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Making Notebooks

Recently I tried out a new craft idea~and it was SO much fun!! And extremely frugal, too. That's always a bonus, right? So here we go:

1. Take your basic composition notebook (purchased at the back-to-school sales for .99 each).


2. Go to your craft supplies and get your Mod Podge ready, along with a good paintbrush.

3. Look through all those scrapbook papers you've been randomly collecting and choose some.

3. After choosing your paper for the cover of your book and trimming it to fit, start *painting* the cover with the glue. Next, give the back of your paper a good coat of glue, too. (I left the binding uncovered so that I could use a contrasting paper there later on).

4. Glue it on! Remember to smooth out any air bubbles under the paper.

5. Flip the cover open and make a few cuts on the corners so that they will fold over nice and neat, then add a little more glue to the edges of the inside cover and a little more to the paper edges.

6. Fold them over and press down. Then repeat this process on the back cover.

7. After your front and back covers are nicely *papered*, choose some paper to cover the inside of the covers. Use the same process for the insides of the covers: cut the paper, coat both the paper and inside cover with glue.

8. See, doesn't that look nice?! Make sure you cover the entire inside cover paper with the Mod Podge for a nice finished look.

9. Now I cut a contrasting paper to cover the binding, using the same glue process.

10. After using some stickers to decorate the outside covers of the notebooks, I gave the front and back covers a nice covering coat of Mod Podge to seal it all.


A finished front cover



A finished back cover


More finished shots

This was one of the most enjoyable crafts that I've done in a while. Now that I have the hang of it, I'm looking forward to being even more creative with it the next time around.

The best part: the only $$ I spent was for the notebooks. I already had enough scrapbook paper and stickers and even the glue that I didn't need to buy a single other thing.
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Comments

Michelle M. said…
I was just thinking today that I need to start a journal this year. This craft would be a perfect, frugal way to do it! Thanks :)
January 5, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Betsy Brock said…
What wonderful Christmas gifts those would make! Love, love it!
January 5, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Lora @ my blessed life said…
Yes, Betsy! I personalized a couple of them for Christmas gifts.
January 5, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Kayren said…
I've seen these before, but many of them were much more complicated. I like what you did. I definitely think I will try this now.
January 5, 2010 at 9:38 PM
Lora @ my blessed life said…
Kayren~
You can make these as simple or as fancy-shmancy as you would like:)
January 6, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Valerie said…
You are so incredibly creative! You should teach some classes. :)
January 6, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Lora @ my blessed life said…
No, Valerie, I just *copy* other peoples' ideas:))
January 6, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Anonymous said…
Walmart has these notebooks for 50 cent at the start of the school year! I use them for journaling... Now I will make them "manly looking" and give them out to guys at church!! Thanks for sharing!
January 30, 2013 at 3:36 AM
Unknown said…
I love this idea and have done a couple notebooks as well. However the corners of the notebook start rolling up! What can I do to prevent this from happening?
January 27, 2018 at 7:29 AM
Craftydar said…
Maybe you could use a small amount of hot glue on each corner before you smooth out the paper.Hot glue can be used over the mod podge.Good luck
August 19, 2018 at 10:52 PM
Anonymous said…
This is a wonderful and quick way to create a personalized journal. ONE TIP: LIGHTLY sand the surface of the journal before starting the glue application. This gives the surface “toothe” for the glue to adhere to. Your paper will stick better. Happy crafting!
March 13, 2019 at 11:40 AM
Unknown said…
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December 7, 2021 at 4:29 AM
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