beautifying a notebook

I try to always keep a little notebook in my purse to jot down ideas and notes, let my kids draw, make a list, etc. But the other day I searched and searched the abyss that is my purse and was unable to find my notebook. Well, that won't do at all, so I set off in search of another one.


I found this little beauty at the dollar store.  I love spiral bound notebooks because they lay flat.  I did not however love the cover.  So I decided to alter it.  This technique is an oldie but a goodie!!


I used old dictionary pages to cover the front.


First I applied mod podge to the cover.


Then I put the torn out pages right on top of the wet mod podge.


After that dried I cut the excess paper off.


Then applied a few more coats of mod podge and let it dry.  As you can see in the picture, I only covered up to the holes of the binding.


To hide the rest of the cover, in between the binding holes, I used this paper tape.


I cut little slits in the edge of the tape to go around the metal binding.


The tape lays nice and flat and covers up the parts of the cover the paper didn't cover.


Then I dug some ribbons out of my embarrassingly large stash and tied them onto the wire.


And there it is, a cute little notebook for my purse.  They would make great gifts as well!!