Journal Tutorial

This journal is an easy, inexpensive, pretty craft that also makes a great gift. My girl and I made this one for a birthday party a few weeks ago.




Here's what you'll need:

A blank composition book (10 cents at back to school sales)
scrapbook paper in one or more colors (50% off at Hobby Lobby)
Scrap fabric (stash)
opaque trim, such as ribbon or ricrac (stash/cheap at Big Lots)
ribbon for ties (same as above)
6 large buttons (stash)
pencil
scissors
Glue--preferable some kind of paper glue, a glue stick, and hot glue...Although I'd encourage you to use what you have to make it work. It's not about perfection!

But wow, that is a lot of supplies. Maybe I didn't choose the best craft for a simple craft. It's not hard if you can make it through my instructions. Hang with me!




First we are going to trace and cut a strip for the contrasting paper on the front. You can skip this step if you are going to use just one paper to cover the whole front. You don't have to use 2 papers, you know. I trace on the back of the paper because it looks neater and shows up better for cutting.





You are just making a strip. It doesn't have to be the whole width of the book. Your goal is to make sure it's the proper length.




Cut the strip however wide you like. Mine was about 3 inches, I think.




Make sure it's the right size.




And...




Glue it on.


Trace around the edge of your notebook to get the right size and shape for your contrasting color.




Again, it shouldn't be big enough to cover the whole book. You want to leave enough room for the brown paper to show, right? Unless of course you decide to do the easy thing and just use one color instead of two.

Cut it out and glue it on!




Cut a piece for the back. We used the same brown as the brown strip from the front. It tied it all together nicely.




Glue it on.




Cut a strip of fabric to cover the ugly black binding. Fabric has more give than paper and will hold up longer. The strip should be 1 3/4 inches by 9 3/4 inches.




Carefully glue it on. I used Elmer's glue. Fabric glue would probably work fine too.




Here's a wonky picture of the lettering I printed for the front. "Journal" and then a quote:

"Writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted." Jules Renard

I find that's a really good quote for chatty little girls!




Cut out your words--I used pinking shears but you don't have to. Affix them to the book wherever you'd like.




I hot glued buttons to each corner of the "Journal" piece because I thought it looked cute.

So as not to burn my fingers, I pushed them down with a plastic knife.




Then cut a piece of opaque ribbon or trim. This is velvet ribbon, but ricrac is my favorite. The idea is to cover up the raw edge of the fabric that you used to cover the binding. Yeah, we covered something ugly and now we have to cover that. It's crazy, but it works.




I hot glued it on. Fabric glue would probably be a better choice, or even Elmer's glue might work.




I did just a bit at a time and used the plastic knife again. No burnt fingers!

Cover the seam on both front and back of the journal, and trim the ends so they don't hang over.

Now I need to do what Pioneer Woman does since she is so cool. See this blank space?






Imagine there is a picture of me hot gluing the ribbon ties and buttons on. This is the one thing I really needed pictures of that I didn't get. Basically if the ribbon is kinda wide, I pleat/fold/bunch it up so that the button covers the entire end. Since the ribbon I used is sheer, I glue the ribbon and button on at the same time. We are using the button to cover up the raw end of the ribbon. Brilliant, hmmm? Does that even make sense?!!!!!!!

Knife again! Push those buttons down!

Now it's beautiful. And I just accidentally deleted my final picture.

So I could go back and re-do the whole tutorial, or I can be content with it as it is, since I hope it inspires you. The possibilities for this little project are endless.

A Few Thrifty Crafting Tips and a Winner

Jen is the winner of the teapot paper giveaway! Congratulations, Jen! If you'll email me your snail mail address I will get it off to you right away.

Recently I read a post by someone who wanted to craft but found that it was "so expensive." I could spend ALL our money on crafting supplies, but as it is I spend very, very little on my hobbies. Here are a few crafty tips that might inspire you.

Get on Hobby Lobby's email list. Weekly you will learn about their sales, and they frequently include a 40% off coupon for any non-sale item. Their sales are great!

Hand in hand with above, wait for sales. This may be obvious, but do you know how much scrapbook paper you can get for $5 if you wait till it's 50% off? A lot!

Join Freecycle. I often see craft supplies being given away.

Shop thrift stores. Recently I have seen knitting needles, fabric, yarn, embroidery hoops, and other items for sale at my local thrift store.

Make sure other people know you enjoy crafting. I'm not saying to fish for giveaways, but if people know you love to craft, they will often unload their excess on you. Sort through it and get rid of what doesn't work.

Big Lots ribbon. Big lots sells generous spools of ribbon for $1 each. Their craft aisle is tiny but yields great rewards.

Buy small quantities. Almost anyone can shake out their change jar and buy 1/4 yard of fabric or a spool of thread. If you can only afford a small amount at a time, you'll be surprised at how quickly it adds up. Soon you'll have an overflowing stash and you'll have to find someone with whom to share.

Carnival of Simple Craft Delayed

::~azaleas in vintage aqua pitcher~::

This week has hardly gone as planned. Wednesday afternoon, my 22 year old brother broke his neck in a car accident. When you hear "broken neck" of course you automatically fear the worst. However, we received excellent news from the neurologist yesterday. He will be in a brace for several months, but full recovery is expected. We are so thankful to God!

In light of that, all my preparations for the carnival fell by the wayside and truthfully flew right out of my mind until Erica mentioned it this morning. OH DEAR!!!

So the carnival is delayed until Monday. That will give me time to finish my tutorial and figure out Mr. Linky--two things I was supposed to do over the past few days. I apologize. This is my first carnival and I hate to change it up...But obviously more important things have taken precedence. Thank you for your patience!

P.S. I will draw for Sunday with Stevie in a little while. I haven't forgotten that!

The Art of the Possible

From Jane Brocket's lovely book:

If you do feel encouraged to make or bake or grow something, the wonderful thing about the gentle arts is that they are totally manageable and achievable.

There is constant pressure today to have the perfect house/body/children/relationship, and we can only fail because the standards set in the media are so ridiculously unrealistic. But the joy of knitting or stitching or baking or homemaking lies in the fact that there are no rules, there are no levels of perfection that we need to attain. The whole point about the gentle arts is that they are noncompetitive, soothing, and utterly pleasurable. Anyone who tells you otherwise should be tied up with her acrylic yarn and deprived of her knitting needles for a very long time.

Carnival of Simple Craft Coming Up!!!

A new, improved Charity Grace will re-launch on February 1! I will have simple mini giveaways almost every day that week, and the week will culminate in a carnival of simple craft on Friday, February 6! I’ll post a tutorial for one of my favorite inexpensive, simple crafts and in addition I want to hear about YOUR simple crafts!

You can post a tutorial, a story with a picture of a simple craft, or just a picture of something you’ve made. As long as the post revolves around the idea of simple craft, the guidelines are relaxed. You can even recycle an old post if you like. The only qualifications is that the item you post about needs to be a beginner-level craft—something simple and easy!

I’ll post a Mr. Linky so that you can link back to your post and we can all read about it. I am so excited! I know we will all get many wonderful ideas from you talented people!

Feel free to swipe the button and spread the word!

Blessings

I made this simple banner for autumn. I actually started a tutorial, and then forgot I started it and completed the banner without taking pictures of the process. Long story short: Cut paper squares in graduating sizes and glue them together. (Click picture for a better look.) I used a utility knife to cut slits for the ribbon. Easy peasy. However, since I don't have much time for crafting lately, it still took me several weeks to complete! Oh well. I'm just glad I got to make something pretty.

Post Up at Blissfully Domestic!

Woohoo!!! My first post is up at Blissfully Domestic!

It will look familiar to those of you who have been around here for awhile...It was so popular that it seemed like just the thing for BD.

Embellished Clothespins

Don't you want clothespins to match your laundry?

Then get out your Eric Carle paint set.

Mix pretty colors...

And go to town!

Flower garden colors...

Black and white...

Cherry pie? Ladybugs? What does this make you think of?

(I"m hesitant to use these on a real outdoor clothesline since I'm not sure they acrylic craft paint would stay put if they got wet. Anybody know?)

Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli.

A Ladybug for Grace

It's fun to make things for little girls!

Elizabeth Sews

Elizabeth is going to our church's summer day camp 2 days a week. She wanted to make herself a lunch bag. She sewed most of it with minimal guidance from me. I just tackled a couple trickier details. Didn't she do a good job? I'm proud of her!

Today she left it behind by mistake, hopefully in Billy's office. It broke my mama heart when I saw her tears as she realized she'd forgotten it and said, "But Mama, I made it myself!"

On a completely different note, I think this is a record for not posting (other than an announced sabbatical). Not that I have such a huge number of readers, but those who visit here are so sweetly faithful. Thank you. I apologize for not responding to comments lately, along with not posting. Real life has come along and I've spent a lot of time recently with those relationships, both friends and family. It's been sweet, but I've missed the fun of posting.

Guess

Guess what I got?

Guess what somebody gave me?

Maybe this helps!

Yes, a treadle sewing machine!

Billy's parents generously shared this lovely family heirloom with us. It looks to be in good working order. And it's beautiful.

Show and tell Friday hosted by Kelli.

Pottery Barn Kids Without the Price Tag

Shannon posted ideas of Pottery Barn Kids wall hangings that would be so easy to copy. I had the same thought when I got the recent PBK catalog. I especially love the ladybug art pictured above. Go check out this super cute stuff. When I'm less newly postpartum, I MUST give these a try! The possibilities are endless. In addition to wall hangings, you could make cards and who knows what else.

Artsy Bulletin Board

Somebody gave me this little bulletin board that was just the right size for the small wall in my kitchen. Plain bulletin boards are boring though. So I borrowed an idea from Cherry and covered it with contrasting patterns of scrapbook paper. For the embellished thumbtacks, I hot glued buttons onto plain tacks. Billy says this is one of my best projects ever.

For more detailed pictures, see my craft blog. (Uh, actually I will have to do that later today...)

Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli.

For Future Reference...

Just found this Waldorf doll tutorial via a lovely blog I just discovered, Cultivating Home. So excited...I have wanted to make a Waldorf doll for a long time!

Pretty Paper Cone

Today Elizabeth and I practiced making paper cones to hold party favors for her upcoming birthday tea. To see the rest of our attempts, check out my craft blog.

Quilt Top

On our last trip to visit Billy's parents, I came home with this lovely quilt top, probably pieced by one of his great-grandmothers. The backing is even attached--all I have to do is add batting (from my stash), baste, and quilt. A true treasure!

By the way, check out my new blog, Simple Craft!

Show and Tell Fridays hosted by Kelli.

New Project

Come check out my new project--a blog strictly devoted to simple craft. I've had some ideas swirling around in my mind for awhile; hopefully this new blog will help bring them to fruition. If you've been reading here for awhile, everything that's up there now will look familiar. Hopefully soon I'll have new projects to post. This will still be my primary blog, but I plan to update the other blog several times a week to build a solid readership of crafty people. It will also be good accountability to make sure that I always have some kind of craft work in progress. I've strongly hesitated to start another blog, simply because I don't have that much time to devote to blogging, but since this one has a narrow focus and it will be more of a photo/project blog than a written one, I hope I can keep up. Also, having a goal in mind will provide added motivation.

Here it is: Simple Craft

Simple Craft: Kitchen Apron (And a Blog Party!)

For Artsy Mama's blog party I thought I'd show you my exceptional skill as a photographer and photo editor. NOT!!! (Actually, my sweet little girl took the picture. Pretty good for a 6-year-old. She says that I should tell you this is a picture of my teenage daughter. Which I don't have. The butchery editing is mine.) Never mind, Billy showed me how to crop. I am obviously computer illiterate.

Well, at least I got this picture of the apron I made last night stuck up here. I just traced around an apron I already had, plus a little extra for hemming. It only took about an hour from start to finish, and isn't the bird fabric great?




But that isn't really what I wanted to show you anyway. I love simple craft, and my most-googled post ever, probably, is this one:

Totally Cheating French Photo Board Tutorial, Sort Of

Such a fun and easy project!

Or you can check out all my simple craft posts.

What I'd really love is if one of you super artistic photographers would write a post on taking good pictures...

Anyway, if you love to craft, check out the rest of the artsy and craftsy posts at Artsy Mama's blog party. Wow, you people are so talented.

Simple Craft: Cupcake Cards

I was so inspired by the cute cupcake art in this post at Sis Boom Daydreams. (Apparently it was designed by Susan of When I Was Your Age, but I don't see anything like it on her web site...So maybe it was a custom design, or a prototype? Don't know.) Anyway, I borrowed her idea and Elizabeth and I made cupcake cards with our new scrapbook paper from our brand spankin' new Hobby Lobby.

Elizabeth cracked me up, because she had very definite ideas about her card. Never mind that the colors don't match, she had to have some blue. The flag had to be pennant shaped. And that cherry simply could not go without a glitter stem. She wrote a note and gave her card to our pastor's wife today. She couldn't wait to use the pretty card she made. It makes me happy to see her enjoying creativity (especially when it's something we can do together), and then sharing her creations with others.




Last night while Billy and I watched a movie I tried a monochromatic look. They are fine, but I think I like the color contrast in the original art, and my first card, better. I didn't realize till I was looking at the pictures that the polka dot paper made it into every one of these cards. Do you think I like that paper?

Sorry these are so dark...It's raining today.