Thank you to each of you who read my first blog post!  Your words of encouragement and support mean more than you will ever know.  I still haven’t figured out how all of my fellow bloggers find time to blog on a regular basis.  It’s been over a month since my first blog post and I just couldn’t find the time to blog.  Here I am again sharing with you and I will continue to try and get better at posting on a regular basis.  After all, nobody is perfect.  We just have to seek to become a better version of ourselves.  This week I would like to share with you one of my latest DIY projects. 

As my school geared up for parent-teacher conferences, I wanted to provide my teachers with a meaningful gift that would in some way let them know I appreciate all of their hard work.  I am currently obsessed with monograms and personalization, so I thought why not give all of my teachers their own personalized notepad.  I searched the internet for options, but I couldn’t find a notepad that was cheaper than $5.   I knew I needed to make at least 30 notepads and $150 was just not in my personal budget.  I would like to say I turned to “plan b”, but I almost always look for a DIY version first in order to save money and use my own creativity. 

I thought to myself, “what would be strong enough to hold the top of the notepads together?”  I remember my brothers using white glue to make notepads when they were in high school, but I just didn’t like the result of that process for some reason.  I decided to purchase some rubber cement and give it a try.  I also had to decide how big I wanted to make the notepads and I knew I would be using standard computer paper (8 ½” x 11”).  I figured the best looking notepad would result from dividing the paper into four equal pieces. 

After I decided how I would bind the papers together and how big I wanted to make the notepads, I got to work designing the notepads by using PowerPoint.  I design almost everything in PowerPoint, but you may personally prefer to use Publisher.  I also knew I wanted to create a teacher themed notepad, so I chose an apple piece of clipart from my School Supplies Clipart bundle that I have posted in my TeachersPayTeachers store (Click Clip Create).  The hardest part for me was deciding which fonts to use.  I love fonts and Kimberly Geswein makes some amazing fonts, which are the fonts I decided to use for this project!

After the design process was complete, I did a test print of a notepad using my own name.  I had to make some minor adjustments to work with my printer.  Eventually, the printing all went as planned and I printed 15 sheets in order to create a notepad with 60 pages.  I also needed something as a thicker backing on my notepad, so I used some cardstock for this process.  When all of my papers were cut, I clipped all of the papers together with binder clips, applied about four coats of rubber cement to the top and viola a DIY personalized notepad.  Simple. Cheap. Cute.

Materials Needed: 

Copier/printer paper (8 ½” x 11”)

Rubber cement

Cardstock (8 ½” x 11”)

Printer/ink/computer

Binder clips

Paper cutter

Step 1:  Design

Open up PowerPoint or Publisher on your computer and divide the document into four equal sections. (I created a table with two columns and two rows and made sure the rows and columns were equally distributed.)  Then draw a text box and create your design.  Add clipart, if desired.  I chose to go with a black and white theme to save on the cost of ink. 

Step 2:  Print

When you have your notepads designed, print a test page to make sure everything lines up to suit your design preference.  After you are satisfied with your test page, print 15 copies of your design.  (This will create a notepad with 60 pages, which is the perfect size in my opinion.)  Print more or less copies depending on how many pages you want in your notepad. 

Step 3:  Cut

Use your paper cutter to cut each page into four equal parts (4 ¼” x 5 ½”).   Take this time to cut a piece of cardstock using the same dimensions.

Step 4:  Assemble

Take all of your printed pages and assemble them together.  Stack them up and make sure the pages are aligned as closely as possible, especially at the top.  Add one piece of cardstock to the back/bottom of the notepad.  Clip the pages together with two binder clips towards the top of the notepad. 

Step 5:  Bind

Bind the pages together by applying a thick coat of rubber cement to the top of the notepad.  Allow some time for the rubber cement to dry, then add another coat of rubber cement.  (I applied about four coats of rubber cement to ensure that the papers would stick together.)  You may also want to add a binder clip to the top of the notepad as it is drying to hold the middle of the notepad together.  

Step 6:  Wrap

When the rubber cement is dry, wrap the notepad with a cute piece of string or ribbon and a message card.  If you are making the notepad for yourself, you can skip this step. 

**Two things to think about or change…  1.  I would put an extra piece of paper on the front and the back of the notepad.  The rubber cement tends to run over the edges no matter how careful you are.  If I would have had extra sheets on it, I could have torn them off when I was finished for a cleaner look.  2.  After you have allowed the rubber cement to dry, you may want to cover the rubber cement with a piece of paper or ribbon as the rubber cement will remain a bit sticky. 

So, would you rather order 30 notepads for $150 or create your own customized notepads for about $50 with the cost of ink included and leftover supplies?

I hope you found these steps easy to follow and that you find the bit of inspiration you need for your life! 

Forever Yung,

Kyra