Monday, December 5, 2011

Travel Mini - Stocking Stuffer?

The holiday season is in full swing and now is the time to think about making handmade gifts!!  This mini makes a great stocking stuffer or coworker gift, all made easy with the Bind It All! I literally made this mini while I watched a movie -- it's that easy!
I have had an 8x8 pad of October Afternoon travel themed paper and stickers in my crop bag for well over a month. I knew it would be perfect for a fun travel themed mini! According to a poll, in which my husband was the only participant, 4x4 is a great, "cute" size for a mini book. I laugh at how much my hubby knows about crafting. He could totally teach a class after listening to all of my blather all these years!
So, back to the project at hand.

First step was to cut a 12x12 Chipboard to 4x4 pieces -- you'll get nine. If you don't get nine, then something went wrong....but that's okay, just use whatever you have on hand. If you have Zutter Chipboard, Clipboard Wood, or Acrylic Covers in 4x4, even better!

After that, cut your patterned paper to 4x4 -- you'll need 18 pieces, 2 per chipboard.


Next randomly glue the 4x4 papers to each side of the chipboard pages. I usually put the same paper on front and back and the leave the middle to a random mish mash of patterns. Not too much thought is involved here--if you think about it too much, you'll spend hours on this project!


Punch all of the pages in the Bind It All. 4x4 is also a great size because you can set the BIA to "C", punch each page once, and it goes super quick.


After all of the pages are punched, apply paint to a foam brush. 


Squirt out just a little paint onto the brush and use the top of the paint bottle to work the paint into the brush. You don't want to apply a blob of paint to the brush and then put that on your book--it will look like a blob! Lightly brush the edges of the pages with the paint to cover the brown chipboard.


Bind all of the pages together. Even though this book is small, I used 1.25" O-Wire because the book is thick and I wanted room for bulky embellishments. The rule of thumb for choosing O-Wire is to choose a diameter of wire about 1/4" larger than your book is thick. A 1' thick book would then use 1.25" O-Wire.


I used a combination of chipboard stickers, twine, and embellishments I made to decorate the pages. 




I made two Epiphany Crafts Square Charms and adhered them to an Epiphany Crafts Charm Setting and hung it from the O-Wire with jump rings. This Charm Setting is double-sided which I LOVE!!! And the O-Wires on the book just have endless decorating possibilities.


And here is the back of the charm:


Supplies:
EC Scallop Circle, Square, and Star Bubble Caps and Studios
EC Square Charm Settings
Paper, Stickers - October Afternoon
Jump Rings - Blue Moon Beads
Paint - Delta
Twine - The Twinery
Ribbon- Unknown
So for all of you who say you don't have time or space to craft, it can happen! Just sit down with a TV tray. a few supplies, and a movie :)

OZZ DT Member Jennifer Priest
hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com