Imagine my excitement when I found out that I was chosen to participate in the Martha Stewart Mother’s Day Campaign with  Blueprint Social and Plaid Crafts. (squeel!) Then, imagine that excitement times a bazillion when all of this came in the mail!

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Dude, I got paint brushes, paint, stencils, sponges, bottles, tips, more stencils………just amazing! My task: create a tutorial for a handmade Mother’s Day gift using the supplies I received. I had a bunch of ideas and after trying to make the first 2 work (and wound up with major craft fails! No fault of the supplies I received at all, just the other stuff I was using as my base of the project didn’t pan out the way I wanted), I wound up creating these fabric covered journals.

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I tried to come up with a gift that I would like and that my mom would like and I know that if I received something like this for Mother’s Day, I would totally be digging it so this is what I went with. I love all kinds of notebooks and journals, especially pretty ones.
To make these, here are the supplies you will need:
  • Black and White Composition Notebooks ($0.94 at Target)
  • Fabric of your choice (I used a canvas painters drop cloth)
  • Craft Glue
  • Martha Stewart Craft Paint
  • Martha Stewart Stencils
  • Martha Stewart Sponge Tip Applicator Tops
  • Martha Stewart Paint Roller
  • Scissors
  • Tulle or Ribbon of Choice
The first thing I did was lay out my fabric and open my notebook out flat on top of it. I then traced the outline of the notebook onto my canvas using a colored pencil.
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After I cut out my fabric I then applied a good coat of glue to my notebook cover and then smoothed my fabric over it using my paint roller to smooth out any wrinkles.
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Next, I took my stencils and placed them in different parts of the fabric covered notebook. I secured them with the stencil tape from Martha Stewart so that they wouldn’t move around and so that there was a tight seal on the book.  I took my sponge tip applicator and screwed it right onto the paint, blotted it a little bit on a plate so that I had just the right amount of paint coming out of the sponge and got to work.
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I really liked the adhesive stencils a lot. I found that the foam applicators worked best with the stencils. I tried other sponges and stencil brushes but the foam applicators definitely did the trick!

Tie them up with a little bow and you have your self a very cute {and thrifty!} Mother’s Day Gift!

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Some other ideas may include adding a Monogram to the cover of the notebook for a more personal look. Also, maybe creating some handmade cards using the stencils and paint and slipping a small stack right under the bow.
We love Plaid Crafts. Find them on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
And of course Blue Print Social! Here’s where you can find them: Twitter and Pinterest
{I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Plaid and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own}
Due to the amount of content that is used without permission and proper credit, I am no longer allowing a full RSS feed. I value each and every reader so I hope you will click through and come visit!

XOXO
Diana
www.thegirlcreative.com

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12 Comments

  1. Very cute idea! I’m so jealous of all the goodies you got!

  2. Beautiful! I want that box of stuff too. Really.

  3. This is so very cute! Mom and I are going to make “Healthy Cookbooks” and spend the weekend trying new recipies and getting inspired. I’m totally going to make the outside of our books like this 🙂 THANKS!

  4. Aw, these are so sweet! I love them – and the colors you chose are great!

  5. I realise this is an old post, but I’m just curious, did you glue the fabric to the spine as well? I love this idea, and want to make these for mom’s day as well as teacher appreciation gifts

    1. Hi Robin!I believe I did. 🙂 They are super easy to make a lot of fun to give as gifts! XOXO

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