Thursday, September 26, 2013

happy crafternoon // DIY notebook.



I have my mums sewing machine out at the moment for some uni work, so I was thinking of something fun I could quickly create as a bit of a break. Whilst on Pinterest I had the idea of making a little note book. Here is what you'll need:


  • a piece of card cut to the overall size you want the notebook to be. I had a blank card lying around so I just used that since it was already folded nicely for me.
  • paper to create pages. This can be any type of paper and any size, so long as it is larger or the same size as the piece of card. I used 4 A3 sheets of white 80 gsm copy paper.
  • pencil
  • scissors 
  • cotton the colour you want the binding stitching (you will see this from the outside so make a pretty choice). I went for a bright orange.
  • any supplies you need to decorate the cover (I just used a 0.4 sharpie)

The first step is to cut the paper for the pages to the same size as the piece of card. I just lay the card itself over the paper and traced around it with a pencil. At this stage I made a lovely discovery that the piece of card I was using fit exactly 4 times on the piece of paper. This made this step very easy for me.

(sorry for the white on white making things a little tricky to see)

Once all the pages were cut to size it was time to sew them together. For this I used a machine, put if you don't have access to a machine I'm sure with some patience you could sew by hand, you would just have to take great care to go in a straight line. I went quite slowly to make sure I kept to a very straight line even with a machine. Since I was using a pre-folded card I just used the fold line as a guide as to where to sew. (note the sewing machine, my mum got that for her 21st birthday from her parents and it's still kicking on!)


Once it is all stitched down the middle just fold it along that line (again having a pre-folded card made this a lot easier). It should look something like this:

(see how my fingers are holding it down? It will keep wanting to spring open for a bit so I recommend putting something heavy on top for it for a bit to help the fold settle down.)

Now comes the creative part! You have a plain little notebook now so go crazy with your creativity! You may have already used a decorative or coloured piece of card which would mean you're done now (or just want a plain notebook). If you are struggling here are some ideas for designs I've pinned here and here or even here. As you can see I have used one of the ideas from the first link.


So there you have it, a handmade little notebook. Now I'm thinking about all the size variations I could make and all the different designs for the cover...








Tuesday, September 24, 2013

green thumbs and dirty nails.

Spring has sprung so I thought it was probably succulent time! I eventually did make it out to pick up some succulents for my bell jar so I can turn it into a little mini terrarium of sorts.


I haven't ever grown succulents before so I wanted to read about how I could go about not killing them. I found a great tutorial on Ell & Ish  which was especially relevant because I was using a pot with no drainage holes. I wanted to make sure my little chunky leaved plants didn't rot their roots.

The succulents are a little cluster of three White Nun's which I picked up for $6 from Bunnings. The pot I found at my new favourite place, Salvos, for $4. Its ceramic and has little cacti around it which is a bit odd but somehow not the worst thing in the world.


Now when I look up from my laptop I see some happiness in the form of green fleshy leaves. 


Sunday, September 22, 2013

5s.

New iPhone out means new iPhone cases. And what yummy designs I have seen. Here are 6 I'm loving.


2. Mint Beige $19.66
3. Geometric $24.03
4. Colors 223 $35
5. Dots.. $35
6. Pass this On $35

Savlos is here.

The Salvos have recently opened up a store in my town (this is an op shop or thrift store) about a week or so ago and I have been meaning to check it out. After hearing good things about the amount of furniture they have I was getting very excited. Yesterday I finally made it. I didn't come out with any furniture, but I did pick up this vase for $6.


I haven't made up my mind about the colour yet, this photo doesn't really convey it but its peachy salmon. I might end up spray painting it but for the time being it is keeping a candlestick I bought from a secondhand furniture place a number of months back company.



the glass bell jar.

This is the story of the glass bell jar. I went to Kmart to see their new home-wares section and I spotted a bell jar for $7. I couldn't not buy it. So many possibilities ran through my head of little treasures that could sit inside. I had been thinking about blogging for a while now, having always loved every minute I've spent on blogs like Young House Love, How About Orange and Apartment Therapy. When I got home from Kmart I decided to jump right in. So here we are.

My blog needed a name. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the box my bell jar had come in sitting there. Now my blog had a name. But what happened to the actual bell jar? Well I would love to use it as a terrarium for some succulents at some stage (something like this), but I don't have any succulents lying around the house so for now I just have it sitting on my desk with a few bits and pieces I had. So there we have it. The story of the glass bell jar, the blog and the fancy glass now sitting on my desk.