Every Summer has a Story- Free Download for Summer Crafting

It’s almost July and it’s hard to not do the math and realize we’re one 1/3 of the way through summer break. With summer in full swing I thought I would share this free download. So far, the days have drifted by and my 14-year-old would say that’s living the summer vacation dream. But as a mom, there are mini freak out mornings when I’m afraid the days are slipping by and I feel like we’re wasting our summer. Those are the days I make him do things like watch a Ted talk of my choosing or work on his video editing before we go to tennis or on a bike ride. Another big piece of my “don’t waste your summer” plan is to host a weekly book club for a group of his school friends. That’s how this free download for summer crafting came to be.

Not My Summer Book Club

This the fourth summer we’ve done the summer book club and the book suggestions have progressed from Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and the Westing Game (then.) To Jurassic Park, Sherlock Holmes, and Caraval (now). It’s kind of hilarious. Each year I usually try to surreptitiously suggest certain books. But this year I had to out-and-out threaten to withhold their chocolate chip cookies if they didn’t at least LOOK at my suggestions. 

My ideas don’t always win out. 

Know Your Audience

Last year, I had what I thought was a great idea for a book club logo/design. Really, this is a prime example of “know your audience”. For anyone OTHER than a group of 13-year-old boys, I think this could be a ton of fun to create with.

A Free Download for Summer Crafting

The harsh reality is no 13-yr-old boy would be at all excited to get a t-shirt (OR book bag) that said, “Every summer has a story.” Unless it was in a font that looked like a horror flick promo.

You however, might get just as excited as I am to think of kids at the Fourth of July picnic running around with matching “summer story 2019” t shirts. Or biking down the street to the library wearing a drawstring book bag with that image on it. They could use a fabric marker to write what books they were reading on the bag. It’s a great idea right? You’re with me? So I thought I would give it to you to create with. 

Love me a freebie… or two!

The design is a free download that you can find in my Creativity Resource Library. I’ll have it available in SVG and PDF formats. If the file formats is confusing I have a quick explanation at the end of this post.

So I really hope you grab my “Every Summer has a Story” free digital download for your DIY summer crafting projects! It would make a great print, wall art, bookmark, or seasonal DIY welcome mat. And of course, t-shirt or bookbag. If you’re a small business owner I’d love to have you try making some items to sell as well. It’s my way of loving on my tribe. If you do make something with it, I would love to have you share it on my Facebook page.

More Inspiration to Create With

For more ideas and designs, check out my DIY Cameo and Cricut Pinterest Project board, or my Crafts You Can Make and Sell board! For a great video tutorial on how to make a welcome mat using an SVG file I recommend Jennifer Maker’s YouTube video, How to Make Personalized Door Mats.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love to know what plans you have for your summer! Are you crafting? Would you like more free downloads? I’d love to know. And if you have any good ideas for a 14 year old boy, I feel like I could continue to use some more ideas…

A quick note of explanation: So .svg files are vector cutting files most commonly used with a cutting machine like a Cricut Explorer 2, Cricut Maker, or Silhouette Cameo. If you don’t have one of those machines you can totally ignore the download for any .svg files on this site. If you do have one you’re probably doing the same happy dance I do when I discover one I love for free elsewhere on the web.