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Easiest Notebook Ever! How To Make a Notebook

February 19, 2020 · Leave a Comment

how to make a notebook

Easiest Notebook Ever! How To Make a Notebook

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Oh my goodness, who doesn’t love stationery??

Pretty notebooks, matching pens, washi tape, colouring pencils that are pretty to look at and colour nicely too, it all comes second only to a pile of fat quarters!

Notebooks are probably my favourite. I usually have several on the go at once, and I’ll buy another one at the slightest excuse.

One of the things I want to do with the home ed boys is nature journaling. (I’ll be writing a post at some point about how home education looks in my house!)

Writing is often an issue for boys in particular. During his time at school, Barnabas was put off writing, and I’m treading carefully with Cosmo as I don’t the same to happen with him.

Nature journaling sounds like fun. It’s one of those things where there’s no one way, so you can make it whatever you like! Cosmo has said that he wants to learn about space, so we’ve started using it to record stars and things that we’ve seen. With any luck, Barnabas will decide that he wants to do one too!

It’s also the perfect excuse for a new notebook, and what could be better than making one yourself?

how to make a notebook

These notebooks are made from stuff you may well have lying about already. Using elastic to attach pages makes it very easy (no faffing about trying to sew through paper!) and you can add as many different sections as you like.

How To Make a Notebook

how to make a notebook

You Will Need

Thick cardboard. Amazon boxes are ideal. A cereal packet might be a bit thin, but you could stick to pieces together to give it some more weight.

Pretty paper. I used scrapbooking paper that I had already (this from Amazon). You could try wrapping paper as long as its quite thick. The cheapy thin kind probably won’t last long. Paper packs that come free with papercraft magazines would be just the thing, although you’ll probably need to patch pieces together to make it big enough.

If you don’t want to use paper, here are some other things you could try: fabric, felt, an old map, your own artwork, pretty much anything that you could fold round a piece of cardboard and sew it or glue it!

Glue that will stick whatever it is you are using. I used a glue stick. For fabric or felt you’ll need to use PVA.

Elastic. I used this from Amazon. The kind you might put in a waistband probably won’t do. It needs to be the stringy kind. At a push, you could use long elastic bands.

A button. You’ll need this for the closure so a largish one is best.

Paper for the pages. The easiest thing to do is to take some sheets of printer paper and fold them in half.

Instructions

Decide on how big you want your notebook to be.

For the pages I was planning to use sheets of A4 folded in half, so the cover needed to be slightly bigger than A5 so as to protect the pages inside.

Cut a piece of cardboard so that it will be a little bit bigger than the pages when folded in half. I cut the cardboard 32 cm x 23 cm. Yours can be whatever size you like, but ideally slightly larger than the pages.

Cover the inside of the notebook. I used a piece of plain paper, cut to the same size as the cardboard, and glued on using a gluestick.

how to make a notebook

Cut a piece of scrapbooking paper (or whatever you’ve chosen to use instead) a couple of cm (about an inch) larger all the way round than the piece of cardboard. This is so that you have enough to fold over the edges.

how to make a notebook

If you are using bits of paper or fabric that are of different sizes, you could glue them on as you go or stick them to a piece of paper the correct size first. You could even sew them straight onto the cardboard. I haven’t actually tried this, so you might want to experiment a bit yourself first!

Don’t forget to cut a little square out of each of the corners!

how to make a notebook

Attach your covering to the outside of the cover, then fold the edges over and stick them down onto the inside.

If you’re using paper and a gluestick, you might want to leave it for an hour or two under a heavy book so it has a chance to stick properly.

When everything has had a chance to dry, fold the cover in half.

Adding Pages

Cut some pieces of elastic about the same length as the distance round the spine of your notebook. I’ve started off with three. It will be easy enough to add more later if I need them.

Tie the ends together and slip them over the notebook so that they sit in the spine of the cover.

how to make a notebook

how to make a notebook

Add some pages. The easiest way to do this is by taking some sheets of A4 and folding them in half. I used black paper for the first section because I’m going to be recording space stuff too! Slip the pages under one of the pieces of elastic so that the elastic is in the fold of the paper.

how to make a notebook

Making the Elastic Closure

Having some way of keeping the notebook closed is handy. The cover of mine springs open, but even if yours doesn’t, you might find that if it gets very full, you might want an option for keeping it closed.

Cut a piece of elastic long enough to go all the way round your notebook widthwise doubled.

Slip a button onto the elastic and knot the ends. Move the button down so that it hides the knot.

how to make a notebook
how to make a notebook

To keep your notebook closed, pop the elastic round the it and loop the end of the elastic over the button.

To keep your notebook closed, pop the elastic round the it and loop the end of the elastic over the button.

If you’re worried about losing it, you could make a couple of little holes in the back of the notebook and thread it through.

Now your notebook’s ready to use! If you find yourself running out of pages, or if you need another section, just add some more elastic to the spine and slip some more in.

To keep your notebook closed, pop the elastic round the it and loop the end of the elastic over the button.
how to make a notebook

If you liked this post, you might also like this one showing how to make a fabric diary cover.

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Filed In: Blog, Other Crafts / Tagged: beginner, easy, how to, notebook, papercraft

DIY Autumn Wreath

October 31, 2019 · 2 Comments

diy autumn wreath

DIY Autumn Wreath

One of the things I really like is coming home and seeing a wreath on my door.

To be honest, there’s not an awful lot of other things to like about the outside of my house at the moment. But if nothing else, at least my front door is pretty!

diy autumn wreath

My latest wreath is one I made from some bits and pieces I bought from Dollar Tree while we were in the USA in August.

For those of you who are fellow English people, Dollar Tree is a lot like Poundland, except there’s more craft stuff.

The lovely leaf lights that are now on my dresser came from Dollar Tree, along with the flowers and the ribbon I used to make this DIY autumn wreath.

The wreath form is the one I used to make this wreath. I just pulled the flowers off and put them in a safe place in case I want to use them again in the future.

It was very easy and it didn’t take me very long. An hour would be plenty of time! If you live in the UK and you’re not likely to be visiting a Dollar Tree any time soon, you might find similar flowers and things in Wilko.

Instructions For Making a DIY Autumn Wreath

You Will Need

A willow wreath form
Artificial flowers and leaves
Wired ribbon (I used just under 3 metres)
A pipe cleaner or wire (for the bow)
Twine or similar for hanging your wreath up
Old scissors or pliers

Instructions

Make the bow. Doing this first will allow you to work out how much space you have to fill with the flowers on either side. There’s no point sticking flowers into your wreath, only to find that you can’t see them because they’re covered up by the bow!

To make my bow I used this YouTube video.

diy autumn wreath

Cut the flowers, leaving 8-10 cm of stalk. With artificial flowers there’s usually wire inside the plastic. If you’re using scissors, you probably won’t be able to cut right the way through. Just cut through the plastic then bend the wire until it snaps. I’d recommend not using your best scissors! Otherwise use pliers.

diy autumn wreath

Push the flowers into the wreath. I started with the big ones, then I added the smaller ones. Lastly I added the leaves.

diy autumn wreath
diy autumn wreath
diy autumn wreath

Tie a loop for hanging.

diy autumn wreath

Tips

Wired ribbon is best because it’s much easier to shape the loops and bend them into where you want them to go.

Odd numbers look better than even, so try to use an odd number of flowers, especially the larger ones. It’s less noticeable with smaller flowers. I used 2 of the larger flowers, but as there’s one each side of the bow, that works!

Remember that the wreath is a pretty thing in itself! It’s fine to have some of it showing.

When it comes to larger flowers, you only need a few. Space them out and fill in the gaps with smaller flowers.

diy autumn wreath

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Filed In: Blog, Wreaths / Tagged: how to, wreath

Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

July 26, 2019 · Leave a Comment

how to make washi tape

Decorating a Cake: How To Make Washi Tape Bunting

Although I’ve like making things all my life, when it comes to being creative in the kitchen, I’m definitely a work in progress!

When my mum taught me how to sew, knit and crochet, she also taught me how to bake.

My mum made amazing birthday cakes. There was the blue one when I was 4, in the shape of a 4 with jelly diamonds, and the Mr Happy cake when I was 5. Also the rabbit cake she made for my sister, with grass made from coconut that she dyed green.

I like baking, mostly because I like eating, especially cake! But when it comes to decorating, my efforts are closer to Nailed It than The Great British Bake Off.

One way to make a cake pretty without losing your mind or it taking ages or making a huge amount of mess is with washi tape bunting.

Washi tape bunting doesn’t take long to do, it’s easy and your cake will look pretty enough for any kind of celebration (or even if you just want a pretty cake!).

how to make washi tape bunting

You Will Need

Washi tape. One design will do, but you could use more if you wanted to. I used 2 this time.
Bakers’ twine or embroidery thread
Skewers
Scissors

washi tape bunting

Instructions

Cut a length of bakers’ twine, allowing enough to tie the ends to the skewers. About the same length as the diameter of your cake is a good guide. If you cut it a bit longer, you can always trim the ends if you have too much.

Decide how many flags you’ll need. If you’re using more than one design of washi tape, you’ll also need to decide on what order they’ll be in. It’s worth bearing in mind that odd numbers of things usually look best.

Cut pieces of washi tape about 5 cm long. They don’t need to be perfect because you’ll be trimming them down, but it makes things easier if they are of a similar size.

how to make washi tape bunting

One of the good things about washi tape is that although it’s sticky enough to stick to things, it’s also easy to pull off! I cut all my pieces of washi tape and stuck them to the table.

Find the middle point on your piece of bakers’ twine. Take the bit of washi tape that you want in the centre of your washi tape bunting and fold it over the twine.

how to make washi tape bunting
how to make washi tape bunting

Do the same with the pieces of washi tape either side of the centre. It will hang better if you leave a little bit of a gap between the flags.

When you’ve stuck all of your washi tape to your bakers’ twine, trim them so that they are all the same size.

how to make washi tape bunting

Now cut the flags into triangles, or you could leave them as they are if you prefer.

how to make washi tape bunting

Tie the ends of the twine to the skewers and it’s ready to decorate your cake!

how to make washi tape bunting
how to make washi tape bunting
how to make washi tape bunting
how to make washi tape bunting

Washi tape bunting can also be used to decorate a handmade card, and I have a post about this here!

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Filed In: Blog, Other Crafts, Year of Bunting / Tagged: bunting, cake decorating, how to, Year of Bunting

How To Make a Tied Wreath

July 18, 2019 · 2 Comments

how to make a tied wreath

How To Make a Tied Wreath

Last week I decided it was time to make my front door a present in the form of a tied wreath.

A few years ago I made a new wreath for my door every couple of months.

What with everything else that was going on, I’d stopped doing this and my poor door was wearing a wreath that I made 3 years ago!

Making some more bunting to hang off the front of my house, it occurred to me that the bits left over could be cut up to make the pieces for another tied wreath, and I could get two things done at once (almost!).

Here’s the bunting. I made it in the same way that I made this last year. The lacy looking bits are cut from an old net curtain. My funny old house looks so much more cheerful!

instructions for making a tied wreath

And here are the instructions for making the wreath.

Instructions For Making a Tied Wreath

You Will Need

Wire (I used garden wire, but a wire coat hanger would work too)
Strong tape
Scraps of fabric

Instructions

Bend the wire round into a circle about 25 cm in diameter. If the wire you are using is quite thin, wrap in round several times to make it stronger.

Secure the ends with the tape.

making a tied wreath

Cut your fabric scraps into pieces approximately 2 cm by 10 cm (3/4 inch by 4 inches).

Choose one of the prints and tie pieces to the wire, spacing them out evenly.
Just tying them once is enough. I wasn’t fussed about having mine with the different prints all in a certain order, but I did want them spread out a bit.

how to make a tied wreath

Then choose another and tie those on in the gaps.

tied wreath
how to make a tied wreath
making a rag wreath

Repeat until you have some of everything tied on.

If you still have some spaces, fill them in with any remaining pieces.

hand tied wreath

The wreath will look best if the fabric scraps are close together, so budge them up a bit so that you can fill up all the spaces.

Now I have a wreath that matches my bunting!

how to make a tied wreath
how to make a tied wreath

You might also like these wreath tutorials:

Autumn Tied Wreath

Spring Wreath

Dried Fruit Wreath

Felt Flower Wreath

I also have a Pinterest board devoted to wreaths which you can find here!

tied wreath

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Filed In: Blog, Other Crafts, Wreaths / Tagged: how to, tied wreath

DIY Bunting Card

June 15, 2019 · Leave a Comment

DIY Bunting Card

DIY Bunting Card

Having concentrated mostly on sewing for the last few years, I’ve decided with one thing and another to change direction a little bit and include more of other crafts.

This is actually what I did when I started Tea and a Sewing Machine. It was called something else then, can’t remember what, and it was awful! The website was impossible to navigate, the design was eye-poppingly bad and the photos were blurry.

I promise we’ll not go back to that! But somewhere along the way, sewing took over and the other crafts were more or less abandoned.

So I’m bringing them back. I’m already feeling a lot more inspired than I have over the last few months, so we’ll try this for a bit and see how it goes.

If you’re mostly here for the sewing, don’t worry! There will still be sewing, just some other bits and pieces too.

So here’s the first non sewing project that I’ve written about in a while!

DIY Bunting Card

I was inspired to make a bunting card when I saw one that Julie from Sum of Their Stories had made.

She’d made a lovely card for the May challenge for The Year of Bunting.

When I saw it, after thinking how pretty it was, I remembered how I used to make cards and how much fun it was.

So I had a rummage, found some pretty paper, and had a go myself!

How To Make a DIY Bunting Card

You Will Need

https://www.sumoftheirstories.com/blog/make-a-floral-bunting-birthday-card

A5 card or a card blank
Scraps of pretty paper or washi tape
A larger piece of pretty paper (to cover the front of the card)
A paper doily (I got mine from Poundland)
Bakers’ twine
Buttons and beads (optional)
Paper flowers (optional)
Glue (PVA and a glue stick)
A ruler and a pencil

Instructions

If you’re not using a card blank, take your piece of card and fold it half.

Trim your paper so that it’s the same size as the front of the card.

Lay the doily over the top of the paper and move it about until you like where it is. Holding the card and the doily together, turn it over and draw round the paper. Cut out the doily.

diy bunting card

Stick the paper to the card, and the doily to the paper.

diy bunting card

Making the Bunting

To make the bunting, cut diamonds from the paper scraps. The easiest way to do this is to cut a rectangle and fold it half. Find the halfway point along the open edge and mark with a pencil. Join this point to the corners of the folded edge. Cut along the lines.

diy bunting card

Cut a piece of bakers’ twine. Cover the wrong side of one of the bunting diamonds with glue. Fold it over the bakers’ twine and stick both halves together.

If you’re making your bunting from washi tape, you can make it in the same kind of way. Cut a piece of washi tape and fold it over the bakers’ twine. Cut the corners off the rectangle to make it into a triangle.

My strings of bunting each had five flags on them, but yours can have as many as you like! A handy thing to remember is that for some weird reason, odd numbers of things look better.

Decide where to put your bunting on the card, and trim the ends of the bakers’ twine.

Stick the ends of the bakers’ twine to the card with PVA glue. You might like to use a little bit of glue stick glue to stick some of the flags down too.

diy bunting card

If you’re using buttons or beads, stick them between the flags with PVA glue.

diy bunting card

I added some paper flowers to the bottom right corner. You could use a button if you don’t have any flowers.

Another option would be to write something like Julie did on hers. If you want to get into hand lettering, I can recommend this book (affiliate link).

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Filed In: Blog, Other Crafts, Year of Bunting / Tagged: card, Year of Bunting

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I'm Anna and I live in rural Norfolk in the UK. My mum taught me how to use a sewing machine when I was 10 and I haven't looked back! I love making all sorts of things and I hope you find inspiration here.

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