The Binder

For Christmas this past year, I made some special binders for all the girls in our families. I call them the "Create" binder. It was a fun project, and I was able to customize each binder to suit the recipient, and their special interests in creating.

For example, my mother in law had sections in her binder for: sewing, cooking, landscape/outdoors, scrapbooking and a special section for "Mountain View," which is where she and my father in law plan to retire and build a place, so she is always looking for ideas for this special spot.

I just remember my mom always hauling around a scribbler or vinyl binder as we were out shopping or at the fabric store, and I thought this cute binder could take its place. This is a place where you can store magazine clippings, articles, pictures, patterns, fabric swatches, etc... really anything that might inspire you! I like having a place to keep things as I dream up a project.


At the front of the binder I included an excerpt from Elder Dieter Utchdorf's talk on creation. (see end of post for this).

These are a few things that I found at Dollorama to put inside. A calculator (that clips into the binder), a good pen, a note pad, post-it notes, page dividers for the different sections, a measuring tape, and if you can think of any other useful things.....go for it!


I used cardboard binders purchased at Wal-Mart. I used Mod Podge with some cute paper to cover. I distressed the sides with an ink pad.


This is the paper pad I used for all my binders. I love Amy Butler fabric, and the paper is just the same! It was $10 at Wal-Mart for a big pad too! You can add any embelishments you desire to spice it up more!





(This talk I had inside a plastic page protector at the beginning of the binder.)
The Work of Creation
The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.
You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”
If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.4 Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.
If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.
You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us.5 The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.
What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.
Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.”6
The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

(I used this quote on the front inside flap)
As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf