January Pinterest Trial: Blog Planners

I'm an organization freak! I stumbled across this on Pinterest. It sent me to a blog, which then credited another blog. Thanks to Sew Tara & Wild Olive who created these wonderful planner pages. You can get to the link for the template by clicking on either of the previous links. My interest in this started out as a birthday present for a blogging friend, Robyn of Oh The Things I Can Do, who mentioned that she wanted to start blogging almost daily. After making her planner, I had a great desire to make one not only for myself, but also for one of my sisters who has multiple blogs to manage.

The supplies:

paper to cover planner & chipboard (you can use the cardboard from a cereal box)
paper cutter, scissors, and glue
bind-it-all, zutter, or other like tool that uses o-wires (I used a Cinch tool)
and of course, the blog planner pages

I started out by printing out the pages. I printed on both sides of the paper. I made enough for just under a year and a half. I did 35 sheets front and back and 1 sheet just on the front. I then used my paper cutter to cut the pages in half so that they were 8 1/2 by 5 1/2. The reason for the page that I only printed one-sided was so that the planner wouldn't start and end in the middle of a week.



                                         Once all the papers are cut, make sure they are all facing the same way. You have to use your binding tool to punch holes along the inside edge. The holes should go along where your cut was made down the center of the page. I like the Cinch tool because you can pull out the punches you don't want to use. It has 12 punches and I needed 16 holes for the planner. In order to achieve that I simply punched the first set of holes on all of my paper, then pulled out all but the fist 4 punches, flipped my paper over, and punched the remaining holes needed. Tip: always try punching on some scratch paper first to make sure your holes will be in the right spot.

Now that all of the pages are ready, we need to make the cover. Instead of me trying to explain all the details, I decided to just give you the link to the site where I learned how to make them. Click here to learn to make your own book covers. I may be wrong, but I think it tells you to make the cover slightly bigger than your paper. I didn't. My covers are the same size as the pages. They give specific sizes for their paper, but just make sure that your cover paper is an inch wider AND taller than your cardboard. Instead of cover the inside covers with an index card, I use matching paper or other paper that corresponds with the cover paper. I cut that paper about a quarter of an inch smaller than the cover in both height and width.

Once the covers are made, punch holes in the covers just like with the pages. Use an o-ring to bind your book together as it shows in the tutorial. On Robyn's and mine I cut another piece of paper slightly smaller than the cover to put on the cover as shown below. On my sister's, I had simply printed on the cover paper before gluing it to the cover.

Robyn's with her blog name printed on it

My sister's

My planner

On the inside of all the planners, I created a corner pocket using extra paper. The insides of mine and Robyn's planners are shown below.

Inside of my planner with my blog name on the first page.

I used more extra paper and some stickers to create Robyn's inside page.

To create the letters on my planner, I used a cricut machine and some extra paper. I then used a sticker maker to easily put the letters on.

After I had made the first two and just had mine left to make, an idea struck me. It would be so nice to have a ribbon book mark attached to the planner! So, I did just that. Before gluing the inside cover paper onto the back cover I put in a grommet. I simple threaded the ribbon through it and hot glued it to the inside back cover. I then glued the paper for the cover on so that you don't see the excess ribbon.

So, there you have it! How to make your own Blog Planner! I hope this was interesting and educational! I just love the things you can find on Pinterest!

January Pinterest Trial: Owl Cupcakes

Sorry I've been gone so long. Really, there is no excuse, so I'm not going to make one. Please just accept my apology.

I've become a little addicted to Pinterest and decided that I need to try one of my pins every month. This month I'm trying a pin from my Cooking board. I saw these really cute owl cupcakes and wanted to make them for a friends birthday. Unfortunately I got snowed in and she never got to see them.

Our walkway from the driveway to the front door

The path Carma and I dug to get the truck out!

The snow was so bad that we high-centered Carma's truck (yes, her big Dodge Ram truck) trying to get into the driveway. The second photo may not look like it, but the wall where we were throwing the snow is about 4 1/2 feet tall.

Anyways, on to the cupcakes! I used the items below (plus the eggs, water, and oil to make the cakes) for my trial.

I think they look less like owls and more like Grover the Muppet. I should have pipped the frosting onto the cupcakes to make it look like feathers, but I was tired from shoveling snow!

I think they are pretty cute, even if they don't quite look like owls! The one on the left looks better with the broken Oreos I used as ears. All in all I think this Pinterest trial turned out great! It defiantly got my mind working with ideas to decorate cupcakes!