This is the 3rd in a series of post on back to school art and craft for kids. If you’ve missed the previous projects, it’s not too late to start crafting on versatile ribbon bulletin boards and decorative lunch bags!

For today’s project, we’re going to continue the theme of taking something ordinary and customizing it to our own taste.  The result is an one of a kind object that your kids will love to use all year long.  Our object of desire today?  Notebooks.

Ready?  Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Customized notebooks supplies:

1. Some notebooks or composition books
2. Pretty craft paper
3. Scissors
4. Glue
5. Linen tape

Customized notebooks how-to:

1. This is a simple way to add some punch to basic notebooks.
2. Cut two pieces of craft paper in the shape of the notebook.  One for the front; one for the back.  The paper should have enough room to leave a 1-inch border around the notebook.
3. With the pretty side down, apply glue all over the craft paper.
4. Carefully position the notebook on top & center of one craft paper.  Press the notebook down firmly.
5. Repeat for the other side of the notebook.
6. Trim the excessive craft paper from the edges of the notebook.
7. Cut a piece of linen tape, slightly longer than the spine of the notebook.
8. Stick the linen tape to the spine of the notebook. Cut off the excessive tape.

Do you want to take it up a notch?  You can decorate the notebooks with all kinds of material like felt, buttons, stickers and more.  Visit the gallery for more inspiration!

That’s it for today.  Stay tuned for more back to school art and craft for kids in the next few posts.

Related posts

• Lunch Bags: Part 2 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• Ribbon Bulletin Boards: Part 1 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• How to Make Button Clips: Part 4 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Quick Stamp Magnets: Part 2 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Pressed Flower Picture: Part 1 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas

This is the 2nd in a series of post on Back to School Art and Craft for Kids. If you’ve missed the previous post, you can still learn how to make beautiful and versatile ribbon bulletin boards here.

For today’s project, we’re going to take the quintessential school object – brown paper lunch bags – and transform them into lovely lunch bags that your kids will be excited to carry.  Ready to get started?  Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Decorative lunch bag supplies:

1. A pack of brown paper lunch bags
2. Craft scissors
3. Stamps and ink pads
4. Stickers or printed labels
5. Craft paper punches in various shapes

There are literally hundreds of different ways to decorate your lunch bags from the supplies list. Here are some ideas -

Monogram paper lunch bag. Make initials out of construction paper or print the initials onto sticky labels. Use a favorite color for each kid so it’s easy for them to grab the right lunch bag in a hurry.  Glue or stick one initial onto each lunch bag.

Scalloped paper lunch bag.  Use craft scissors to make scalloped edge on each lunch bag.  Cut out interesting shapes with craft paper punches.

Cute stickers and labels lunch bag. I was searching for lunch bag ideas and Martha Stewart came through again with this great instruction for lunch bags made with cute stickers and labels.  You can adapt the idea and use your kid’s selection of favorite stickers, or print out the adorable lunch bag labels and stickers from the Martha Stewart website.

Brown paper lunch bag party favors. This is an ingenious and budget-friendly way to make favors for all kinds of occasions – birthday parties, baby showers, Valentine’s day, etc.  Just use coordinating ribbons and gift tags.  The instruction is here.

I hope this has inspired  you to decorate your lunch bags with your kids!  In the next few posts, I’ll continue to share more art and craft for kids, such as diy bookmarks, customized notebooks and more.  Happy crafting!

Related posts

• Customized Notebooks: Part 3 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• Ribbon Bulletin Boards: Part 1 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• Quick Stamp Magnets: Part 2 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Pressed Flower Picture: Part 1 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Pasta Jewelry: Part 3 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas

With the dog days of summer winding down, I’m beginning to get bombarded with not so subtle hints of the next shopping season – the back to school event.  Whether your kids are in grade school or going off to college, you’re reminded of all the many things you have to buy to set them up for success.  There are pencils, pens, notebooks, binders, backpacks, new clothing, laptop, new shoes, not to mention a whole set of furniture for the dorm room.  If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the shopping activities, why not take a break and make something fun & practical with your children?  I will show you a few free craft ideas for kids.  I call this the back to school crafts edition because every school kid could appreciate having personalized versions of the most useful school items.  Savor the last days of summer by crafting with your kids – let’s get started!

We’ll begin this series of posts with the versatile bulletin board.  There are many versions of bulletin boards out there and just as many ways to make them.  The version we’re going to make is a classic one.  You’ve seen them in lifestyle magazines and home furnishing catalogs.  They often sell for $40-60 a piece.  But they’re so easy to make!  If you’ve never made a bulletin board before, now is the perfect time to give it a try!

Ribbon Bulletin Board supplies:

1. A plain bulletin board in whatever size and type.
2. Enough fabric to cover and go over the edges of the bulletin board.  Linen or heavy cotton works well.
3. Some ribbons – you’ll need at least a few yards, depending on the size of the board.  Better to err on the side of having more ribbons than you need.
4. Thumbtacks, lots of them
5. A staple gun and plenty of staples
6. Additional things you may want to decorate the bulletin board with – decorative pins, buttons that you can sew or glue to the fabric, etc.

Ribbon Bulletin Board how-to:

1. Cover the bulletin board with fabric.  You may need to remove the frame first if your bulltin board comes with it.
2. Turn the board around and staple the fabric to the back of the bulletin board to secure.  Make sure to stretch it really tight or else you’ll have air pockets in the front.
3. Arrange pieces of the ribbon diagonally across the front of the bulletin board.  Create criss cross pattern with the ribbon.  Let the ribbons drape over the edge of the board a little.
4. Secure the ribbons with thumbtacks.
5. Turn to the back of the board and staple the ribbon ends to board with the staple gun.
6. Trim fabric and ribbon ends
7. Decorate the bulletin board with additional pins, buttons or stickers as you wish.

Kid craft tip: Since sharp objects are used in this project, be sure to supervise your kids and show them the correct way of using the staple gun.

Here are some photos of bulletin boards for your inspiration!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.  In the next few days, I’ll continue to share more art and craft for kids.  There are more back to school crafts to choose from: diy bookmarks, decorative lunch bags, customized notebooks and more.  Happy crafting!

Related posts

• Lunch Bags: Part 2 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• Customized Notebooks: Part 3 of Back to School Art and Craft for Kids
• Quick Stamp Magnets: Part 2 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Pressed Flower Picture: Part 1 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas
• Pasta Jewelry: Part 3 of Preschool Children Craft Ideas