photo journals

Check out this tutorial from five and a half to create your own photo journals. I love any and all notebooks. They're the perfect place to express and dream up creativity.

leather day planner

Anything planning, calendar and/or notebook is right up my alley.

From Martha Stewart: Leather is forgiving to work with -- it doesn't fray, so there's no need to finish edges, and if you purchase a 1/16-inch or thinner hide, it can be fed through a sewing machine. You'll need sturdy poly-cotton thread, a leather needle, and a Teflon pressure foot, which will keep the leather steady. Raise the tension according to your sewing machine's instructions, and make the stitches slightly longer than you would with fabric, to prevent the leather from tearing. Mark lines by scoring with a bone folder before sewing.

Tools and Materials:

One hide (5 1/2 square feet) leather

No-slip rulerRotary cutter

Multipurpose cement

Poly-cotton thread

Sewing machine equipped for leather

Leather hole punch

1/2-inch binder rivets

7-inch 6-ring spine

Rivet setter

Mallet

Paper inserts

Grommet kit or elastic cording (optional)

Leather Planner How-To

1. For standard refills (6 3/4 by 3 3/4 inches), use a rotary cutter to cut a rectangle of leather that is 10 3/8 by 7 1/8 inches. Mark the midpoint of the length, and score with the bone folder. For the closure, cut a 3 1/2-by-1-inch tab to fit in a 3-by-1/4-inch strip.
2. Cement a 1/4 inch of the tab halfway up the inside of the back cover of the planner; let dry, and then sew. Cement the strip halfway up the outside of the front cover; let dry, and sew ends. For side flaps, cut two 3 1/4-by-7 1/8-inch pieces. Cement them on all but the inside long edge; let dry, and then sew all around, leaving a 1/4-inch border.
3. Backstitch at start and finish. Place the spine on the halfway point, mark each hole with a pencil, and punch out marks with a hole punch. Align bar over holes, and stick rivet posts through each one; snap the cap pieces onto posts from the other side. Position rivet setter over each rivet head, and pound them into place with the mallet. Fill binder with paper inserts. Use flaps to store loose items.

First Published: January 2003 Martha Stewart

fabric wall squares

I love the clean, stylish look of this framed fabric project by Martha Stewart. Maybe I'll implement this in the girls' room.