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Thursday, August 27, 2015

DIY Planner

Back to school is right around the corner, and it's time to start getting ready. So, in this post, I'll be showing you how to make an awesome and easy planner to keep you organized and ready for school.

What you'll need:
A spiral bound lined notebook (this is what I used, but you could also use a spiral bound graph paper notebook). Mine also had a little pocket just inside the cover, which is really nice.
You'll also need:
A pencil
Gel Pens (You can use regular pens but colorful pens are much better.)
Washi tape, stickers, or other decorating materials

Instructions:
The first thing you'll probably want to do is decorate the cover. I used washi tape, but you could cover it in a piece of colorful scrapbook paper, paint it, or whatever you want.
I left some spaces because I thought the brown added a nice touch.

I made sure to cover up the logo,
and other stuff I didn't want on the cover of
my planner.
Once you've decorated the cover, it's time to start laying out the inside of your planner.
I used a ruler, and every eight columns, I used a colorful pen to highlight one of the lines. This created four sections. You will notice there is a little extra space on the top and bottom, but you can just decorate that area. Now, your notebook might be a different size then mine, so you'll just have to experiment and make adjustments. I had to do a lot of experimenting.

Next, I wrote the month at the top and the dates in the columns.
The next step was making some vertical lines to split the columns into three sections.
Basically, what I did was use a colorful pen to draw the line that separates the dates from the squares. Then, I measured 6cm from that line and marked it with a pencil. The next thing I did was line up my ruler with that mark, and make a line through all the columns with my pen. I then repeated that step once more to accomplish what you see in the photo.
Again, for your notebook, it might be different.

You probably saw in the last photo, that I had three things written at the top of my planner.
Well, those are just the things I wanted to put. I'll explain:
The "Schedule" section is kind of like a checklist. I write down what I need to do everyday in the Schedule section and check it off when I'm done with whatever I had to do.
The "To Do" section is pretty self explanatory. It's a to-do list. But, this is different than my routine section because it's stuff I need to do that doesn't happen everyday. Like,  write blog post or clean room. It could be pick up books at library or download photos onto computer.
The third section is "Events", which by the way, you could just title "Calendar", because that's basically what it is. I'll be writing stuff you'd write on a calendar, such as appointments, outings, gatherings, etc. You get the point.

 Of course, you can make your categories anything you want. These are just the three things that I wanted in my planner. This way, when I open my planner, I can know what I have to get done, what I should get done, and what I have going on that day.

Add some washi tape on your pages to bring a lot of color!

Now that you have the basics of making a planner down, you just have to keep making pages and writing things in. Of course, you don't have to write in a whole year (or however long you want your planner to go on) in one time period. A good time to do this might be while watching TV or listening to music. I love my planner so much because I can customize it however I want.
You could also add in pages that have inspiring quotes on them or have some photos on them.
Have fun!

P.S. I have tons of cool ideas for more DIY posts, so stay tuned if you like them! :)


Monday, August 3, 2015

Roadtrip Fun

Road trips are great, but admit it, they get a little boring, especially if you feel sick when you do certain things in the car. I feel kind of sick when I watch movies, specifically when they are on one of those built in movie screens on the ceilings of cars. So, here is a list of things you can do in the car to cure your boredom.

1. Mad Libs
Mad Libs are so fun! And funny. You can do them alone, but if you want more funny stories, it's best to do these with friends/family. If you can get your whole family to play, awesome!

Image via google images
If you don't have a Mad Libs book on hand, you can print Mad Libs here.

2. License Plate  Count
This is great when you are driving through several states! Before your trip, write down all the states on a sheet of paper, then when you are driving, say someone passes you with a Kentucky license plate, then make a tally next to Kentucky, etc, etc.  If you want, you can write the license plate of every car that passes you on the whole trip, but let's be honest, that's a lot of license plates, and you might want to do a different activity on your car trip. :) I love this, it's so fun! I also sometimes count billboard signs (like firework signs).
Image via google images
3. Collage
I think it would be really fun to do this! Before your trip, you would print out pictures of the place you are going and also landmarks or locations you are visiting. You could bring a glue stick and notebook, and on the car ride there, paste in the photos and write some things you are excited about, or what you think certain places will be like, whatever you want. When you are there, take pictures of all the places you go. When you get home, you can print them out, paste them onto the next page, and write about your trip and what you loved most. :)
Image via google images
4. Journaling
You could add journaling to your collage and make a scrapbook out of it! Basically, just journal in the car, and each day when you are there. It'll be a fun way to remember things! I guess this isn't exactly a thing to do in the car, but you can do part of it in the car

5. Color/Do An Activity Book
Coloring is super fun!!! If you don't have a coloring book, there are tons of websites you can print pages from.
I like these ones from hallmark: http://ideas.hallmark.com/summer-ideas/summer-coloring-pages/?mc=T_E_M_062915_HM_VA_ColoringPages
And Mr. Printables has a ton too: http://mrprintables.com/printable-coloring-pages.html
They have really awesome giant coloring pages on there, too!
As for the activity books, I'm sure you can get printables for that, too! But, try and think up some of your own and make a booklet of them! For example, put in car quotes! "Are we there yet?" said _________________. I think car quotes are super funny! I actually saw those in a book, called All You Need Is A Pencil: The Stuck In A Car, Train, Or Plane Activitiy Book. If you can get this, do! I saw it at Barnes and Noble and wanted it! Otherwise, as I was saying, make your own. That is just as awesome! You can fill it with jokes, tongue twisters, tic-tac-toe boards, doodle pages, games like hangman or "would you rather" (or make your own game up), etc. Have fun with it!
Image via google images
6. Guessing Games
I played a "guess the song" game with my cousins on a recent roadtrip. One person would hum a tune and the others had to guess it! It would also be fun to do movies/books. You would have to describe a movie/book without saying the title, characters names, authors name, etc.

7. Listen To Music/Audiobook
Want to read a book but it makes you sick to your stomach? Listen to an audiobook! Also listen to music, it will make you a lot happier in the car. Music seems to always lift my mood. The bonus? You can listen to music while doing these activities in the car! Unless you are doing them with another person.

Image via google images
Well, I hope you enjoyed this post!  Go have a fun road trip! You can comment down below if you want. You can also pin my posts on Pinterest, so go do that!