DIY Ombre Gratitude Journals

I was asked by the Stake Relief Society to put together a little mini journal for people at a stake activity. (About 100 ladies). They wanted it to be a little craft/artsy, but not take too long. I LOVE doing things like this, researching, planning, the whole shebang. It just makes me self-conscious. Luckily, I am not going to be there for the actual activity. I just put it all together and passed it on. :). As it turns out with all projects, every step along the way, there is always a bump in the road. SERIOUSLY! Every step I needed to modify to actually make it work perfectly or at all. I don't think I have just sat and watched or read something for a naptime for 2.5 weeks. It has been fun, just tiring. My idea center needs a serious break. At least a short one.

To begin, I bought a ton of mini notebooks from Oriental Trading company. My budget for the whole thing was around $200. Each notebook was a little over a dollar. Already that takes a little over half my budget. However, the notebooks are pretty cute and seem durable. They have white canvas covers, that leave it wide open to do what you like with them.

After doing some research and getting some opinions I decided to go a route a little different then my comfortable one. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do a water color type ombre look, but decided that watercolor is just too easy to mess up and end up not liking. Doing MORE research I came across distress ink, and loved it. Card makers use it, and it seemed user friendly. I wanted to give everybody their best chance at liking their DIY journals at the activity. The distress ink has a chalky/water color lookish that is easy to create an ombre look.

I  constructed my own cost friendly ink applicator brushes with the help of Jordan's engineering. Because of a potential of a lot of people at the booth at one time I wanted 16 different ink pads with their own sponges. Each applicator brush is $2 at 40% off. Which means, I would be going to Hobby Lobby every day for a couple of weeks to buy these mini brushes that already are a  tad pricey for an amateur activity. However, the circular sponge at the bottom is essential. Luckily, they sell the pads separately as a refill that stick to the brushes with Velcro. Jordan said we could buy a thick wooden dowel for $4 and cut it into 16 pieces and stick Velcro on the bottom. WORKS LIKE A DREAM! BRILLIANT!

As an optional embellishment I cut out a few stencils on my Cricut for people to put on the top. Hearts, flowers, and also a few words and quotes. As I was practicing this technique I ran into a lot of issues. Canvas will bleed almost every material. At first I used a Sharpie. FAIL! Then I came up to actually just use black stamp ink. That also bleeds. I almost was in tears at this point. haha. However, acrylic paint doesn't bleed, it is cheap, and dries quickly! I bought cosmetic sponges and then dabbed my stencils with a little paint and WALLAH!

I literally decided to add gold paint to the options after I wrote the majority of the post. I did this journal just a couple of hours before I hit 'publish'. Shows how my brain works with projects.

I created a little tutorial for them to have on repeat at the activity just to foster a little confidence for people to get started. I wanted them to see how easy it actually is! I also created a little gratitude prompt printable to glue inside the cover that have some guiding questions if they ever get in a journaling rut.

My mother may be the only one that can see the movie. Not sure why it only plays on actual computers and ipads and not iphones. If someone has any expertise, please let me know.

They aren't perfect, but they have character.  I cannot wait to drop them off at the girl's house who is going to take care of them at the activity. This project has been dominating my brainpower and naptimes. Good times!