Do you have a surplus of waste paper but can’t bear to bin it? Make this fast and crafty Christmas project
Art is a daily activity in our household, and while I appreciate how much my children adore being creative, I don’t love the pages and pages of paper bearing only a pencil flourish or two. These used sheets of paper keep being added to the pile and are deemed not good enough to use. This simple project is an excellent way to put all those papers to good use.
These darling little notepads are a lovely way of expressing thanks to your kids’ schoolteachers, friends and family alike, a thoughtful homemade gift that strikes the perfect balance of being practical and beautiful. It’s an excellent activity to get the children involved in. Furthermore, the finished project only takes about half an hour to make, requiring bits and bobs you’ll already have hanging around in the stationery drawer.
What you’ll need:
At least one sheet of A4 textured card stock
Watercolour paints and brushes
Paper for the inside pages
Scissors or a guillotine
Stapler
Directions
1 Paint the card stock in your desired colours and style using the watercolours. Allow the paint to dry completely.
2 Cut the painted card into long strips, width-wise, about four per A4 sheet works well. You can easily adjust the dimensions to create smaller or larger notebooks.
3 Cut the notepad paper into square-shaped leaflets that are slightly smaller than the width of the painted strips.
4 Fold the top of each painted strip, about 2cm thick. Insert the notepad pages into the fold, then secure at the top with a staple. I find about 8-10 pages work well; any thicker and the staple won’t hold properly.
5 Fold the bottom half of the painted strip over the notepad, trim if needed, allowing enough overlay to tuck into the top fold.
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