Easy tutorial you can do in 10 minutes!

As one of my new year resolutions I have vowed that I am going to try to have at least a tutorial for you every other week- so since I am late already, here goes #1 lol

This tutorial is for a quick and easy personalized note pad that would make a perfect thank you gift, newly pregnant friend gift, gift for a young kind who is getting baptized or something like that, for any teenage girl, or a great mothers day idea! All you need is this-A pair of scissors, a ruler, a pencil, a 5X8 legal notepad (you could really do any size you want), a 5X12 piece of heavy cardboard scrapbook paper, embellishments and a hot glue gun.
*I bought my notepads for 3 for $1 at the local dollar tree- GREAT price for making 3 gifts for $1!

Measure your paper to be the width of the notebook. If you are doing the 5X8 notebooks it will obviously be 5 inches, but do not cut off the length, leave it 12 inches! This way you will get 2 piece out of 1 piece of paper.

Now take the piece of paper and lay it on top of the notebook so that the bottom edge is completely flush with the bottom end of the notebook. Now you will carefully but completely fold the excess over the binding of the notebook and to the back.
Make sure you crease the part that will be on the binding the best you can! Now apply liberally your hot glue right onto the binding of your notebook. Press with your fingers, the edge of the table, anything to get it to be tight on the binding.

Now you will put a little bit of hot glue down each side of the back cardboard part of the notebook as well as a couple of strips of hot glue in the middle and on the bottom so that your paper is held completely onto the back cardboard piece of the book!
Now turn it over and admire your work!
Now you get to embelish it! You can use paper, flowers, die cuts, stickers, ribbon, anything you want! (I am sure you are all better scrapbookers that I am!)
If you choose to do ribbon make it longer than the notebook so you can tuck the edges into the inside edge of the book and glue them down!
Wallah! Now go ahead and write or type up something for the front for example "gratitude journal" or "Pregnancy journal" or anything you want for the occasion! I am making these for a big swap I am doing and I dont know who will get them, so I am leaving that part out- but I hope they enjoy them!
Make sure to leave me a link or email me pictures of your finished product! Hope you enjoy making a whole bunch!!

Crochet #1

Today I am going to teach you how to crochet! I realize videos would be better, but I dont have that much time or space on my computer! We are going to be making either a scarf or a dish cloth- either is equally easy, but obviously the scarf will take longer because it is at least 6 times longer, so you may want to try it for a second project! As for hook size and yarn, it really doesnt matter for this progect, but I would say to go with a RED I sized hook. Go to yoru local craft store or Walmart and ask someone how to find one. Then you will be able to tell where the sizes are and the differences once you have looked at them!

So here we go, lets get started!

Start with your yarn in your hand like this. You are going to make a slip knot.
wrap it around your fingers and pull it through. Now stick your hook it in and pull it tight.
Now you will take your hook, wrap your yarn over top of it and pull it through the loop. This is called a chain!
Continue until you have your desired size. Which is 30 stitches for a wash cloth and 20 for a scarf.
You now have a chain!
Always chain 1 more stitch than you will need, because this will now be put into the next stitch. So now what you are going to do is turn your hook so that the hook part is facing your left hand. Now put the hook into your second loop of your chain. wrap the yarn around the hook once it is through the loop, and pull through both other loops. (Leaving the last loop you wrapped)


You have just done your first SC or single crochet! You are now crocheting! WAY TO GO! Keep doing this down the entire row. Then make 1 chain stitch and turn your work.

Now you will do your first HDC or half double crochet- Wrap the yarn over your hook and put your hook through the next loop in your work.
Wrap the yarn over one more time and pull through the loop in your work. You should have 4 loops on your hook.
Now pull the last loop (The last one you just wrapped) through all 3 of the other loops.

You have just done your first HDC or half double crochet!

Now comes the DC or double crochet!
Wrap the yarn around your hook, put it through the next loop, pull through.
You will have 4 loops on your hook. Now pull through 2.
Then wrap again and pull through the last 2!
You have just completed your first DC or double crochet!

Now I want you to continue in a pattern of a row of single crochets, a row of half double crochets and a row of double crochets until you have your desired length! Look at you! You are crocheting!! Come back next Thursday for a lesson on tripple crochets, how to crochet in the round and how to read a pattern!