Composition Notebooks « The Hybrid Chick

Composition Notebooks

By karistamps Sunday August 16, 2009

I *LOVE* Back to School time! Not because it means that all of my kids won’t be underfoot ALL day long (although that is an added benefit), but rather because I love getting back to routine, structure, and order. One of my favorite things about this time of year is shopping – especially for school supplies!!!! I don’t know what it is about new pencils, rulers, notebooks, and crayons that makes me giddy, but wandering the aisles of Target and soaking in the school supplies simply brings a smile to my face A regular item on my list during my school supply shopping trips is composition notebooks … in August I can usually find them priced anywhere from $0.25 – $0.50 so I love to stock up on them. They make a quick and easy gift that people love.

With three of my children going back to school this year I knew I needed to come up with a gift for them to give to their teachers on the first day of school that would be functional, personal, and *simple* for me to create! My stash of composition notebooks was the answer!!

Supplies:

Composition Notebook
Xyron (with permanent adhesive cartridge)
Self-adhesive “bling”
Buttons
Ribbon (different than shown in supply photo)
Corner Rounder (not shown)
Mini Glue Dots (not shown)
Krylon Spray Sealer (not shown)
Lola Kit by Kelley Mickus Designs

I started by designing my cover, back, and spine in Photoshop. I created a new document 7 inches by 9 3/4 inches for both the cover and back. The spine I created 2 1/2 inches by 9 3/4 inches. I loved Kelley’s Lola kit for this project … the colors are so fun and sophisticated!! I printed my designs on Epson Premium Matte Photo Paper and cut them out. I rounded the corners on the cover and back paying attention to which two corners needed to be rounded. After that I gave them a light coat of Krylon Spray Sealer to keep the ink from smudging. I knew a notebook would be handled frequently so this was an easy step to help protect the notebook. You can also cover the entire thing with Mod Podge after you are finished to give even more protection (although I did not in this sample).

After cutting all of my pieces out I ran them through my 9″ Xyron to put adhesive on the entire surface. If you don’t have a Xyron you can easily use another type of adhesive – Mod Podge, redline tape, etc. Just make sure that you use a strong adhesive that gives good coverage. Once they were “sticky” I attached the cover and back directly onto the composition notebook. I also wanted to cover the spine so I printed a piece for that, but before attaching it to the notebook I wanted to add one more thing – a bookmark!

I started by attaching a few small pieces of redline tape to the back of the notebook by the spine. This is where I attached the ribbon before covering it with the paper for the spine. After adding the ribbon I took the paper for the spine and covered the ribbon before taking it and wrapping it around the front part of the
notebook. This gives a special detail to the book and
covers the seams from the front and back covers that were added.

Time to add a few details! A little “bling” in the center of the flower as well as on top of my black buttons adds just a little sparkle without adding too much bulk – remember, I wanted this to functional, too There you have it … a fun and easy gift that is functional and sure to be loved by the receiver. Pair this with a matching pen, a favorite treat or drink, a gift card, or add it to a basket of school supplies for the teacher. Now run back to Target or where ever you are doing your school supply shopping and stock up on composition notebooks – they’re great to have on hand when you need a quick gift!