SCHOOL DAZE

No sooner do we finish with one holiday than it is time for another. I've put away my July decorations and the house looks bare. I never quite know what to do at this time. I know some people like to use a honeybee motif, or fruit. I usually have some summer themed buntings, and some sunflowers.  I will make a wreath for the door with them, and some back to school items. It is pretty low key, compared to some decorating extravaganzas we will have later on in the year! I do know some people who will be very involved with Halloween before this week ends. That is just too soon for me. I know it is already in the stores, but I prefer looking at the back to school things. I have always liked office supplies, even though I never liked working in an office. School supplies are just a mini version, and cuter. 

When my youngest child was finished with school, I visited the school supply aisle at Target and cried. Any sensible mother would have been crying at graduation, or when he moved away. Not me, I looked at all the different kinds of pens and papers and notebooks, and erasers, and pencil boxes, and backpacks, and I remembered all those years when we had picked out favorites. Yes, I am just filled with nostalgia when it comes to lunch bags. Is that normal? Probably not.

As it turned out, I didn't need kids in order to stock up on paper. One of the nice things about this time of year is the bargains.

I am partial to these plastic pencil boxes. They fit into drawers and I will fill them with beads and wire. Tape and picture hangers fit there too. Actually, all sorts of this and that find the way into these boxes.

Composition notebooks are everywhere in the stores now. I bought enough to last a good long while because they were only 37 cents! The fancier ones were a little bit more, but I cover the covers so it really doesn't matter. I use these books to make "junk journal planners", and it's a favorite thing to do.

The first step is to go through the book and tear out a page for every ten. It should be fairly even, so make it one ten pages in from the front, and ten pages in from the back. This is to keep it from getting too bulky. The remaining pages should be glued together in twos. Washi tape is fine for the outside edges. I use a book for two or three months at a time and print monthly calendars to put inside. And then comes the fun part. Collect pieces of your days. It is like the scrapbooks we made when we were kids. Anything can go inside. Last month I used my birthday cards, and even a small candle. These books can be a little lumpy. Anything from favorite quotes or daily to do lists will fill the pages. I also save a lot of receipts, business and appointment cards, chocolate wrappers, unusual tea bag packages, labels, and so much more. I use patterned papers to add extra pages and pockets, and often use lots of stickers. I use glue and tape and even staples for this journal. It isn't meant to be grand, but it will hold a lot of memories while not taking up much space.  And as a bonus, I use a lot of supplies that I have on hand.

A cute finishing, and wholly unnecessary touch are handmade dangles clipped on to each book. Once again, they use little bits of memorabilia. Items like buttons, beads, charms, ribbons, keys, tiny silverware, mini teacups are lovely when knotted together.

I learned to make these from you tube videos. The channel called Thrifty Day, run by a woman in California named Leah is filled with charming ideas and lots of conversation and enthusiasm.  Her work has a strong connection to Disney, and she manages to have fun with everything she makes. I have learned a lot from her, but she is quite a talker.