Christmas Countdown - 15 days left!

Wow, time is flying by only 15 days til Christmas.  Today's project is something everyone can use.  Handmade notepads.  I have done several varieties of these in the past.

One of the easiest methods is to buy a notepad and decorate the cover and stamp each page with a monogram or phrase.  These make great gifts for teachers and coworkers.  It is always nice to have something on your desk that has a personal touch.  Since my name is rather unique I rarely have been able to purchase items that had the correct spelling.  So, I like gifts that are personalized with my name.

The next version I made is a little more time consuming but just as fun to create.  I even made my notepads in this version but you could do them with post-it notes or purchased notepads that are small.  The dollar stores have a wide variety to select from.

Here are several versions I made for a quilters event. The small ones measure about 3" x 3" and the large one is about 3" x 5"

I placed on the front of each one a fun quote about quilting.  You could make these for teachers or any other group and use humorous or encouraging quotes.

 

This is the inside of each notepad. 

 

Here are the simple instructions to make the large style notepad cover: (Be sure to read all instructions before you cut anything)

1. Measure cardstock the length of your notepad.
2. Measure the width of notepad and add ~4 1/2" + the depth of your notepad.  This will provide the width for the sides to fold over and overlap in the center.  You may need to adjust this based on your notepad width and depth. 
3. Cut out this size cardstock (You may want to cut a piece of paper first to make sure all measurements are correct)
4. Place notepad slightly off center on top of cardstock.  My notepad has 2 1/2" on one side and 2" on the other.
5. Lightly draw a line beside the notepad to mark the placement.
6. From the lines drawn measure out the depth of your notepad.  This will be scored so you can fold the cardstock around your notepad.  My notepad was 1/4" thick.  So from my placement lines I measured  1/4" out. 
7. Score both lines on each side.  Then place the notepad back in place and check to make sure the cardstock will wrap around.  (You may want to try this first on a scrap piece of paper, it is easier to correct the folds if needed)
8. Glue notepad in place on cardstock.
9. Attach some type of closure.  (I used some sticky back Velcro pieces that were left over from another project.)
10. Add an embellishment to the front or leave plain.

For the smaller notepad I did the same basic directions just cut the cardstock to cover from the top down like a matchbook.  The trick is to add the depth of the notepad and score the cardstock so the folds will be crisp.

 

If you have any questions please contact me and I will try to give your further instructions.

 

These sound like they are hard but once you get the measurements down they go together really fast.  I made about 20 of these in an hour.

 

Danna