I don't know about you, but I am forever going into Target and drooling over notebooks that are way overpriced just because they have some absolutely gorgeous designs on the cover. Occasionally I even buy one.
But what am I to do with all the other notebooks, especially the ones I got for free like this:
It's actually a pretty high quality notebook... it's just not pretty.
I decided to see how professional I could make a cover out of scrapbook paper.
I cut a piece of paper a bit larger than the cover and folded it around and taped it down. This one is smaller than it should be, due to the design.
You could also glue it, but honestly tape worked just fine and I didn't have to wait for it to dry or press it to keep it from springing back up.
I did use a glue stick to stick the first page down over the tape and edges to cover them up and make it all look neat.
I repeated the process in the back, although due to the way the wire was bound, I couldn't just flip a page over, I had to cut it out of the book, as you can see above.
I worried that the scrapbook paper would not be a super durable cover, so I decided to coat it with some varnish (you can find at your local craft store). It did cause the paper to bubble a little bit, but most of the bubbles subsided as it dried.
I still had two edges and some spiral wire sticking out that looked kind of cheap, so I grabbed my box of leather scraps, found a piece that coordinated, and glued it down with tacky glue.
(You should be able to get a bag of leather scraps for craft projects at your local craft store)
I wanted to get a really tight smooth edge, so after pressing it down,..
They turned out even better than I expected! I'm actually rather bummed because I can't handwrite myself at the moment due to muscle problems... but these will make lovely gifts if I don't' just horde them for years...
All in all, a really cheap up-fashion for a freebie (or ugly) notebook. And with scrapbooking paper coming in every design imaginable, the possibilities are endless!
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