HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MINI NOTEBOOKS

January 31, 2023

4 mins read

Despite living in this digital world I know I'm not the only one who still enjoys the good 'ol pen and paper method when it comes to jotting down notes & reminders. I may be the only one under eighty years of age that prefers that but I guess I'm an old fart at heart.

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to make some handmade notebooks for my mom for Mother's Day. She is a stroke survivor whose speech was greatly effected. As a result of this the past 12 years of my family's life has been one BIG game of charades. Even though the majority of our "conversations" with my mother leaves us in stitches {sometimes her acting skills or our guessing can be rather interesting!} at other times as you can imagine it can be rather challenging & frusterating for both parties when we can't seem to grasp what she is trying to communicate to us.

Enter the pen & paper.

It is a common scene to see my mom scrambling to find paper when ever she is trying to tell us something. Seriously, junk drawers & napkins have taken on a new meaning in our lives.
God bless the inventor of restaurant napkins!
So as you can see having spare notepads in every nook & cranny is a neccessity.

Here's what you'll need to make your own mini notebooks if you'd like them to jot down notes & reminders:
chipboard {available at most craft & scrapbooking stores}
scrapbook paper
plain white paper {about 10 sheets per book}
hole punch
ribbon
paper cutter
small ring binders
scissors
ruler
stickers, embellishments, decorative paper punch {optional}

I actually used two different methods to make two different notebooks.
The first one included the ring binder.

Determine how large you want your notepads to be, double the width measurement, & then cut one piece of chip board. For example, my notebooks were about 4 inches wide & 5 inches tall when completed so I cut a piece of board that measured approximately 8 inches wide and 5 inches in height. Take a piece of scrapbook paper & cut it to the same measurements as the chipboard. Place the paper down on a flat surface & lay the chipboard on top. Mark, measure, & attach your binder clip in the middle of the patterned paper & chipboard. The left side of the binder will make up your cover & the right side of the binder will be the back of your book. Then cut yourself a stack of plain white paper slightly smaller then the paper/chipboard cover. Measure & hole punch the paper and then clip it inside your notebook. Fold your book in half.

I added a little binder clip to the outside of the notebook because it wasn't closing properly but I thought it kind of added a cute touch. I love how the kraft brown chipboard shows through the clear geometric paper cover.

If you want to add some personalized touches to the notebook you can always use stickers & different craft embellishments to dress it up a bit. I added the word "mom" to mine with some stark white adhesive letters.

The second notebook I made was with out the book binder.

I just simply cut 2 pieces of pretty chevron paper for the front & back of my books. Using a paper punch I cut a flower shape out of one of the pieces of chevron paper. Then I cut 2 pieces of chipboard. Place one chipboard behind the flower cut chevron paper {so it peeks through the flower} & use the other chipboard for the back of your book. Cut, & stack a group of plain white papers for the inside {remember again you want your writing paper to be slightly smaller then it's cover}. Layer your front covers, writing paper, back covers & then hole punch two holes on the edge. One hole at the top & one hole at the bottom. Cut & tie your ribbon through the holes & wallah you have yourself a mini notebook!