Halleluiah….. I’m back!!
Those pesky little gremlins were at play at our local exchange on Friday morning and wiped out our internet which has taken four and a half days to restore.
A big thank you to the lovely Kris at Tag Along Teddies who heard my cries for HELP and updated my blog for me… she is such a sweetie!
Thank you all for being so patient – I’ll try and get on top of all the emails and web orders today. Also, a very BIG Thank You for all the support and encouragement for ‘Simply Christmas’, I just know we are going to have fun!
So without further ado, lets get back to ‘Simply Christmas’. As you know, I’m working towards a homemade, home-baked old fashioned Christmas this year. I hope you will all join in and share your homemade gifts, decorations, foods and anything else handmade that will make your home extra special this Christmas.
With the holidays just 12 weeks away, there is no better time than now to start planning and creating our homemade holiday gifts. By now you should have created your gift recipient list and have a better idea of who you are giving to. We are aiming for a stress free Christmas, so we don’t want to over extend ourselves by setting our ambitions too high. Not everyone on your list would appreciate a homemade gift, so decide now who you will be creating for.
To give you some creative inspiration, over the next six weeks I’ll be sharing with you some of my favourite and most popular handmade gifts as tutorials. I’ve also asked some wonderfully creative friends to pop in and share their skills from various crafting backgrounds – so there’s something for everyone.
Today’s tutorial is for Covered Note Books (diaries, address books, note pads etc). Everyone has a use for note books, but beautifully decorated ones in the stores are often very expensive. Today’s tutorial is super easy, cheap and a little different. Anyone can make these covered note books (kids included).
You can pick up a variety of different sized, plain note books, address books, 2011 diaries etc. in discount stores quite cheaply. We’ve all seen the fabric covered note book tutorials online which are lovely, but not everyone sews, so we’ll cover ours with beautiful paper and fabrics using Mod Podge and embellishments.
You can use pretty scrapbook papers, gift wrap, fabric or if like me you like vintage ephemera, try using pages from old books and music manuscripts.
Covering the notebooks is exactly the same as covering kid’s school books (except, without the yucky contact). Lay your note book on the paper and cut out paper allowing an extra 1.5 cm width all around. Adhere the paper to your notebook using Mod Podge, making sure you smooth out any air bubbles as you go. (I find a foam brush perfect for applying the Mod Podge). Turn and glue the paper overhang to the inside covers and to neaten the edges, cut another piece of paper to fit the inside cover. Easy!!
Your newly covered notebook is a mini art surface now waiting to be embellished. I even covered a grey lead pencil to match!
Here I have painted a small naive house on the front cover.
This one was created using several different scrapbook papers and has a matching book mark.
Another example of using the vintage book pages as a background is this one I’ve made for a vintage/beach loving friend. I’ve used a copy of a vintage photo and some mixed media accents in a collage style to decorate the front cover. A shell and jute bookmark further enhance the theme.
This last one was covered with fabric and the embroidered patch was adhered later with mod podge.
I spent a whole day making beautifully covered note books and diaries for my friends… but I can’t show you anymore because that would ruin their Christmas surprise.
Craft and scrapbooking stores have so many embellishments to choose from these days including pretty buttons, rhinestones, stickers, letter cut-outs etc. I’m sure you’ll have many people on your list, young and old, male and female, that would appreciate a personalised note book or matching stationary set. Have FUN!!
I’ll be back Thursday for another gift tutorial and don’t forget, Friday is GIVEAWAY day; someone will be receiving their very own hand painted Christmas Planner.
Until then, hugs ~ Kerryanne