Project Holiday...Cereal box books

After several failed attempts at making these cereal box books for my harry potter theme, I finally found a working formula...here is what you will need.

Materials:

• cereal boxes or cake mix boxes ( anything will do)
• scissors
• tape
• hot glue or Elmer's glue
• tissue paper or construction
• white paper towels
• sharpie
• toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls

Assembly:

1. Cut your cereal boxes along one side. You should then be able to open up the box and lay it flat.
   

   

   Make sure you just cut along the seam...you want all the edges!

2. Now reassemble the box with the plan cardboard facing out. Tape the edges back together.

   

   Tape tape!

3. Cut the toilet paper roll or paper towel roll in half lengthwise. Attach( with hot glue or Elmer's ) this to one side of your box - this is the spine of the book.
   

   

   Tape the cut roll on one side.

4. Tape (or glue) white paper towels on the other 3 sides of the box- these are the pages.
   
5. Take the tissue paper and wrap around the book leaving a small edge. Glue these down. You can also tear up bits of paper and glue down to create a mosaic look.
   
   
6. Draw lines on the paper towels - the pages
7. Title your book - on the spine
8. Viola cheap decorations!
   
   

You can use these books for book report projects or as decoration for you classroom or library. Cheap and easy.

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I also decided that I would add some whimsy to my bookcases this fall. I wanted the shelves to look like the bookstore in Harry Potter, so here is the result. Artful mess!

 

 Happy Decorating!

 

 

Project Holiday...or kicking Scrooge to the curb...

Ok, I have to admit that I am a bit of a holiday junkie. I begin to think about the holidays way before they even arrive..like in the summertime.  The holidays are such a magical time, a time during the year when it's ok to act like a kid! The sights and smells, oh so delicious.  When august rolls around I begin to get butterflies...and then I turn on my first christmas cd! That's right you heard me, you grinches, I start playing christmas music in August. I get this strange quirk from my father, who would loudly play christmas music early in the year - loudly and for all us kids to hear.

Matchy Matchy

 I love everything about the fall and winter, which living in texas looks about the same as summer, brown and mildly cool, like 70.  Do I let the warm conditions dampen my holiday spirit? Nope, like most other texans, I sweat it out, and wear my holiday attire despite the weather. I remember my mother teaching me that a cute holiday sweater can be paired with shorts or skorts...you have your festive on the top and your cool and breezy on the bottom. And when there is a chance for a blue northern..watch out! Then we all dress up like we are going to the artic tundra. What? It's cold!



The true art of pumpkin carving.

I have to admit that I had lost my holiday spirit over the last few years. It had to do with my father's death, and after that the holidays didn't seem so magical to me. So much of the holidays for me are tied up in family, memories, and safety. When he passed away...I forgot those things because they were too painful to remember. This was wrong, the holidays are about remembering the past, enjoying the present, and looking to the future. They are a happy time. This year I am tired of feeling like a scrooge. I can feel that old holiday spirit mustering strength. So much so, that I have already purchased the items to create my new halloween display, and thanksgiving, and christmas...which brings my holiday closet to capacity - obnoxiously so.

This year, I have decided that I will begin the fall holidays with a homage to one of my favorite fall books - Harry Potter. Instead of creating scary things..I am using Harry Potter whimsy for halloween. No zombies, no ghoulish things, just whimsy. So that is my first holiday project...I will let ya know how it goes...
So join in on my project holiday..and let this year be the one that re-ignites your joy for the holiday season.