This monster notebook is silly and goofy, and has become wildly popular with my kids ever since the Mod Podge dried on it. Sometimes you don’t need to take yourself so seriously when crafting, so if you’re looking for a little bit of whimsey (wink, wink) in your weekend project, open up your June box and have fun making a monster notebook. The kids may think you’ve made it for them, but I’m telling you right now: an adult who wants to carry a googly-eyed monster notebook in his or her purse is an adult I’d like to hang out with. Let’s get started!

Materials: 
From your June Whimseybox
- Small Notebook
- Cork Coaster
- Embroidery Floss
- Fabric Marker
- Googly Eyes

From your craft stash:
- Sponge Brush
- Glue Gun
- Mod Podge
- Scissors

Step 1:
Color your notebook cover with your fabric marker. The notebook in this month’s box has a nice canvas cover, so the fabric marker (also in this month’s box) works well on it. You can coordinate with the color of embroidery floss you’ll be using to add “fur” to the monster, or use a contrasting color.

Step 2:
Here’s an easy way to cut your embroidery floss to fit across your cover. Tape one end of the floss to the inside of your notebook cover, and wrap the entire skein of floss around the cover.

Next, use your scissors to cut along the top and bottom loops. Remove the tape from the inside cover, and voila! You have a set of cut pieces of floss ready to adhere to the cover of your monster notebook.

Step 3: 
Use your sponge brush to paint sections of Mod Podge down the front of your cover. You’ll want to work in 1/2 – 1″ sections so it won’t dry too quickly. Don’t fret about painting over the fabric marker – it’ll be just fine!

Step 4:
Begin placing the strands of embroidery floss down on to the Mod Podge. This part can get messy and fiddly. Just relax and have fun with it. You can keep a damp washcloth and a dry washcloth nearby to occasionally wipe the Mod Podge off your fingertips and dry them so it’s easier to work with the embroidery floss. At this point, the embroidery floss won’t be perfectly adhered to the cover just yet. That’s ok! We’re not going for perfect (perfect is overrated, right?) we’re just working to get it set in place.

Step 5:
Once all your floss pieces are initially set on on the cover, use your sponge brush to go back over them with another layer of Mod Podge. As you start one column of top-layer Mod Podging, you may have to lightly hold the floss pieces down at the top. A gentle pouncing method works well here, as opposed to painting in long strokes. This part gets even messier than Step 4. Embrace the mess and know that once it all dries, no one will ever know how mucky things got during the crafting process here.

Step 6:
While your Mod Podge dries, make the toothy grin of your crazy monster. Take one of your cork coasters and draw out a shape for your teeth. I used one round edge as a guide. You can use scissors or an Xacto knife or box cutter to cut out the teeth. Play around with different expressions to see what best suits your monster’s personality.

Step 7:
Once your Mod Podge is dried, and your embroidery floss feels fully secured and coated, it’s time to add your monster’s facial features to bring him (or her) to life. Use hot glue to adhere the googly eyes (as many as you like) and your cork teeth to complete the face. You can also trim any extending or frayed pieces of embroidery floss from around the cover if you want to, or leave it crazy. Whatever feels right for your monster.

You’ll be surprised at how well the top coat of Mod Podge sets and protects the embroidery floss once it’s all dry. If you feel like you need something even tougher, though, you can use a liquid varnish sealer.

My sample notebook has already disappeared from my craft table, no doubt stashed in one of the kids’ rooms. If you have little ones around, you may need to just go ahead and make two right from the get-go so you can keep a silly monster notebook in your bag, too! Enjoy, and … RAWR.

Categories: Whimseybox Projects