B2S DIY 101

It’s Back to School season and all the mom’s rejoice! I mean… it’s B2S season and that means Back to School supplies and DIY.

I used to love getting new notebooks and folders and pencils so clean and perfect; like a blank canvas waiting for me to doodle on in Math class! And then those ugly English and Science books, ugh, well I made sure they got a makeover!! Today, the ideas are endless with all the great DIY products on the market. It’s easy to make going B2S fun for everyone!

First, let’s give those used school books a new face. With my cut and embossing machine it’s easy. I used an embossing folder, craft paper (or you can recycle at old paper bag from the grocery store) and a little cut and fold. To start, I measured the height and length of my school book while open on the craft paper. I cut the top and bottom with 3″ extra paper allowance to fold down for a smooth edge and enough of a paper allowance on the ends to cover the inside front and back covers.

Once the sizing is done, I put the paper in the embossing folder and ran it thru my machine. Since the paper is longer than my embossing folder I did it section by section to ensure I got the embossed image on the entire piece of paper.

Finally, I position the school book in the center of the paper and folder the sides over to wrap the book. The book covers get placed inside the folder ends of the paper to make a tight and secure wrap. You can stick a little piece of tape on the top and bottom portions of the book cover where the folded in flap touches the outside cover.

There you have a cool, trendy new book cover made from the simplest of materials. You can continue to embellish the cover with die-cut letters, numbers or shapes, and even add stickers or let your little Picasso do his or her own artwork with some cool markers!

Now, let’s do some DIY to give your locker a unique flair! I love working with chalk board fabric because you can use it in so many ways for home decor and now, for your home away from home, school. For a cool locker decor you’ll need chalk board fabric, a magnetic shim (or use an old refrigerator magnet like the ones you get from a baseball team or realtor), spray adhesive and embellishments like die cut letters, fabric, bows, jewels, ribbon, whatever you want.

Find a large die-cut shape like a circle, square or rectangle and cut the magnetic shim and chalk board fabric in your die-cut machine. Spray the backside of the chalk board fabric with adhesive and stick it to the non-magnet side of the magnetic shim.

Next, add school color embellishments using a hot glue gun or adhesive spray and maybe even add a string to hang a piece of chalk so it’s always handy!

If you have any magnetic shim material left you can die-cut letters, shapes and numbers, hot foil the fronts and use them to add to your locker decor too!

Make B2S fun with DIY 101!