Tutorial Tuesday - Toilet Roll Journal

In today's Tutorial Tuesday I will show you how to make this journal made from toilet rolls and recycled card. With the drive to be more 'green' this is a great way to make use of something that you would normally throw away.

What you will need:

empty toilet rolls

recycled card

packaging card - a few millimetres thick

papers and art materials to decorate.....

Here's how you put them together:

Each empty toilet roll will form a pocket for your journal, select how many you require, this journal uses 10 rolls. The card will be used to connect each rolls together

You will need two pieces of slightly thicker card taken from packaging - these will form the front and back covers

Flatten the toilet rolls and cover with some scrap paper, I have used the pages of an old encyclopedia

Seal one of the ends of the toilet roll, as you cover it above, to form a pocket that can be used to hold your tags, or journal writing.

Cut the recycled cards into strips that will be stuck to the sides of the toilet roll pockets and connect them all.

Stick the pieces of card to as many toilet roll pockets you require..

Prepare the front covers and attach.  You can paint them or add decorative paper of choice

Add paint as required to each of the pages, and make tags from some of the left over paper and card

From this to that - it's cool how you can take an everyday object and transform it!

Add some encouraging words and text to the pages, leave space for you to write your thoughts 

Enjoy spending time in your journal!

There is still 9 hours left for you to enter last weeks competition to win a Capturing moments mini journal.  Click here to take you to the post to enter.

Material Mondays - Owl - Crochet Makes

Owl – Crochet Makes

The owl is made using an amigurami pattern.

This was a really easy pattern to make and you can vary the size and colours of yarn used.  As with most toy based products if you are going to make them for children you have to make them safe and follow certain criteria.

I was quite interested in the amigurami patterns that I have been seeing and decided to try my hand at it using a thicker wool to get a quicker result, and Ollie was born... the glitzy owl.  My owl is made from two toned chunky wool and I decided to put beading the beak and around the eyes.

The bead give his beak and his eyes a bit more sparkle.  This is such an easy pattern that you can finish in a couple of hours, the thing that took the time was adding the beads.  I am looking forward to improving on Ollie when I make the rest of his family!

Owls have always been associated with wisdom and knowledge, it is interesting how two simple pieces of equipment (the wool and the crochet needle) can go on to produce some lovely pieces and I will be sharing more as the weeks pass. 

If you are considering learning how to crochet, or any other creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here. 

Remember the Capturing Moments mini journal competition is still running and will end on Wednesday, you have up to 4 chances to enter and maybe you might be the lucky one to win one of the mini journals.  I am planning on throwing in a few extras as a surprise, so make your way over to the post and leave your details!

Have a blessed week, see you tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday.

Restore - Creating in Faith

1  the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition: 

sight, teeth - dental tissue,  the process of restoring a building, work of art, etc. to its original condition:

When I think of restoration I often think of those large works of art having being damaged through age and the passing of time.  Methodically the painting is sectioned off and the original paint and chemicals analysed and compared matching the type of paint that was used all those centuries ago.  The paintings then need to be in a protected controlled environment where the temperature and lighting is monitored on a daily basis.  This restoration is not an overnight thing but can take months even years before it is complete.

In our busy lives we have gone through many situations and circumstances the effects of which show the tale take signs in the way we treat ourselves or the impact on our body and health.  If you were to put your life up to be restored what would need to happen, what would the process be like and what things or areas would have to come under constructions with the necessary scaffolding to prevent it from falling down.

We would need to call in for the specialist equipment, as unique individuals the tools we need to use to repair damage done by years of neglect would be specific to us and our situation.  Where would you start, as you hold up that magnifying glass to look at the layers that needed to be painstakingly scraped away to make way for new layers to be added. Are you willing to scrap back to the foundations to let the healing begin?

By spending time in the word, our lives can be transformed, we can be sure as we allow ourselves to be blessed .  As we rest in the arms of God we will be lifted and renewed.  We will have to take the time to know every inch of our own hearts - piece by piece, for the harmony and balanced will be restored to our life.  Give it a try! 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3 5-6

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12 1-2 

Recycled Projects - Chunky Toilet Roll Journal

What do you do with all those toilet and paper towel rolls that you use?  Throw them in the recycling bin and forget about them, yes that is a start as opposed to them ending up in land fill.  A great alternative is to put it to creative use.

I am really excited to share what I made in today's post.  This is the type of recycling that  really love, being able to create and craft something that can hold so much promise out of something you wouldn't readily think of using.  

With a set of toilet rolls I decided to turn them into a chunky journal like this.

This chunky journal uses majority recycled materials apart from the paint and additional decoration that you might use on your pages.

Everything else is either cardboard from other packaging, string and a whole range of other things that would normally be thrown out!

The tags are made from recycled card.  It is made with space for you to write your own thoughts and feelings each toilet roll pocket has been painted or covered, and is designed for you to place a selection of things in the pocket.

Come back on Tuesday to see how I made them in Tutorial Tuesday.  Do share creative ways in which you have used recycled materials and leave a comment below.