Summer Fun

Journal Jars

Thanks to the many creative ideas on Pinterest, the kidoodles have customized journal jars to inspire their writing this summer.  Our books were rated "Awesome" by the kidoodles and are a combination of journal, artist's palette and scrapbook.    I’m hoping it will be a way to encourage the kids to write this summer.


Materials:

• Cheap alternative to Mod Podge – mix 1 part Elmer’s glue and 1 part water in a bottle (I used an empty spaghetti sauce bottle.) Shake well!
• Composition notebook

• Fabric of choice – (smooth fabric works best; seersucker buckled)

• Canning jar with slip top

• Writing idea strips (There are some that you can find online but they were too sophisticated for the kidoodles, so I wrote my own.)

Optional:

• Ribbon for page marker (optional)

• Pinking shears

• Foam craft brush

• Wax paper

• Old magazines or file folders

• Construction paper

Here’s what I did:

1. Open the notebook to the center and lay it on the fabric. Mark the top & bottom of the notebook for width. Mark the sides & add about an inch for the cover edges.

2. Cut fabric to size with pinking shears to minimize fraying edges.

3. Wrap an old magazine or folder with wax paper. Insert this into the first & last page of the notebook. (It will protect the pages from the glue on the cover while drying.)

4. Paint the wrong side of the fabric with the glue mixture and lay it on the cover of the notebook. Wrap the extra 1 ½ - 2” of fabric around the cover edges.

Pull the fabric tight and smooth the fabric to remove any air bubbles. Close the journal to allow enough give in the cover that the final product will close.

a. *IF you are adding the ribbon marker, attach that the outside of the binding with tape or hot glue before adding the cover.

b. If the original cover design shows through the fabric, glue a similar colored construction paper on the cover first to mask the design, then add the fabric.

5. Paint the outside of the cover with an additional layer of glue mixture.

6. Open journal face down (w/ page protectors in place) & allow to dry overnight.

For jar lids, I used the slip canning jar lids. Trace outer lid on fabric. Cut out the circle and glue it to the inner lid. (There will be some overlap.) Put the lid back together & allow to dry overnight before screwing back onto jar.

Our journals are scrapbook/journal hybrids.  Stickers are also a huge incentive for my kidoodles' writing.  Here's to joyfully journaling this summer!  Happy Writing!