Fabric covered notebooks

I am an Activity Days leader for my church, so I'm always looking for stuff to do with my group of girls (aged 8-9), who come over twice a month. Last September, I saw a tutorial for Fabric Covered Composition Books on Crap I've Made but had missed that magic window of time when composition notebooks are on sale. During most of the year, they run around $2.50 each, but during back to school sales, they are muy cheapo. I found mine at Wal-mart last week for 40¢ each, but they might get even cheaper in a week or two as they're trying to get rid of them.

I was secretly pleased that only two of my girls showed up yesterday, because that meant I had extra supplies to make some for myself. Here's the ones that I helped them make (the glue was still wet so it was showing through in spots.)

Of course, Madelyn wanted to make one, too

 First page: "Look, mom! It's you eating an ice cream cone!"

They are really simple to make, but I thought I'd do a tutorial anyway.

I decided to go over mine with a couple of coats of white tole paint first. You don't have to do that if your fabric is thick/dark, but mine was pretty see-through, so I thought it'd be best.

(Before I painted the backs) 

The colors/designs they have nowadays are quite exuberant. I found the ones with the small, vertical b&w stripes showed through the least.

Except for the Hello Kitty and the teal hibiscus fabric (which were scraps), I used cotton fat quarters (18"x24") that I got at Jo-Ann's. Actually, the cute polka dot fabric was a fat quarter from Walmart. They have a few there, and I think they're only $1. So you just cut it into two pieces a couple inches bigger all around than the size of the notebook.

Press down one edge on each piece of fabric (which will go along the edge of the binding on the front and back)

Then go crazy with some glue. Mod Podge is ideal, but I couldn't find any, so I used Aleen's Tacky Glue for some of them and Elmer's gel for the rest (which seemed to work just fine). I covered my table with freezer paper (shiny side up) to contain the sticky mess.

Smooth out the glue with a foam brush

Lay the fabric down, with the pressed edge right up against the binding. Smoosh and smooth the fabric into the glue, making sure you flatten any lumps or creases

Open the cover, pull the fabric taut and glue down along the outer edge

Glue down the corners, which will help the fabric hug the curved edges better

Then glue down the last two flaps 

Putting sheets of waxed paper between the cover and the paper during all this gluing helps prevent you from gluing the whole notebook shut...

When dry, stick two coordinating pieces of cardstock in the notebook. Trace around the edges with a pencil, then cut them out

Glue inside both covers, and you're done!

Raise your hand if you love school supplies!!

Great for journals, notebooks, doodle books, gifts, or whatever you fancy!