As school is quickly approaching, everyone asks me, "Are you excited to go back to school?" And my response every time is, "I'm not excited to go to school but I'm excited to make my school supplies." I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys decorating their supplies, so today I'll show you how to make a liquid notebook. These are very popular recently (among teen crafters at least), so it is not my original technique, but it's so cool and I made a variation to look like the ocean/aquarium. Also, this didn't take me long to make, (just like a few hours), but it is more difficult than most of my other crafts, so beware.
Before you begin, you'll need a notebook, an Xacto knife/craft knife, scissors, 4 tablespoons baby oil, 1/2 yard clear vinyl (it's really inexpensive at Walmart at the fabric cutting counter. Also, I didn't know what thickness to get, so I got 1/2 yard of each, but the thin one is the one I used and works well), parchment paper, glitter and ocean stickers (I got my cute ones from Walmart scrapbooking section), an iron and ironing board, blue food coloring, about 12 tablespoons of water, Tacky Glue, one sheet of white cardstock, paper towels, and optional: paint to cover notebook.
The first step is to cut out two sheets of clear vinyl in the size of your notebook. Then, take your notebook cover, and cut a rectangle out of the middle using your craft knife, and use that center rectangle as a guide to cut out two pieces of parchment paper that size so it will be the size of the window opening. Now, if you'd like to paint your cover of the notebook, do it now. I learned that you'll need a few coats to cover the background entirely, but be sure to put paper towels down so you don't ruin any of the pages inside, etc..
Now take your iron and ironing board and set it to a medium to low heat setting. I found that if its too hot, the plastic will become all wrinkly, but if it's too low, it won't seal well enough. Place your two pieces of parchment paper that are the size of your window and place them in between the two vinyl pieces, then sandwich the vinyl in between two pieces of parchment paper that are larger than the vinyl pieces. Now iron 3 OUT OF THE FOUR SIDES OF VINYL!!! Make sure to only iron up to the small pieces of parchment paper, using the tip of the iron, so the window stays the right size. Once the three and only three sides are ironed, they are melted together, but put your vinyl opening under the sink faucet and run some water in it to make sure there are no holes. If there are, I reccomend cutting out more vinyl and re ironing.
Now, mix 4 tablespoons of baby oil in one cup, then in another cup, mix about 12 (or less) tablespoons of water with one drop of blue food coloring. Now dump them both in the vinyl bag thing and add the glitter!!! After that, you'll need to melt the last opening shut. You still need the parchment paper sandwiching the opening, but be sure not to iron where the liquid is. My mom helped me with this part by holding the vinyl off the edge of the ironing board, and me ironing it shut so it doesn't have to lay flat (because the water will spill out). I ironed a little bit farther down on the top so I could add a sun sticker, etc..
Once it is all sealed, cut out a piece of white cardstock the size of the notebook, and decorate it with your fun beach stickers. Then take Tacky Glue and glue the water pouch vinyl thing to the inside of the front cover, and glue the sticker scene behind that. Remember that Tacky Glue has to dry over night.
This is a fun project and it's very fun to play with!!!! Hopefully it will make school a little more enjoyable!
Now take your iron and ironing board and set it to a medium to low heat setting. I found that if its too hot, the plastic will become all wrinkly, but if it's too low, it won't seal well enough. Place your two pieces of parchment paper that are the size of your window and place them in between the two vinyl pieces, then sandwich the vinyl in between two pieces of parchment paper that are larger than the vinyl pieces. Now iron 3 OUT OF THE FOUR SIDES OF VINYL!!! Make sure to only iron up to the small pieces of parchment paper, using the tip of the iron, so the window stays the right size. Once the three and only three sides are ironed, they are melted together, but put your vinyl opening under the sink faucet and run some water in it to make sure there are no holes. If there are, I reccomend cutting out more vinyl and re ironing.
Now, mix 4 tablespoons of baby oil in one cup, then in another cup, mix about 12 (or less) tablespoons of water with one drop of blue food coloring. Now dump them both in the vinyl bag thing and add the glitter!!! After that, you'll need to melt the last opening shut. You still need the parchment paper sandwiching the opening, but be sure not to iron where the liquid is. My mom helped me with this part by holding the vinyl off the edge of the ironing board, and me ironing it shut so it doesn't have to lay flat (because the water will spill out). I ironed a little bit farther down on the top so I could add a sun sticker, etc..
Once it is all sealed, cut out a piece of white cardstock the size of the notebook, and decorate it with your fun beach stickers. Then take Tacky Glue and glue the water pouch vinyl thing to the inside of the front cover, and glue the sticker scene behind that. Remember that Tacky Glue has to dry over night.
This is a fun project and it's very fun to play with!!!! Hopefully it will make school a little more enjoyable!
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