tiny sketchbooks

i spotted this super cute mini sketchbook project here and knew i had to make some right away!  i actually made them a couple weeks ago but sometimes it takes me a while to blog about things (hehe).

i’m pretty sure the key to a successful trip to a restaurant with kids is having fun art materials to keep them entertained before dinner comes.  we were heading out to dinner with my inlaws, including 5 kids under 8 years old (our two plus three nephews), so i whipped up these little sketchbooks for each to claim as their own.  the covers are cardstock in fun colors, and the insides are resume paper that we’ve had laying around the house since our college days.  i cut them all with an x-acto knife and a straight edge on my self-healing mat.  before sewing up each spine, i added a strip of washi tape for a little extra pop.

rubyellen made all of her books teeny tiny, which are very cute.  i made two of the books that small (about 2″ square), but also made some twice that size.  my thought was that the oldest boys would like the smallest books, the 3 year olds would like the bigger books, and the baby would like whatever we put in front of him.  i was right!  that’s exactly what happened.  the oldest boys (almost 8 and 6) had the most fun with the books, filling them with ninjas and angry birds, comic book style.  Em and S colored in various pages with markers.  she has a very on-trend love of colorblocking right now.

i think kids love things that are just their size and specially made for THEM, you know?  and these are great because they slip nicely into a mama’s purse to continue coloring the next time you’re out and about with boredom to bust.  big thumbs up to little sketchbooks!  try ’em, you’ll like ’em!