Mini Notepads: A DIY Gift Idea

Hey, y'all!  Since the holidays are right around the corner, I have joined my Silhouette Challenge friends to share nineteen great DIY gift ideas with you today that can be made with the help of your trusty Silhouette.  I'm sharing some DIY Mini Notepads that would be great gifts for teachers or coworkers.  And the best part is that they're really easy to make.

The very first step to making your own DIY mini notepads is to download the free notepad cover cut file I created for you.  You can download the file HERE.

After you download the file, open it in your Silhouette program.  There are two notepad cover styles in the file.  You can cut both of them or one or multiples of different ones, and you can resize them to whatever dimensions you'd like.  You can even ungroup the pieces of the cover and customize them a little by putting your own design on the top of the cover.

When you have the notepad covers like you want them, cut them from card stock or Silhouette chipboard with your machine.

Fold the covers on the perforated lines.  Then cut blank paper a little smaller than the size of the back of the notepad cover.  (I cut my paper a quarter inch smaller than the back of the notepad cover.)  Make sure you don't cut it too small, though, or you won't have room to punch holes in the blank paper, which is the next step.  Place your stack of blank paper in the notebook cover and center it.  Trace the holes on the cover onto the blank paper.  Use a hole punch to punch all the blank pages.

After the holes are punched, put the blank pages back into the notepad cover.  Line up the holes and thread twine through them and tie in a bow.  (You could also use scrapbook brads if you wanted to get even fancier.)  If you'd like, you can embellish the top of the cover with washi tape and maybe even wrap a pencil with the same washi tape to create a matching set.

These little notebooks are so cute and easy to make.  The longest part of the process is cutting the blank pages, but that can be done more quickly with a different paper cutter.  (You know the type that's like a paper guillotine?) Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

Peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

1. Get Silvered // 2. My Paper Craze // 3. unOriginal Mom // 4. Creative Ramblings // 5. Chicken Scratch NY // 6. Pitter and Glink // 7. Ginger Snap Crafts // 8. Architecture of a Mom // 9. Silhouette School // 10. McCall Manor // 11. Just a Girl and Her Blog // 12. Weekend Craft // 13. Rutchee Design // 14. Adventures in All Things Food // 15. My Favorite Finds // 16. Please Excuse My Craftermath // 17. Simply Kelly Designs // 18. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 19. Practically Functional //
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