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!!