Olympic Countdown - 5 Weeks to go - Crayon Notebooks

I can't believe that there are just 5 weeks until London 2012 begins. It has always seemed such a distant event and now it is scarily close!

A few months ago I read this post on one of my favourite blogs, A Beautiful Mess and immediately wanted to buy some of these fantastic pastels! I found them on Amazon for a reasonable price and  had a go at experimenting!

source

They are easy to use and provide a great effect! This week I will offer a tutorial for making your own fabric covered notebook and then decorating it with these pastels. It is a great way to lift a boring notebook and a chance to be creative.

Materials

1 Plan old boring notebook (don't forget to remove all the barcodes etc.)
Piece of fabric (I used Calico) bigger than your notebook
Mod Podge
Double Sided tape
Pentel Pastel Dye Sticks


1. Cut a piece of fabric 3" longer across and 4" taller than your notebook. Iron over 1/4 inch all the way round to create a clean edge.

2. Cover the front and spine with mod podge and stick down in the centre of the fabric (fabric should be laid out as above with ironed edges visible. Cut a slit where the front and spine meet - as in the picture. Repeat on top edge.

3. Fold over and glue the fabric to the inside cover

4. Using the pictures below as a guide, cut the last remaining edge to remove excess fabric (if you leave it it will make sticking it down very difficult!)




















5. Slightly fold over the edges as if you are wrapping a present, glue and stick down

6. Repeat all of the above with the other side. Make sure you can open and close the notebook before leaving it to dry

7. Cut a piece of card big enough to cover the inside cover and use double sided sticky tape to stick it down and cover the fabric edges - this really neatens up the whole project

8. According to the instructions on the pack, use the fabric dye pastels to draw your design

9. Place a piece of paper over your notebook and iron to set the colour.


Have fun and be creative with the designs you create - I used the colours of the Olympic rings to decorate this notebook...




And the Union Jack for this notebook...




 How will you cover yours?

Love Rebecca

Linking up to a selection of these great Link Parties