I think I’ve already said it too many times in the last week or so, but I’m completely jazzed that Fall is on its way. I couldn’t be happier about it not being 95 degrees outside and I heartily look forward to it getting cooler. And cooler.

And school-er. (Okay, baby is teething and I’m just not getting the quality and quantity of sleep that pulls me above totally cheesy/totally lame rhyming jokes.)

But really. I think I’m one of those weird kids that loved school. Like, the learning part. I’m still a firm believer that there is something completely hopeful and enchanting about new school supplies. And though I am happy to report that I’ve outgrown the purple unicorns of my Lisa Frank-loving days, I have to tell you that pulling out these notebooks made my Fall-loving soul smile.

 All you need are some notebooks and some duct tape. Use a one-color, patternless duct tape for the base. (After some shopping, we discovered that the cheapest place to find patternless duct tape is definitely Amazon! When you go patterned, it just depends on what you pick and what deals you can find.)

It’s probably easiest to design with lines, if you know what I mean. But don’t you worry. Nothing about this needs to feel dull when you look at the semi-outrageous variety of duct tape we’re talking about.

These were just three that, well, surprised me. (Which says nothing of the shock I felt when I discovered the “Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest” sponsored by the Duck Tape Club (say what?!). Yes: they award $10,000 to each person in the couple for creating the best prom outfit-completely out of duct tape. What a world.)

Anyway, the two black ones are super simple. You’ll start with covering the front with your base tape. You can go horizontal or vertical (you can see the lines if you look closely at the picture) – just be sure to go slightly over the edge and tuck the tape under the cover. Then you can decorate with pretty much any kind of patterned duct tape your heart desires.

The blue one took some special help from a Cricut Explore. Now, you should know that I’m not-at all-crafty. I don’t have the patience for details-which is also why I’m a terrible baker (P.S.). Anyway, Cricut-y things generally intimidate me. But this was my first go at making something with it. And I loved it.

True, my blue “Choose Kind” notebook is not necessarily “crafty” but it’s cute-it was easy-and I love that I have this personalized notebook that I actually made. The Cricut Explore is quite intuitive-and when you get stuck, there are tons of tutorials and helps available. I might not ever make my own wreath-but I can see this machine being so useful for bulletin boards I put together at church, visual aids for classes I teach, and the list goes on. So: moral of the story. You don’t have to be a crafter to love this machine and get a lot of great use out of it.

(I used the “extreme” font. Which is darling, right?!)

With the Cricut Explore, I typed out the words I wanted into the online program, slipped a duct tape sheet into the machine on the special Cricut board-and poof. Out comes these perfectly cut letters that I literally just taped to the front of the notebook. Easy peasy.

Making one of these notebooks with words could be a great self-made reminder if you and your family are picking out a theme or setting goals for the school year.

Moral of the story: these notebooks are super simple and quick to make. Creating them could be a great young women’s night, family home evening activity, or Activity Days afternoon. It’s a craft for the un-crafty, like me.

 

 

 

Natalie