I LOVE a bargain!

While recently shopping at Target, or as we like to call it....TarShay, we found Composition Books on sale for $.10 each.  What a bargain...right??  Earlier, in the beginning of the school year, my oldest wanted a comp book from Staples that was multi-colored.  At a price tag of $2.99 for being "fancy" I said no way.  We settled with plain ole' black and white comp books.  When I was a kid, we used to use red pens to color in all of the marbling on a Comp book, or if we were getting fancy, we used pinks, reds and greens, but always in ink.  

We didn't see the "fancy" books on sale this time at TarShay, so yet again, we settled.  My oldest decided that some craftiness was in order to make a "fancy" book.  I told the story "...when I was a kid..."  My oldest heard...blah, blah, blah.  Anyway, someones creativity got flowing and here is the end result.  


Here is the before:

Plain ole' Composition Book

And here is the after:  

Fancified...is that a word??

Pretty cool right??

Supplies used were permanent markers, (Sharpies....NOT my Copics) duct tape and a little bit of time.  My oldest added purple duct tape to the binding and covered over the traditional black binding, colored in all of the marbling and made a really fun Comp Book.   

  
Next school year, save yourself a little $$ and have a kid color the books.  They have fun, you'll save money, they'll be proud of their work, and you'll be proud of them for making something neat.

Duct Tape

 

Duct tape...you know it's all the rage.  Has been at my house for a while now. 

When I was little, my dad would do a LOT with duct tape.  Christmas decorations were adhered to brick with duct tape, car bumpers were held together with the stuff, 'heck I remember him making an entire Halloween costume with it.  (One of my siblings was a transformer one year, duct tape and an empty box, wallah, instant Transformer)

The first time we saw the decorative variety of duct tape in Ace Hardware, my kids were hooked.  Much to my happiness, my children have caught the craft bug and are always itching to try something new or at least new to them.  My oldest got a new duct tape book for Christmas and has just about made everything in that darn book (good $$ spent there).  Today, these arrived in the living room:

So, with the weather being as nice as it's been, my oldest decided it was time for flip flops.  Just let me show you, these are no ordinary flip flops, they are duct tape flip flops.  I say they are the best kind of flip flop.  These flip flops are decorative, water proof, and seemingly indestructible...remember, it's duct tape.  OK, so they are no different than most other flip flops having all of the said attributes, but they are hand crafted and my kids were thrilled when they were finished.  

Using a book by Leisure Arts and a little imagination, the kids created something fun and had a good time doing it.  The book indicates using cardboard for the sole of the flip flop, and that's how the first set were made.  But then my kids smartened up a bit and used old flip flops they already had so the bottom was "softer and more comfortable"

Ideas from Leisure Arts

You can check out more ideas on the Leisure Arts Blog here.  Happy Crafting and enjoy!

'Till next time