Purse Sized Notebook Pad

When I put this project together I became very excited about sharing it with you. It is fun, easy to make, and it makes a brilliant little gift! You make the notebook pad using a pack of 3"x5" index cards. I bought my pack of 100 index cards at King Soopers for .99 cents. The dollar store has them 2 packs for a $1. You can make 2 books out of one pack of index cards. I prefer my books a little thicker so I used 2 packs of index cards to make 3 books. The really nice thing about this project is that you only need two 3"x5"pieces of scrapbook paper so it is a great use for those cute paper scraps! Once you start making these little notebook pads you can't seem to stop.

You only need a few supplies for this project:


1 pack of 3"x5" index cards
1 piece of flat stretch elastic (you can get a package of this at Hobby Lobby or Joann's or you can recycle using an elastic headband)
1 Binder Ring (I bought a multi box of colored ones at Staples for $2)
Scrapbook Paper 
Tape Runner or Double sided Tape
Cropadile or Hole Punch
Optional Dye ink to distress the edges of your covers (I use Cats eye Charcoal or Chestnut Roan)
Ribbon 
Charm (optional) to attach to the ring 
Embellishments


Open your pack of index cards and make a stack about 1/2" deep. You can also take your pack and separate into 2 stacks. Take 2 cards and set them aside to use for the front and back cover.
Cut 2 pieces of decorative paper 3"x5"
Apply to the lined sides of 2 index cards using tape runner or double sided tape.
Optional Distress around the edges of your front and back cover. This will remove any sign of white card in case you didn't line up your edge perfectly. Some Notebook Pads I distressed, some I did not.

Take the front cover and a small stack of cards and align them and punch a hole in the top left corner. Continue punching the entire stack this way by taking one of the punched cards putting it on top of another stack of cards and punch to do the entire stack. I use a cropadile hole punch tool as it punches through a pretty good sized chunk of cards, but any hole punch is fine.

Attach your Binder Ring to your stack of cards.
Measure a piece of flat elastic around the notebook slightly overlapping and cut. I use thin flat elastic that was from the sewing area at hobby Lobby. I also used an elastic headband cut in half

Attach Elastic to the Back Cover of the book (remove back cover from the binder if needed) by stapling the two overlapped pieces together centered about 1" from the side. I used a mini stapler but any stapler is fine. Trim any extra elastic and put the back cover back on the binder and slide your elastic band around the notebook. (Another option is to staple a ribbon and tie it in the front of the book).
Don't worry if you staple your elastic a little too loose or tight by accident, just add or remove some cards.

Your Purse Sized Notebook Pad is done and now you are ready to embellish! Have fun making it unique!

Tie pieces of ribbon to the binder ring
Attach a charm to the ring 
Embellish with chipboard letters or flowers.
Tie a ribbon to a paper clip and clip it in the book so ribbon comes out of the top of the book 


Some Gift ideas for your Purse sized Notebook Pads:
Put your notebook pad in a cellophane bag with a clever pen and you have a brilliant little gift! 
Hostess gifts
Bride or Mom to be and have the shower guests write wishes or have guests bring a 3"x5" recipe card to put in the book for a great little Recipe Book. 
Make one for a teacher and have students write a message on each card as a thank you 
Nice for Students and Coworkers

XOX,

The Rebel Crafter