Tutorial: Cute Counting Board Book from Recycled board book

I love, love, love to make board books! They are so easy and really fun. You can't really mess up on them! Here is one I made for my youngest when she was about 3. She loved looking at it. I used lots of pictures that would catch her eye.

I thought some of you might like to know how to make these. I used a old board book that was just laying around my house! If you have young kids you probably have a board book that the kids don't really like that much......PERFECT! Follow these directions to make a lovely little book that your children will treasure! Here is what you will need:

*Old board book that is still in relatively good condition.

*Scrapbook paper (it's fun if you use coordinating paper. I used Basic Grey Lucky paper line)

*Modge Podge

*scissors

*letter or number stamps (optional)

*paper punches

*old magazines

*pictures of your child

*brayer (or I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef plastic scraper)

*ribbon

*glue sticks

1. Find some adorable Scrapbook paper. If you scrapbook, you probably have a ton just sitting around like me. If you don't, go to your nearest craft store, like JoAnn's (sometimes they have 5/$1 sale). Paper really isn't that expensive.

2. Trace the shape of the page on the paper. Do this for each page. For the front and back cover, I use 1 piece of paper and glued it all the way around the book (make sense?). I wanted the binding covered up, because it didn't look so good!

3. When you have all the paper cut out, take the Modge Podge and cover the front and back of the book. Try not to over do it on the Modge Podge, but if you don't put enough, the paper won't stay. Lay the paper on top, matching the edges all around the book. Use a brayer or something with a hard flat edge (you could even use a ruler) to smooth down the paper. You want to flatten out any bubbles that appear. Don't worry if the paper doesn't match perfectly around each edge or goes over the edge, you can fix that later!

4. Let the paper dry completely (an hour or so).

5. Trim around the edges if needed, and you can use an emery board to gently file around the edges if you want to give it the "worn" look. Don't file to much though. The paper might start peeling up.

6. Now is the fun part! Figure out what you are going to do for each page. The possibilties are endless! You can use foam stamps and paint, buttons, pictures or letters from a magazine (i did this on several of my pages).

It's fun to use pictures your child will like and even use pictures of your child. On one of the pages I used Mickey Mouse pictures, because my daughter had an obsession with Mickey for a while! I used lots of paper punches, die cuts and some ribbon. Have fun with it! You can't really mess up...trust me!

7. Let your book dry completely.

These are great gifts! You could give one to a friend as a baby gift, or make one for your Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa (not with numbers of course, but pictures of you with them!). The possibilities are really endless.


I hope you will try this and have fun with it! If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me or leave a comment here.

Have a great day!!

Back to School and Fall Leaf Card How - To Tutorial

Life has been busy here lately! I can't believe it is already September and the kids go back to school next week! We've done all the shopping and bought all their school supplies, so they are ready to go.

I have been watching a 3 month old baby 2-3 days a week, so that has kept me pretty busy lately. I love watching her though. She is soooo cute! The kids love her too and always want to hold her and make her smile:)

This week I thought I would try another Tutorial. I made this card last year, and I love the way the leaf turned out. It was fun to make and I thought some of you would enjoy making it for someone special in your life! Here are the supplies you will need:

Patterned paper in Fall colors
2 pieces of cardstock in Fall colors
1 piece of ribbon approx. 4 inches (I used brown)
metal embellishment to thread ribbon through. You can also use a pop top from a can of pop!
Diamond Glaze


This card was pretty easy to make. To make the leaf, you can stamp a leaf on the back side of some patterned paper (some kind of fall color) and cut it out, or if you have a large leaf paper punch, you could punch a leaf out and use that. I used a leaf pattern out of a magazine, enlarged it, then traced it on some cute patterned paper, then cut it out.

When you have your leaf cut out, then I use Judikins Diamond Glaze which is water-based dimensional adhesive. You can buy this at your local craft store for about 4.99.

Squirt out enough diamond glaze to cover the whole leaf with a thin layer. I also sprinkled gold glitter around the edges of the leaf. Put the leaf in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Take the leaf out and bend it different ways so the glaze cracks. If it doesn't crack, put it back in the freezer for a few more minutes.

You could put another layer of diamond glaze, then put it in the freezer again for a more "crackled" look.

For a 4 x 5 1/2 card, I used 1 piece 4 x 3 inches fall patterned paper, then 2 other smaller pieces of cardstock 1 was 2 1/2 x 3 (approx.) and 2 1/2 x 1 1/4. I like to use Bazzill cardstock and I choose Fall colors.

Adhere the 3 pieces of paper to the card, then, thread the ribbon through the embellishment or pop top. Glue ribbon on card.

I stamped "thanks" then cut it out and adhered it next to the ribbon. You could also print out a sentiment, then cut it out and adhere to the card.

If you have chalk ink or a brown stamp pad, rub the pad around the edges of the card. It gives it a vintage look.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I sure did. If you have any questions about how to make the card, please feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail me!
kweight@byu.net

Check back here next week for a Etsy artist feature!

Orange Juice can ornament lid Tutorial

I didn't make this up. I found it in some craft magazine a few years ago. I thought it was such a cute idea, and you can feel good about recycling something! It's such a cool thing:)

The first thing you need to do is drill a hole in the lid. Very easy. Use your hubby's drill. Just big enough for a ribbon to fit through.

Next you find some kind of Christmas image or any holiday. I used a Christmas image I got from Etsy. They have tons of cute digital images on there!

I cut out the image the shape of the orange juice can lid, then glued in on with Modge Podge.

Next, you can add buttons, ribbon, and whatever! I decorated the back too. I glued the buttons, etc. on with glue gun. Find some cute ribbon to string through the hole and Ta Da! You have a totally adorable ornament to give someone as a gift or keep for yourself!

You can even glue pictures of your kids, baby, etc. as well!

If you like these and want to purchase them from my Etsy shop, come visit at:
www.scrappincorner.etsy.com

If you have any questions about this tutorial feel free to leave a comment (I love them!) or e-mail me at kweight@byu.net.