Yes, you can buy notepads at nearly any store, but it couldn’t be easier to make your own. Choose some pretty scrapbook paper, grab a few supplies you already have on hand and within an hour, you’ll have your own unique notepads.
How long will it take?
This project took me less than an hour from start to finish and I spent roughly 15 minutes of hands-on time.
What you’ll need to make 2 notepads
- 1 sheet of scrapbook paper (preferably double-sided)
- Scrap paper or printer paper (my notepads have 40 pages, or 8 sheets of printer paper)
- Padding compound or Mod Podge
- Paint stirrers
- 2 binder clips
- Paintbrush
- Sharp utility knife or paper cutter
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What you’ll do
Cut your paper to the size that you’d like your final notepad to be. (I chose standard 8-1/2 x 11-inch printer paper for this project, so I cut each sheet into quadrants that measured 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches.)
Cut your scrapbook paper to measure the width of the paper you cut. Be sure to leave the strip at its full length because you’ll be folding it later.
Make a tidy stack of your scrap paper, sandwich the edge between two paint stirrers and secure with two binder clips.
Using a paintbrush, paint the secure edge with padding compound (easiest found online) or with Mod Podge.
Allow it to dry. If you’re using Mod Podge, apply a second coat and leave to dry again.
Place the strip of scrapbook paper on the table, position your pad of paper roughly 1-1/2 inches from the top edge and fold the paper over your pad at the top to create a crease.
Then fold the bottom edge up over the pad to create another crease.
Remove the scrapbook paper, spread glue along the top inner fold and place your pad inside, securing it again with your binder clips while it dries.
Once your glue is dry, remove your binder clips and tuck the bottom flap under the top edge, like a matchbook. I made two notepads and used both sides of the paper so I had one of each.
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