So our Christmas morning tradition has always been that I make waffles. This year was no exception. Mr. Gadget finally used up his jug of 100% pure grade A maple syrup. The rest of us prefer the synthetic stuff."Does this go in the garbage or does it get recycled?" asked Mr. G, who so courteously helped clear the table and fill the dishwasher.
"Neither," I told him. "That's a snowman!"
And so a new year of crafting begins.
I rang out the old crafting year with these.....some cute little handmade books. What prompted this project was a discussion I had a while back with a friend about how much her 7-year-old granddaughter loves to write stories. It reminded me of some books I had made for TG and BCG when they were small, in an effort to spur on their imaginations. They're very simple to make. I used colored construction paper for covers on the early ones; for these I used scrapbooking sheets I had on hand. I cut 8 pieces of ivory-colored computer paper I had in my stuff stash just a little bit smaller than the cover piece.
Then, after folding one of the pieces in half to find the middle, I stacked them up with the folded one on top and the cover piece on the bottom (print facing down) and stitched them together with the sewing machine....backstitching a bit at each end so I could trim the threads off. Then I carefully folded it along the stitching line. By using 8 pieces, which seemed a reasonable thickness to sew through, I ended up with a book of 16 pages....just about right for a child's attention span....if they draw a few pictures too.
I've always loved to write. As a child, I didn't have these fun little handmade books to write stories in, but I wrote nonetheless. And when I decided to go back to college to finish my degree, I chose an English major with a writing option. I took classes in fiction writing, journalism, public relations writing and even advertising. I had many great writing teachers, and they all liked me because I was the oldest student in class (even older than most of them) and I always did my homework.
In my opinion, here is one of the best writing books around. Someone mentioned it on their blog. I checked it out of the library, and then decided I wanted my own copy. The author will tell you, in simple and concise language...with a healthy dose of humor, everything you'll need to know to write well. If I'd only known, I could have saved a bunch of tuition...... 
2 comments:
I like your little books! They give some great bookbinding classes at Brookfield Craft Center, you know!
Oh wow, that just brought back memories. I used to make little books with construction paper folded in half when I was a kid. I think we did it at school once and then I just kept doing it. No doubt the story was a variation on the same theme I wrote about over and over again. A little girl loses her cat and then finds him again. I would use little pieces of yarn to tie it all together on the edges.
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