Hello Kitty notebook cover

Last week, when I posted the DIY stationery gift set I mentioned that initially I was preparing a Kitty notebook cover, but then made a mistake cutting the felt and ended up with a totally different project. Not that I can complain, it turned out pretty cute too and opened up a whole new set of ideas in my head.

But the HK notebook was still unused and since I'm decluttering, unused things around the house are a no-can-do. So, even if last weekend was a bit complicated, in between visits to the grandparents and one kid down with the flu, I still managed to finish the original notebook cover I had planned.

This time I did not take enough pictures to create a tutorial, but if you want to make something similar, check the Themed Notebook Covers Tutorial I posted last year. Even though I change minor details each time I make a new one, the basics are all there.

Anyway, to make the Hello Kitty in the cover I printed a HK face from the Internet and traced the shape onto a piece of felt. The eyes and nose were also made of felt. This is how it looked in its early stages:

The bow is made with three circles of a glittery material leftover from last years homemade Christmas cards and the whiskers are sewn over the felt with embroidery thread.

Inside there is a small matching notebook and a pen...

...and the cover closes with two pieces of a Hello Kitty ribbon I bought a while ago at the craft store (because, honestly, who can resist Hello Kitty?) and had never used until now. I guess I was waiting for the right project.

Now, instead of a notebook lost in the middle of my craft supplies I have a cute notebook cover to go with it. Next time we are invited to a girl's birthday party, I already have the gift ready, I just need to wrap it!

Enjoy,

Flower Felt Notebook Cover

Today I bring you a very easy project: the flower felt notebook cover.

It comes together pretty quickly and it is the perfect handmade gift for girls. It was not something I had planned for this past weekend, but my son brought home an invitation for the birthday party of one of the girls in his class (turning seven) on Friday and I was not in the mood to go shopping. The party was on Sunday right after lunch and I managed to make the notebook cover on Saturday afternoon, in between several loads of laundry and some much needed vacuuming.

Inside there is a small notebook and a matching pen. The design of the notebook came from this pin I found on Pinterest. I just uploaded the image to PowerPoint, added the lines and printed it.

The flower and the pink circle are felt and the top brown polkadot circle is fabric, chosen to match one of the flowers in the notebook. They were cut using the Sizzix and they are simply glued on the cover.

This time I did not make a tutorial, but of you want to make something similar, just check the Themed Notebook Covers tutorial I posted a while ago. The principle is always the same: pick a notebook you like (whether it is store bought or made by you) and then make a matching cover for it. Like I said before, it is simple, it doesn't require any specific sewing skills (the two pieces of the cover are sewn together in the example above, but you can easily use fabric glue and get the same effect) and it makes a very cute homemade gift.

Enjoy,

The Handmade Christmas: little house sticky notes holder

This week I had very little time for crafting. I have one last Christmas gift pending that involves cross stitch and for which I need a minimum of quiet time and concentration. Both were clearly lacking in the last few days, since we decided to move ahead with the painting of our house (during the summer we tackled the bedrooms, now we've move onto the bathrooms...).

Still, when I realised I needed to find a quick gift for my son's 2nd grade teacher, I did not hesitate and decided to make another sticky notes holder.

 I made the first one a couple of weeks ago (if you missed the tutorial, here it is), and because they come together pretty quickly, I managed to get it done on Friday night.

To make one all you need are some sticky notes in any shape or color, felt and fabric (the sticky notes holders are small, so you can use scraps), two pieces of cardboard, a pen or pencil and ribbon)

Other than the decorative stitches in the cover this one (as well as the first sticky notes holder) is 100% no sew.  This time I decided to cut a little house from felt.

So tha'ts it. Not much this week, sorry, I'm desperately trying to finish everything in time because, in case you haven't noticed, we only have ten more days until Christmas!!!

Enjoy,

The Handmade Christmas: art bag

This week's project is an art bag for my daughter. I saw something similar at the toy store and thought it was ideal for her, since she loves to draw, paint, cut and glue, etc. I almost decided to buy it before I convinced myself I could actually make one...

So I went to the dollar store and bought several Minnie Mouse themed colouring pencils, pens, scissors and glue.

I did not make a tutorial this time because the way the bag is made is very similar to the Themed Notebook Covers I posted about some time ago, just at a bigger scale and with additional accessories. It is made with two pieces of pink felt, with contrasting felt for the handles and closing strap.

I added a notebook, adapted from a free Minnie Mouse letter paper I found on Pinterest and printed at home.

To keep the scissors safe I bought a small plastic envelope, and then for good measure added a smaller one with some sticky notes in cute shapes. I would have liked some Disney stickers but there were none at the store and I had no time to search for them, though they can be easily added afterwards.

The Minnie face with bow added to the scissors envelope (to hide the letters that were engraved on the plastic) and to the closing strap was found at a craft store, but could have been easily cut from felt. Since I only had two of them, I added a simple bow to the sticky notes envelope (again to hide the letters).

Overall I think it turned out pretty cute and I'm sure she will love it. And, since it is made in the shape of a bag, she can easily take it with her anywhere and have something to keep herself entertained at all times.

Now I just have to hide it until Christmas...

Enjoy,

The Handmade Christmas: sticky notes holder (with tutorial)

 

I've been a good girl and managed to complete another of my Christmas projects this weekend. After being away on Saturday I almost thought I wouldn't be able to pull it off but my kids cooperated and I actually finished it yesterday evening.

One of my first cousins is a high school teacher and on top of that she has a very busy life between her own children, church and her mother (my elderly aunt). I have noticed on several occasions that her wallet is full of sticky notes in different colors with various messages, so I had originally planned this sticky notes holder for her birthday in August. But summer came and went and I never found the time, so it's another of those projects that was relegated to Christmas...

This sticky notes holder is wallet sized but it can sit perfectly on any desk. And the best of it? It is absolutely no sew: the butterfly path in the cover was the only time I used a needle in this project and that is perfectly optional.

What do you need to make one?

Felt and fabric for the cover (because of its small size you can easily use scraps), sticky notes, a piece of ribbon, a small pen or pencil if you want to add one, a piece of thin elastic (to hold the pen) and two identical pieces of plastic or cardboard cut to the size you want your stick notes holder to have (mine is about 9 x 13 cm). 

Start by deciding how you want to place your sticky notes and adjust the size of the fabric. 

If you're adding a pen or pencil, punch two small holes and pass the elastic through. Since we are keeping the project no sew, just tie a knot to secure the two ends.

Then place the two pieces of cardboard or plastic as shown below, fold the fabric over the back and glue.

Cut a piece of felt slightly bigger than the fabric covered plastic set (because it looks better if you leave a small margin and embellish the cover as you prefer. The butterfly above is store bought (to match the butterfly sticky notes) and glued to the felt, the stitches we added by me in a color matching the inside fabric. 

Cut two pieces of ribbon (long enough to tie a bow to close the cover), glue them to the wrong side of the felt and then glue the fabric covered plastic set to the inside of the cover (with the ends of the ribbon in between.

Glue your stick notes to the fabric and add the pen/pencil. You're done!

 One sticky notes holder ready to be wrapped!

Other posts in the Handmade Christmas projects series so far:
The happy fish felt toy 
DIY doll bed

Enjoy,

Cute owl notebook pages - free printable

While making my handmade Christmas presents to-do list I decided to include an owl themed notebook cover (if you don't know exactly what a themed notebook is, check out my previous posts on the subject: the tutorial, the hedgehog notebooks and the kitty notebook).

I'm partial to owls and I really don't know why I never thought of an owl notebook before, but when I came across an old pencil sharpener with an owl image while cleaning my desk drawers, I instantly knew what I wanted the notebook to look like.

The notebook cover is yet in the drawing board (hopefully I'll get to it before Christmas) but I started by making the notebook pages and because (I think) they turned out really cute, I decided to share them as a free printable.

Because I still have not made up my mind which color I want the cover to be, I created the pages in pink, brown and light purple, to match the colors in the image.

If you want to make your own notebook, just download the file, decide which color you prefer and print the pages. Or you can just print them all and mix and match...

Have fun!