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.  

DIY Captain America Card

My son has a friend “J” who loves super heroes. Whenever I see J, he is always wearing super hero gear. We are headed to his birthday party this weekend so I made him a Captain America birthday card. And like all great cards, I made sure the Captain America card would stand up for fun display value. This project was perfect for the June Silhouette Challenge “party” theme. Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of this post for more party ideas using the Silhouette.

{ Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post }

Supplies:

• red, white and blue cardstock (I used textured Bazzill cardstock)
• paper adhesive (I used Xyron 510 and permanent adhesive)
• Silhouette Portrait
• Silhouette Portrait mat

Instructions:

1. I designed my card and cut it using the Silhouette. For the card base, I made a small portion of the bottom of the back of the card flat so it would stand up.  The Silhouette cut shapes for the Captain America card were made using textured red, white and blue card stock. Different shapes of the same color were cut at the same time. There were two white circles so I could have one for the inside of the card.

2. Run the white circles, small red circle, blue circle and white star through the Xyron 510 with the permanent adhesive. Load all the papers into the Xyron with the textured side facing up except one of the white circles. The adhesive is applied on the bottom of paper so this allows for the non-textured side of the white circle to be placed on the inside of the card so that it is easier to write on. I use Xyron adhesive on all my cards because it adds adhesive to the entire shape.

3. Lift the shiny layer off the Xyron adhesive sheet. Then layer the card stock to assemble the card.

Voila! J’s card is ready for his birthday party this weekend.

For more party ideas, check out the 17 other Silhouette projects that my Silhouette Challenge friends have for you below.

1. Two Purple Couches // 2. Practically Functional // 3. Crafty Bonds // 4. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 5. From Whine to Whine // 6. Simply Kelly Designs // 7. unOriginal Mom // 8. MamaSonshine // 9. Get Silvered // 10. Made in a Day // 11. Weekend Craft // 12. Little Blue’s Room // 13. The Stamp Doc // 14. The Thinking Closet // 15. Cupcakes&Crowbars // 16. Where The Smiles Have Been // 17. DIYJustCuz // 18. My Paper Craze

Love all these party themed Silhouette projects. My son can’t wait to give J his Captain America card at his birthday party. I am sure I will be making more cards for all of my son’s super hero loving friends soon!

 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!

Free Easter Word Search Printable

Easter is one of my children’s favorite holidays. I am sure it has something to do with visiting the Easter bunny and Easter egg hunts. The kids asked for another holiday word search and I was happy to oblige.

This free Easter Word Search printable is only for personal use but teachers may use it for their classroom. Click on the word search below or here to download the printable PDF file.

Looking for more holiday related word searches? I have these other free printables: Santa’s Reindeer Word Search, Valentine’s Day Word Search and St. Patrick’s Day Word Search. Enjoy!

 

Free St. Patrick's Day Word Search Printable

My kids love word searches so I made them a St. Patrick’s Day word search. Beyond the fun, the word search helps them learn the vocabulary associated with the holiday.

This free printable is only for your personal use but teachers may use it for their classroom. Click here or on the word search below to download the printable PDF file.

You can also check out my free Santa's Reindeer Word Search and Valentine's Day Word Search. Enjoy!