Summer Journals

This is not a brand new idea by any means, but I just wanted to share our summer journals that we made this past week. It was a quick and fairly simple little project—hopefully it will help our kids get their writing practice in while school is out, plus it will be fun to keep a record of fun summer memories and other random thoughts, in their own words. (yes, I know summer has nearly reached its halfway point for us, but I was determined to make these anyway!)

Supplies you can use to make a summer journal:

• Plain notebooks
• Fun patterned paper
• Mod Podge
• Craft Paint (I used Spa Blue by Decoart)
• Craft brushes
• Washi Tape (I found most of them at Target!)

I don’t have a step-by-step tutorial today but I’ll share the basics! 🙂

1. I traced the shape of the notebooks onto the scrapbook paper and cut the paper out.

2. Then I took a foam craft brush and brushed on thin layers of Mod Podge on the notebook cover as well as the backside of the paper. Then I stuck the paper onto the notebook cover and smoothed out any bubbles.

3. I also painted the back of the notebook with craft paint. It did take about 3 coats to cover up the original black and white design, but it worked!

4. I added some fun washi tape (love that stuff!) on top of the scrapbook paper and cut out my girls’ initials with my Silhouette Cameo.

5. Then I brushed Mod Podge over the entire thing, front and back, to seal it all in. Wait several hours to dry. DONE!

I’m planning on having my kids use different journaling prompts every few days or so, perhaps drawing them out of a jar. Some days I’ll have them write whatever they feel like writing. There are some great writing prompts I found online to get you started:

The amazing Shawni of 71toes.com: Journal Prompts and Job Jar

Beauty and Bedlam: conversation starters

Even though summer’s almost halfway over I’m still excited to get going on our journals! 🙂