Because I have absolutely nothing else to do...

Christmas Countdown Project #Who knows?

I know you are dying for something to do with all your free time today. Who cares about the presents to wrap, the turkey to cook, the stockings to fill? Drop it all and hide out from the hordes of Mongol relatives and have some crafty fun instead!

You'll need:
*A couple of 12x12 sheets of chipboard
*A mini spiral notebook
*Several sheets of patterned paper
*Adhesive
*Embellishments (rub-ons, etc.)
*Paper trimmer

Let's go!

Step one. Measure your mini notebook (don't include the spiral, just the page size).

Step two. The challenge wtih these little notebooks is how flimsy they are. They don't stand up to the ravages of my purse, let alone my children. I combatted this by reinforcing the covers with chipboard. Cut two pieces of chipboard to fit your covers.

Step three. Trim two pieces of patterned paper approx. 1" larger than your covers. Exact measurements are highly overrated. Adhere to the chipboard and trim the corners so you can miter them. Repeat with the other sheet.

Step four. Adhere the chipboard to the covers.

Step five. Fold corners over and adhere. Rinse and repeat.

Step six. Now we've reached the point in our proceedings where you take a deep breath and admire what you've accomplished so far. Aaah! This may actually turn out to be something you can use! How fun is that? You may not believe me, but when I embark on these projects, I'm doing so with a great deal of faith and not a little doubt in my skills... I take pictures, assuming that there will be something worth documenting, but I don't have it all planned out beforehand. I'm just winging it. Or, as my husband calls it, "Using the Force." Usually it works; sometimes it doesn't. Everytime it DOES work, I say a little prayer of thanks and get unexpectedly giddy. Right about now is one of those giddy moments.

Step seven. Cut a piece of coordinating patterned paper slightly smaller than your cover, and adhere to the inner cover of the book. Smile -- it looks cute! Repeat for the back cover.

Step eight. I like dividers in my thicker notebooks. Cut as many pieces of chipboard as you would like dividers. I left mine about 1/2" wider than the notebook pages so I could make little tabs.

Step nine. If desired, trace and cut tabs on the dividers. Cover with patterned paper on one side (unless you are one of those overachievers I so mercilessly mock. In that case, go ahead and cover both sides. But rest assured I will mock you). After they're done, adhere to an inner page of the notebook. I simply used my adhesive to stick 'em on.

Step ten. Decorate the cover. I put "Lots of stuff" because I like really descriptive, clever titles. Haha.

Step eleven. Using mini label stickers (I used 7Gypsies), label your dividers.

Step twelve. Relax! You are now perfectly organized.

Comments

[Abbie]

I L-O-V-E it!!!! Too bad I just - 5 minutes ago - finished my teacher gifts, I SO would have done this for them. But that's ok. I'll do it for no reason at all instead! Thanks Lain!

[MamaSheg]

Thanks for the extra project, it's fabulous as always!

Merry Christmas ~ MamaSHeg

[Juel]

This is a VERY cute idea!! I need MORE hours in my day!!!

[amymarie78]

Wow what a great little project, so super cute too!

[Robyn]

Very cute! And a most excellent example of "study avoidance," which is what I still call doing something fun when I should be cleaning/cooking/wrapping/etc. even though I have been out of college more years than I care to admit on cyberspace. ;)

Have a very merry one, Lain.

P.S. Did you know that Dec 24 is run-on sentence day?

[Leslie]

Love this! After finally mailing the Christmas cards on Sat morning, I spent too much time loading my digital goodies into ACDSee with their trial offer and reading a fun (Desperate Housewives + Mystery) novel titled "They Did It For Love" while the kiddies watched a Christmas movie!

Hope you're enjoying the holidays!

Leslie

P.S. About July, I started to scrap my current daytimeer for important info (scrapbook logins, passwords, kid's doctors, etc.) and the back part of the book has "daily scrap summaries of the day".

[Megan]

That is such a cute project! Merry Christmas!

[jeanette brooks]

Merry Christmas, Lain! This is so cute, I'll be making one of these for myself and probably a couple for friends :D
Jeanette

[bcre8uv]

Okay, not only is this darling, but your paper choices completely ROCK!! If Santa brings me some free time for Christmas I just might make one. You know how I love a good organizer notebook!

~T.

[Candice]

Adorable! Merry merry Christmas, Lain!!

[Robin Morgan]

Lain, that is just too cute! Thanks for sharing. I actually have a couple of planners that I bought at a dollar store that I am going to do this with. Thanks for giving me the encouragement to do so. I'll have to do them after Christmas. I spent yesterday and today wrapping and finishing up my inlaws scrapbook gift. Merry Christmas!

[Amy]

I don't know where you found time to do this, but I so love it...I am a total notebook junkie so I will definitely be making this...hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!!

[Pinky]

Wow, this is such a neato little notebook...I love it. Merry Christmas to you and yours...

Pinky

[Debra]

LOVE your project!!! Can you tell us what categories you created?

[katie scott]

I think this is my favorite "Christmas" project of yours. I'm going to make one for the new year. Very Cool :)

[Nicole]

How cute that you posted one last project before Christmas! Hope yours was great Lain! This is your best project yet. I love the self-designed categories. Much more useful than a dayplanner, especially as I'm the queen of to-do lists. I'll definitely be making one of these!

[Shawn]

Wow! This is awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas with us. I think this will make a great gift for mom's, mom's in law and sisters in law!!!! Assembly line here I come!
Have a Happy New Year!

[mireia carbonell]

ohh!! thanks for this project! I love your ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I love your patterned papers too!! :-)

kisses!!!

[s.]

the dividers don't just rip right out of the notebook when you flip through because the flimsy paper inside just perforates right out? it's GORGEOUS, by the way. and i got here from those journal revolution seesters!

[Beth]

Lainie, I have to say, I have done something similiar to this, but yours seems so much nicer than mine. I love the idea of the chipboard to make it stronger, and the tab pages in the middle. Very nice!! I saw the one you made for Maria, loved it! Thanks for the inspiration to improve upon my next notebook scrap. I hope all is well with you. By the way, did you actually hit all the missions or was that impossible????

[Denise]

Thank you for this cute project idea! I have a little spiral bound calendar just like your notebook. The flimsiness has driven me crazy, but now I'm going to gussy it up and love it for the next 8 months. I never would have thought of this. Thanks!!

[Kathie R]

This is so clever! I have a ton of these little notebooks and have painted and decorated them and found them to fall apart so easily. Love the idea of adding the chipboard.

[Søren]

Did you ever see the teeny notebooks from Target? their sections have different colored colored lines, so your notebook would be EXTRA awesome... although the one you made is pretty much as awesome as it could be. (I just bought the one at target and came back here so i could turn it into one like yours!)

[Mel M. M. M.]

Thanks so much for a fabulous tutorial. This is so gorgeous that it's a must make! :0) mel