Vibrant DIY Washi Tape Composition Book

My kids are halfway through their summer vacation and I am already thinking about what they need to go back to school. I thought my daughter would like a washi tape composition book. She can use it at school or as a diary during the school year. Be sure to read through the entire post because I have a video of me making the washi tape composition book at the end of the post.

{ Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. }

Supplies:

• composition book
• 8.5×11 piece of white cardstock
• 8.5×11 piece of coordinating cardstock or patterned paper
• assorted washi tape (I used the Scotch Expressions brand)
• Scotch ATG adhesive (not pictured)
• honey bee scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut the cardstock. I bought my composition book at Dollar Tree and the measured dimensions were slightly smaller than specified on the notebook. Trim both pieces of cardstock to be the height of the notebook. For the white cardstock, I measured from the right side of the notebook to just left of the right edge of the black spine. For the pink cardstock, I left it as 8.5 inches wide because it covered the back cover and the entire black spine. My white cardstock measured 6 3/4 inches x 9 5/8 inches and the pink cardstock measured 8 1/2 inches x 9 5/8 inches. Be sure to measure your composition book because the size varies by brand.

2. Add washi tape to the white cardstock. I used an assortment of Scotch Expressions washi tape. The washi tape was lined up in a pattern and added one at a time to the white cardstock. The ends of the washi tape go off the edge of the cardstock.

3. Fold the washi tape ends over to the back of the cardstock. The quickest way to pick up each piece of washi tape was to get each piece to stick to my finger and then use that to fold the washi tape down.

4. Adhere the pink cardstock to the back cover. Add ATG adhesive to the edges and an X of adhesive in the middle of the cardstock. Line the cardstock up with the edge of the composition book and press down. Add extra adhesive near the spine and press down.

5. Adhere the washi taped cardstock to the front cover. I added ATG adhesive to the composition book cover and the back of the cardstock. Maybe a little overkill but I want that paper to stick.

6. Trim the corners of cardstock with scissors. This easily rounds the corners of the composition book without using any other tools.

Here’s a time lapse video of how I created this washi tape composition book. This was the first time I have recorded and edited a video on my iPhone 6.

I only customized the front cover of the composition book but you could also customize the back cover with washi tape. This craft lightning project was fun to make and the best part is that my daughter loves her new vibrant washi tape composition book! Back to school seems like it is just around the corner so I’m going to squeeze the most fun I can out of these last few weeks before school starts. Happy crafting.

 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means that I receive a small commission if you make a purchase through those links. Thank you for supporting Simply Kelly Designs.  

Completed Personal Yearbooks For 2014-2015

Personal yearbooks are one of my favorite projects. I create a personal yearbook for each student in my children’s classes. The front page of the personal yearbook contains a photo of the student at the beginning of the school year and a photo of the student at the end of the school year. I love to see how they’ve grown.

Each month, I took a photo of each student at school. The students in my daughter’s second grade class wrote about their photo in their own words. I interviewed each of the kids in my son’s kindergarten class and wrote down what they said. The last page of the personal yearbook contains a photo of the student with their teacher and a handwritten note from the teacher. This year I completed 40 personal yearbooks – 20 for each class. The personal yearbooks were given to the moms at the Mother’s Day breakfasts at school.

I loved seeing all the moms look through the personal yearbooks with their kids. My son had seen his pages throughout the year but he hadn’t seen them all put together. After we looked through the album together, he said, “I really wish we could keep this mom.” I was only too happy to tell him that we were taking it home!

Here’s a quick glance inside my children’s personal yearbooks.

My son’s book contained pages for school events, everyday activities and field trips. Interviewing the kindergartners was such a joy. They were so sweet and I never knew what they are going to say.

My daughter’s teacher assigned project that were done at home each month. Most of the pages in Kara’s book are about those monthly projects. You can see that she wrote a lot because she knows that is what her scrapbooking mom expects. The other students in her class started out the year writing brief descriptions until specific questions were provided for them to answer.

The personal yearbooks are definitely a labor of love. The time involved for each month totaled several hours for each class but it is a wonderful feeling to know that these children will have these memories for the rest of their lives.

I hope to continue with the personal yearbook project next year!

LEGO Inspired Printable Backpack Tags

Both of my kids are obsessed with LEGOs. They have been building, rebuilding and inventing their own creations all summer long. When I asked them what kind of backpack tags they wanted, they both happily agreed on LEGO inspired tags.

 

{Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links}

I designed two different LEGO inspired backpack tags. Colin’s tag uses the classic LEGO colors and Kara’s tag is the same colors as her LEGO Friends sets. You can make these tags for yourself with my printable file.

Supplies:

• my printable backpack tag file (download in Step 1 below)
• 3M Self-Seal Laminating Pouches (2.7 in x 4.5 in) (affiliate link) or Swingline Luggage Tag with Loop Laminating Pouches (2.8 x 4.5 inches) (affiliate link)
• 8.5×11 white card stock
• Silhouette or paper trimmer or scissors
• printer
• pen

Directions:

1. Click here to download the PDF or here to download the Silhouette print and cut file. These files are only for your personal use. I would appreciate a comment if you download.

2. Print out the tag(s) and cut them out. For detailed print and cut instructions for the Silhouette, search for “Directions for Silhouette Studio” in this post.

3. Take one self-sealing laminating sheet and place the clear side down. Place the tag facing down on the clear surface. Make sure to center evenly. Bend the top sheet back to separate the white backing. Roll the the backing across the back of the tag while smoothing it down. Smooth and seal the edges with your fingers.

Here are two completed tags.

Silhouette Challenge Posts

My Silhouette Challenge friends and I are sharing school themed Silhouette projects on our blogs today. Check out the projects below for a ton of Silhouette inspiration! The collage is clickable so click on any projects you want to see.

1. Weekend Craft // 2. From Wine to Whine // 3. Life After Laundry // 4. Adventures in All Things Food // 5. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 6. Sowdering About // 7. The Kim Six Fix // 8. Architecture of a Mom // 9. greylustergirl.com // 10. Please Excuse My Craftermath // 11. Simply Kelly Designs // 12. My Paper Craze // 13. Sweet Tea & Saving Grace // 14. Black and White Obsession // 15. Ginger Snap Craft // 16. It Happens in a Blink // 17. Creative Ramblings // 18. Little Blue’s Room

I hope you enjoy the free LEGO inspired printable backpack tags! Come back on Saturday for more LEGO inspired fun.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you order through the link I receive a small commission. As always I only recommend products that I love.

2013 - 2014 Personal Yearbooks

My son graduated from preschool this week. He had a great year and is really looking forward to going to kindergarten. I worked with Colin’s class during the school year on individual personal yearbooks for each of the 13 students. I got the original idea from the awesome Becky Higgins. The front cover has a photo of the student from the beginning of the year in August and one taken just last week in May. The students also wrote their name in August and May. Each month I took a photo of each student doing an activity. I interviewed them and had them create a drawing of their activity.

In March, Colin’s class made terrariums while studying the water cycle. I took photos of them putting together the terrariums. Colin drew a picture of his terrarium which was made up of two plastic cocktail glasses taped together with electrical tape.

In April, the kids made s’mores in class. I waited until they had all eaten at least half of their s’mores before I started taking photos. All the kids were a mess! Colin was no exception. These were probably my favorite pictures all year. I love how Colin is sitting with his feet up roasting a marshmallow in his drawing. He is such a mellow and laid back child. 

May was a short month at school so I didn’t do a layout with the kids. I asked Colin’s teacher to write a note to each student for the back cover. I took a photo of each student in their cap and gown with the teacher and added it to the note page. I think this is a great way to end the book.

If you are interested in seeing more pages from this year, you can see them here.

After graduation, Colin’s teacher had the personal yearbooks at each student’s seat with this note on the cover.

When I said goodbye to Colin’s teacher, she told me that she put the note on books so that the parents would know that I made them. She also expressed her gratitude for me taking the time to take the pictures, interview the students, help them create their drawings and put together the books. Some of the parents thanked me at graduation and I received an email and a few Facebook messages with thanks too.

The gratitude from Colin’s teachers and the other parents was wonderful because doing these personal yearbooks for all 13 students in Colin’s class was difficult and time consuming. There was always one, two or more students who were absent on the day I came to take pictures or work on the pages with the students. I ended up spending a lot more time at school than two mornings a month. I have a few ideas on how to make this easier and cheaper for me next school year when I hope to do the personal yearbooks for Colin’s kindergarten class and my daughter’s second grade class. I will share those ideas with you in August!

Personal Yearbooks 2013 - 2014

I have created personal yearbooks for each child in my daughter’s class for the past two years. This year, Kara’s teacher is taking care of her class but I will be creating personal yearbooks for Colin’s pre-K class.

What is a personal yearbook?

A personal yearbook is a scrapbook of  sorts with monthly layouts. Each layout includes a photo of the student, journaling about the photo and the student’s drawing. The original idea came from Becky Higgins. I created the pages I use in Adobe Illustrator and are different than Becky’s pages.

Supplies

For each student:

• one three prong folder  – I use clear ones from Staples. They are sold individually in the report cover section of the store. They also come in many different colors.
• white cardstock – The number per student varies depending on the number of school year months. I include a cover page, a two page layout for 9 months and a note from the teacher page for a total of 20 pages. I like to use cardstock because it is heavier and will endure more abuse through the years but you could also use regular paper to cut down on cost.
• page protectors – This number varies based on the number of pages in the book. Take the cardstock count, divide by 2 and round up by 1 if there is an uneven number of pages.
• scrapbook paper – I cut scrapbook paper strips each month that coordinates with the theme of the month. Most of the paper I use comes from my stash but you can also shop sales at your local craft store to keep down the cost.

I estimate that my cost is about $5 per student. That includes all supplies and photo developing. At the start of each year, I put all the page protectors in the folders at one time. This saves time throughout the year.

Front Page

The front page gives a summary of the school year. These are the front pages from this year and the past two years.

There is room for two photos and two signatures – from the beginning and end of the school year. The school name, grade, teacher and school year is also included.

Monthly Pages

Each month has  a two page layout.

The left page has a photo of each student and journaling about the photo. The right page is a drawing the student creates related to the photo on the left page. Underneath the drawing is my handwritten note with details about the drawing. Older students can write their own notes.

Monthly Actions

1. Contact the teacher and figure out when you will take photos.
2. Take the photos and have them printed.
3. Print out the paper for the students to draw on. Make sure you have one or two extra just in case someone wants to start over.
4. Cut up the scrapbook paper strips for the pages.
5. Return to the class to interview students and work with them on their drawings. Take notes for the journaling of the photo and of what the students drew.
6. Print the photo pages with typed or handwritten journaling on the paper. Also include details on what each student drew.
7. Glue the scrapbook paper to the pages.
8. Add the pages to the pre-assembled yearbooks.

Tips

• I keep the personal yearbooks ordered by first name so books are easy to organize when it comes time to insert pages.
• The first month or two will be a little stressful as the kids get used to working with you and you with them. After that you will be surprised  how quickly it goes!
• I create my questions for the students ahead of time and ask them all the same questions. You will be surprised by some of the cute/silly answers you will get.
• I always bring the photos to the interviews because it helps the students remember what you are asking them about.

This is a great way to get to know the students in your child’s class. You can see past posts about personal yearbooks here.

First Day of School Faux Chalkboard

 

My daughter started first grade today. I was content to take my usual first day of school photos until I saw my friend Mandy’s photos of her kids on their first day of school. They took their picture with a faux chalkboard sign. Mandy used a printable from Yellow Bliss Road. I printed out the printables that I needed for my kids but then it occurred to me how quickly I could make a custom one in Photoshop. I did a quick Google search and found this great post by How To Nest For Less on how to create my own chalkboard printable. She provided a free chalkboard background. There are also tips in the comments for others about alternatives to using Photoshop.

I found another great post on Yellow Bliss Road listing some great chalkboard fonts. I spent a few minutes downloading fonts (from dafont.com) and then created my own printable in Photoshop. Fonts I used were A Song For Jennifer, Return To Sender and CK Child’s Play. The frame holds an 8×10 and I took the glass out so there would be no glare.

I also added what my daughter says she wants to be when she grows up. I bet you can’t figure out what her favorite movie is at the moment?!? I hope she and her friends have a fabulous first day!

Personal Yearbooks 2012-2013

Last Friday I attended the Mother’s Day tea in Kara’s kindergarten class. Kara greeted me at the door and gave me a handmade bouquet of paper flowers.

 

me and my sweet girl at the Mother’s Day tea

During the Mother’s Day tea, Kara’s teacher passed out the personal yearbooks that I had created for each child to each mom. I got the idea for the personal yearbooks from Becky Higgins years ago.

all 18 personal yearbooks that I completed this school year

The personal yearbooks were a surprise for both the kids and the parents. The front page of each book had an individual photo of the each child in August and one in May. Each child also wrote their first name underneath the photos in August and May. It was fun to see how the handwriting changed over the year.

Kara’s front page

The yearbooks contained a page for each month of the school year. Monthly pages had an individual photo of the student and journaling about the photo. I wrote the journaling based on interviews that I conducted monthly.

Kara’s November page

The last page was a photo of the student and the teacher with a handwritten note from the teacher. Each page was printed on white cardstock and had a 2 inch piece of scrapbook paper along the top of the page.

I estimate that it took me about 5 – 6 hours to complete the pages for these 18 personal yearbooks each month. This included taking/editing/printing the photos as well as interviewing and printing out the pages with the journaling. When I saw how much the moms and the kids enjoyed looking at the personal yearbooks I knew that all my efforts were definitely worth it. There were even some heartfelt thank yous and tears from the other moms.

I am looking forward to doing the personal yearbooks again next year for BOTH of my children’s classes.