Personal Notepad

I created some simple order forms to take with me when I go to the HOPE Festival on Oct. 27th. To help keep everything together I wanted to put it all together in a notepad but I didn't want to pay for something so simple that I was sure I could do myself. So here it is - so simple and would be a fun craft to do with your kids {my niece and nephew}.

You'll need: paper, stamp and ink set, cutter of some sort, glue and some REALLY heavy books.

First you will need to create you design. I used a computer program since I was making order forms but this would be great to use stamps. Just get your favorite set and some varying ink pads. I printed mine first and added a guideline to the first page to help me cute in the right spot. If you are using stamps it might be easier to cut your paper to the desired size for the notepad.

After you have you notepad papers cut with their designs on them you are going to line them up. Make sure the edges that you want the glue to be on {in my case the top} is lined up as straight and flat as possible. Then you'll take your heavy books and place as close to the edge to be glued. This helps keep the notepad tight and keeps the glue from seeping into the separate sheets.
*Note with my books the binding edges didn't really lay flat on my papers so I turned them so the straight edge of the cover was right up to the edge.

Next, use the sponge to add the glue to the top of the flattened notepad papers. You can use your fingers or whatever else you might have around, this was just the easiest for me. After adding the first coat let it dry and add a second coat. My layers were pretty thick so I only needed 2 layers but add more if you think it's too thin.

Tada: your own personal notepad. If you are wanting more than one pad, stack up the paper in one pile. After the glue binding is completely dry, divide your notepad and just pull apart.

If you work on this tutorial I would love to see what you came up with!!

10 Goals for 10.10.10

I put this post on our personal blog but because so many of the goals had to do with creating and crafting I decided to post it here as well.

Paul pointed out to me that it is 10.10.10. At the beginning of the year we were a bit slow to come up with goals for this year so to make up for that I am going to list ten {10} goals that I want to complete before the end of 2010. Lists always help me keep track of everything so here is my list.

~ Loose weight. I never really struggled with weight or trying to look like the Hollywood now girl but it is something I have caught myself thinking more of now, since I've been married {Paul loves big meals and I never wanted anything to go to waste, so I ate it and it all went to my waste}. I have a certain goal in mind but I have never tried to loose weight so I don't know how my body will react to it. For now I will leave this one at "loose some weight" and it could carry into next year.

~ Finish my projects. I'm sure I could go around the house counting all the projects that I need to finish {that number could be pretty high}. Instead I will list a few off the top of my head that I really do want to finish by the end of the year and before we move.

Window Treatments
Table Runner
Picture Collage
Homemade Christmas Gifts

~ Read the Book of Mormon. This is the Virtue Project for the YW's Personal Progress and it would just be a good one to do.
~ Clean the Fridge. This serves double duty because it needs to be done and I will have to do it since we will be moving shortly as well.
~ Continue Attending the Temple. We set a goal for our Temple attendance earlier this year and have been able to make it and I want to continue with that.
~ Sort through my closet. I'll leave this one until closer to the end. If I loose the weight I want to then I will get to keep a lot of these items. Wink, Wink!!
~ Finish my Personal Progress. I started it with my YW and want to finish it here with them even though I have been released.
~ DI and De-junk. We have a constant DI box so that we can put stuff in it as we go. I really need to do this with all the stuff we have in the spare room/office/craft space {one room...many purposes}.
~ Meal Planning. We have food storage items that I would rather use then toss out or have to pack and take with us when it is time to move. I want to plan our meals so that we can use up as much of it as possible. This will take some creative meal planning and patience to use it all.
~ Levi Quilt. I'm not including this with "finish projects" because I haven't actually started it. I made one for a great friend of mine as a wedding present and didn't want to give it away when I finished it. I loved the flannel on the back that made it so nice and soft and how wonderfully sturdy and heavy it was since it was made out of jeans. Fantastic to curl up in. I have always wanted one for myself and it is time to get busy and make mine.

On Saturday my SIL and brother and their little girl came up so that she could take some family photos for us. She was wonderful enough to come up on such short notice. It was a lot of fun and she did a wonderful job.

Here is a sneak peak at the photos.Bentley LOVES Paul and Paul loves him right back!