General Crafts Tips and Projects

Easy Patchwork Fabric-Covered Gift Box

By Lindsay Small

This is how to turn brown paper, paper bags and any other paper scraps into cute and useful notepads and scribble pads. It is simple to do, so even little children can help! They make great little presents and if you start to save your paper now, you will have a good collection in no time. Set aside a box for collecting half-printed pages from the desk, paper shopping bags, scraps of pretty wrapping paper or wallpaper samples, and put them to good use!

You will need:
A pile of scrap paper
Scissors
Scrap cardboard
PVA glue (white glue or school glue)

Decide on the size of your notebook and cut a piece of cardboard as the backing. Use this to cut out a number of pages for your notebook. You can mix and match papers and textures or stick to one kind.

Stack them up with the cardboard underneath, bang them gently onto a hard surface so that they lie true, and then put them flat on a table or counter with the top edge protruding slightly over the edge. Weight the stack down with a heavy book but leave the top edge uncovered.

Paint along the top of the stack with the PVA glue, making sure that all the pages come into contact with some glue (a finger comes in handy for this!). Leave to dry.

The notepads are now ready to use, but you may prefer to embellish them a little - especially if you intend to give them as gifts. Try painting on an extra thin layer of glue and dipping into glitter. Use a small piece of ribbon or braid along the top edge, stick on buttons and bows, or just use an attractive piece of gift wrap as the top page and finish by adding a further, folded strip of the same paper to neaten. The possibilities are endless and you will have fun experimenting.

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Lindsay Small is the owner of Activity Village, packed full of fun and educational activities for kids. Do you have children aged 2-10? Visit ww.ActivityVillage.co.uk to find free kids crafts, printables, educational resources, worksheets, coloring pages and puzzles, jigsaws, Sudoku for kids and much more!