tie closed. That's it :)

Now-If you want to add a little something extra to it, You can make a cute little flower pen, and some "book markers" like these:



To make a pen- Find a flower you like, that matches or not, whatev...
Get a Bic pen and remove the stopper thingy (That's what they are called, isn't it?!) on top.  Trim your flower to where there is only about a 1/2 an inch left of the stem and hot glue it inside the hole at the top of your pen.
Then take some ribbon, or fabric, or I used twine and glue the end of it underneath the flower, then wrap and glue, wrap and glue, wrap and glue all the way down to the bottom :) (Boy, I really hope there aren't any pro's out there reading these directions, they might get me in trouble with the writing police...Sry ;)


All I did for these little cuties is take some clothes pins and Mod Podge some coordinating paper on the tops and bottoms. Use the same techniques as you did when making the notebook.

Then you have a cute little set to keep for yourself give to someone special! Now go make 20 and send me your creations, just kidding, 15 will be fine ;)



I hope this tutorial was somewhat comprehensible, please forgive me, it's late! If you have any questions, just let me know.

Happy Thursday Friday,


6 comments:

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

Great ideas! Inexpensive, cute and easy!

Janis@ White Alder[Home] said...

Very cute idea, I made some of those flower pens for our wedding and everyone thought they were awesome.
Thanks for posting

Gretchen said...

What a FUN idea!!!
I made a Christmas organizer book for myself a couple of years ago using a composition book. It's still one of my favorite things.

Annikke said...

This is a great idea!! Love it!

Jennifer said...

I love these notebooks! I also love the idea of using the clothespins as bookmarks. Clever!

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

great gift idea! thanks for sharing!
gail