Mini Notebook for your Purse

With Halloween over (Happy Halloween!) I find Christmas is on my mind (nevermind Thanksgiving, I guess). In fact, my husband and I have a plan this year to get all of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. So, I decided I needed to get organized. I found tiny composition notebooks at Target (2 for .99). I wanted something to carry around in my purse to write down gift ideas and gifts bought for everyone on our list.

I followed my tutorial on covering notebooks in fabric. This time though, I found it easier to paint the notebooks white to cover up the black and yellow swirled design.

Trim the fabric. This is a great project to use up those fabric scraps!

Trim the head n bond.

Iron the heat n bond to the fabric.

Peel back and iron on the notebook.

Trim the edges.

Iron over it one more time. Nice and slow on the edges. And there you have it- a mini notebook that will fit right into your purse. You could use it for grocery lists, thoughts, phone numbers, anything!

I will like to these parties this week.

Fabric Covered Notebooks

Summer is flying by! Have you noticed that back to school items are lining every aisle in the stores? I try hard not to notice because I need no reminder that I have to rejoin the working world come September, however, I have always loved those black composition notebooks. Black and white is great, but why not rejuvenate the mundane piece of school supply with a little splash of color? Read on my dear pupils.

It's as easy as A, B, C... 1, 2, 3... ok, you get the picture.

Here is what you will need: A composition notebook, a fat quarter or fabric scrap, and some Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive. You will also want an iron, fray check, and a rotary cutter or scissors. Oh, and you might want a band-aid (more on that later)...

Be sure to choose a fabric that is dark enough to cover the black on the notebook. Otherwise you can use white duct tape to cover it.

Cut your fabric so that it is a little bit bigger than the notebook. Your cutting does not need to be perfect.

Cut the Heat n Bond slightly smaller than the fabric. (The white in the picture is the Heat n Bond). It should be a bit bigger than the notebook, but smaller than the fabric.

Set the notebook aside and iron the Heat n Bond to the fabric. I used the "wool" setting on my iron. I moved it slowly over the paper.

Let the Heat n Bond cool for a minute and then peel it back. If it doesn't come up easily, iron over it some more, let it cool, and try again.

Place your book onto the Heat n Bonded fabric and close it. Iron over the cover to seal the Heat n Bond to the notebook. Then iron over the back and the spine. Notice how the fabric does not cleanly match up with the notebook, this is ok, you will cut it off later.

After you have formed a seal, open the book and cut around the edges of the fabric with a rotary cutter or scissors. Be careful not to cut the tip of your thumb with your rotary cutter, it will bleed. A lot. You will need a band-aid.

After you trim your edges, iron over the whole notebook carefully and slowly. If the edges look like they will fray, use fray check on them.

Pop one of these cuties into your child's backpack and back to school will go from cruel to rule!!

I will be linking up to these great parties.