DIY Flip Book

This is a project I made to help me with anxiety and panic attacks. Some of you may be familiar with that bag of worms but most probably not. Its something I deal with from time to time and so much of it is rooted in negative thinking. When things get rough for me I like to put positive affirmations up all over my house to remind me to hang in there and to reprogram my negative thoughts with positive ones. Sounds silly but it works for me. However, when things get better I throw them all away. The next time I need them, I find myself having to look them all up again online. This got me thinking of a more permanent solution so that I could have all of my favorite quotes and affirmations where I see them often and easily accessible.


I came up with the idea of making a flip book. This now sits on my nightstand where its the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. The cool thing with this concept is you can replace what I have used it for with your own favorite quotes, scriptures, calendars, recipes, family pictures, Halloween or Christmas mini albums or whatever you want.

Here is an example of one of my favorite positive affirmations.

A lot of my anxiety stems from me worrying about my anxiety flaring up in public and how that will effect what others think of me. I have to remind myself that it doesn't matter if people think I am weird because I get panic attacks. It only matters what I think of me and I have to remind myself that I love and respect myself the way I am even with my anxiety no matter what anyone else thinks.


This particular page has a little bit of symbolism on it. The handwriting (ok traced handwriting hehe) and the crackled paper are to remind me that I don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. The number one in the corner is to remind me to put myself and my happiness first.

This was REALLY easy to make for anyone interested in doing their own. I'm keeping mine simple because I don't want it to get too big. My supplies for just the flipbook all came from my local Hobby Lobby or home and were:

2, 8X8 pieces of thick cardboard from the back of a sketchbook
1, 12X12 and 1, 8.5 X 11 piece of cream cardstock paper
1 8X8 piece of patterned scrapbook paper
Tim Holtz grungeboard book (This will be for the different sections) I will use a thinner grungeboard paper for the individual affirmations so the book isn't so thick.
Photo splitz and a gluestick

I used the tutorial found here to make my blank flip book. It took me maybe an hour and cost less than $15.00 (Can be cheaper using coupons).

The stand looks like this from the side:

I'm really excited about this because its so easy and customizable to whatever you want.

Here are a couple other similar ideas using rolodexes:

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to One of a Kind Gifts here!

Bake - It - Forward!

This is a great gift idea for any holiday.  It is a Bake It Forward plate!  I found this great idea at http://www.infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com   What you do is you make this plate, add goodies and give it away.  When the recipient finishes the goodies there is poem underneath telling them to do the same and “Bake-It-Forward.”  How fun is that?!?!



Supplies:
Plate ( Goodwill for $.25-$1.00)
Envirotex Lite (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon) $7-$10 on sale
Mod Podge (any craft store) $2
Foam brush $.20
Scrapbook Paper $.25
Bake it Forward Poem

1.  Open the poem (right click on the link to save it to your desktop) and size it so that it will fit on your plate.  Print it on scrapbook paper of your choice.
 
2.  Next cut the paper down to the size of the plate.  The first one I did happened to be a 6” square so that was easy.  If you have a circle plate you will have to use a compass or a circle cutter to cut out the paper.


 3.  Using a foam brush and Mod Podge (any sheen will do) spread a thin, even coat of decoupage glue onto the back of the paper.


4.  Press the poem into the plate and burnish (press really hard) the paper making sure there are no air bubbles.  Let it dry.

5.  Put two coats of Mod Podge on it (drying in between coats).  It is really important that you seal the entire piece of paper.  If you don’t the resin will seep through and darken spots on the paper and it won’t look as nice.  Note: If you see bubbles form put some Mod Podge on your finger and press it out.


 6.  Once the Mod Podge is dry prepare your resin ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURER’S INSTRUCTIONS.  That is very important – believe me!  Make sure you use a container and spoon that you can throw away.


7.  Pour the resin onto the poem.  It is self-leveling so it should spread to the sides by itself.  If it doesn’t - use a plastic utensil to spread it.


8.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.  At that time all the air bubbles will rise to the surface.

9. Take a long lighter and wave the flame over the top (touching the resin slightly) and the bubbles will disappear.  I usually babysit the resin for 30 minutes and use the lighter once more if necessary to get all the bubbles out.

10.  Let it dry overnight.  Meanwhile, bake your signature dessert and think of who you can give a sweet blessing to.  In the morning the resin will have cured.  Make sure you only hand wash this plate.  Now add some yummers and give it away.


   If you have none of the supplies on hand you could purchase about 5-7 plates and have enough of the resin to do all of them.  So it should cost you no more than $3 a plate. 
 
  With Easter coming up, this would be a great time to bake some spring cookies and "Bake - It - Forward"!

A gift for the person who has everything...something HANDMADE from you!!!

 My daughter is dating a rich guy.  I know, I should be happy right?  He is only rich because his parents are rich and this is the problem!  My daughter wanted to give her boyfriend's mom a Christmas gift that was something she couldn't just go out and buy.  Of course it had to be perfect and nice enough for someone who thinks money is no object.  No pressure right.  She wanted me to make a set of handmade note cards just for her.  My heart dropped.  Yes I can make some beautiful cards for friends and family that love me and I will never know if they hate them and are just humoring me.  I did not want to be the one to disappoint my daughter and embarrass her for the rest of her teenage years.  Who was I to ruin her for life because I was so full of myself to think someone I did not know would like a gift I made.  (And she really scares me!)  So, I let my daughter pick out the papers and had her help me each step of the way by her approvals.  In the end, I figured that if she was willing to give the gift, she was willing to take the heat.  Her boyfriend's mom loved the gift and wants me to find a way to sell my cards so she can purchase more.  I guess you never really know unless you take that scary first step.


 
 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to One of a Kind Gifts here!

Jumpin Jacks Birthday

It was my son's birthday on Saturday and he got the cutest gift from our neighbors. There is this place by us called Jumpin Jacks. He got 4 free passes to the indoor inflatable playground, a flipping frog named Jack, a pair of socks (wearing socks is mandatory), and magic jumping beans. I thought it was such a creative way to give free passes. I think this same concept could be used when giving gift certificates. Just add some fun little accessories and a simple gift card becomes a unique gift.

If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to One of a Kind Gifts here!

Personalized Books

I made a couple personalized books for my son a few years back out of the many photographs I have taken of him. I have been thinking about making one for my youngest son and realized I don't have quite as many pictures of him. His books will be much harder to design. But here is what I did. I went to one of the many sites that let's you create a hardbound book, (my favorite is Shutterfly) and I designed an ABC book.

Each page has picture of my son with the things he loves.

Starting with A and ending with Z....

Z was easy for us because my last name is Zappe. He loves his books and learns while he reads them. I also made a Colors and Numbers one. If you take a lot of pictures these books are so easy and will be cherished for years.

If you enjoyed this post Subscribe to One of a Kind Gifts here!