What You'll Need
- Scrap paper
- Scrap cardboard (cereal/snack boxes, packing boxes)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Paper cutter
- Large, heavy books
- Q-tips
- Book cover material (old book cover, construction paper, cardstock, or thin scrap cardboard, etc.)
Instructions
Step 1: Gather your supplies and go outside :)
Step 2: Stack your scrap paper and cut to desired size. Make sure they are all facing the same way! I will be making a regular sized journal, so I'm not going to cut - but you can adjust the size to make a smaller or larger journal/notepad/ect.
Line the papers up and place them in between some large, heavy books.
Step 3: Using a Q-tip, apply glue along the edge. Let dry and apply several coats, as necessary. I did about four coats. You may need less for thinner books.
Test it out.
Step 4: Cut a strip of cardboard (using paper cutter if thin enough) and bend it to form a spine. Apply glue along the inside and attach along the already glued edge of your paper stack.
Back in between the books it goes! Let dry.
Step 5: Prepare your covers. I'm using the covers from an old magazine. I've also used construction paper that surprisingly held up to abuse in rainforests, mangroves, and beaches - so if you want to use that I would say go for it. Glue them to the spine that over laps to the front and back.
(don't worry about the extra glue that squeezes out the sides. just clean up with a Q-tip)
Back between the books! Let dry...
Step 6: ...your book is now dry and DONE!
Take it everywhere, write, draw, study, write, pray, look, write.
Step 7: Experiment. Make pocket-sized pads. I used thin cardboard for the cover of this little one. You could also make some without covers to use for notes and reminders that you can just rip off.
My sister painted the cardboard for some more interesting covers. She is of course expecting some sort of gift from this. So that said, these make really great gifts :). You can add personal touches on the inside and out. Be creative. Never throw away that scrap paper and you may never have to buy notebooks again!
Cris Bisch says:
Brittany, you make this look so easy and fun that I'm going to start making some journals and covered notepads for myself and for gifts. I love your covers designs; they show just how creative, whimsical and artsy you can be. I have saved some really beautiful calendar artwork for such a craft project as this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Brittany Bennett says:
Cris, they are quite addicting! A friend recently showed me how to do this. A bunch of us got together at the end of the semester and had a fun time reusing all our notes, handouts, and syllabi. The calender artwork is a great idea! They seem to have a perfect size, thickness and quality for something like this. I've some of those saved up too, they are so hard to throw away.
Elli A. says:
Nice tip.
What glue are you using? Is regular white paper glue going to do it? Strong enough?
Brittany Bennett says:
I used regular white glue (cheap Target version) here, and it has held up well.
Lulu L. says:
Neat. A friend of mine used to do this to make notepads too. If your paper is relatively clean (i.e. can be put fed into printers), you can copy lines onto it as well for lined notebooks. :)
Brittany Bennett says:
That's good thinking!
Hmm, you could do all kinds of things then...like print calender pages and things like that to make them more functional. Or put little quotes at the bottom to make them more personal.
I recently found a font that uses less ink to print with, by having tiny holes cut into the letters. It can be found at http://www.ecofont.eu/downloads_en.html .
Cris Bisch says:
Ecofont is so cool, Brittany! It was a snap to download and add to my font book. Thanks!