It's the most wonderful time of the year! And I've got the most wonderful table to share, especially if blue and white is your jam, like it is mine. I'm all about thinking outside the box and I love the idea of creating a blue and white Christmas table. It even coordinates with the blue and white themed tree in our foyer! My love affair with blue and white received an added dimension a few ... Read More about Blue and White Christmas Table
DIY Note Pads and Pen Holder
Are you frugal? I’m pretty frugal. Well, OK. I’m not as frugal as my Mom was… she saved the bags from boxes of cereal and split them and used as waxed paper when she baked cookies! Now, THAT’S frugal! And smart.
She would have been proud of me for this one. We always got a kick out of making something from what seemed like nothing!! She would have loved these DIY note pads and pen holder.
This paper was left over from my daughter’s wedding:
And that’s only about a third of it. The program for her wedding was 16 pages long (times a few hundred), and the printer had separated each with yellow sheets of paper. LOTS of yellow paper. And every so often, he slid in a piece of cardboard as well. After we put the programs together, she was going to throw the yellow paper away and I absolutely wouldn’t have that! *wink* So I wound up with all the yellow paper.
What I really wanted the paper for was scratch paper. Simple enough. But the HUGE stacks were just unmanageable. The idea came to me to actually make the kind of memo pads that have that adhesive stuff at the top edge, keeping all the pages bound together in a stack so you could just tear off a sheet as needed. I discovered you can order something called padding compound, or padding cement. But who has time for that? Or money??
I did some research and found a recipe for making your own padding compound. It’s pretty easy, and I already had some of the ingredients needed to make it! Here’s what you need:
Padding Compound
2014-07-30 00:11:44
An easy-to-make gluing compound for DIY notepads!
Ingredients
- 1/4 oz (1 pouch) unflavored gelatin
- 3 Tblsp boiling water
- 1 Tblsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp glycerin
Instructions
- Pour the gelatin into the boiling water. Use a whisk to stir the mixture until it has dissolved and no grains of powdered gelatin are visible. It will be pretty frothy.
- Add the vinegar and glycerin. Whisk for 1 minute or until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour into storage container (I used a baby food jar).
To Use
- With a paint brush, coat the end of your stack of paper. Let dry and give 2 more coats, drying in between. Keep edges compressed with popsicle sticks and held tightly with clamps.
Notes
- When making my notepads, the compound kept getting thick and I just popped my jar (without lid on) into the microwave for about 8-10 seconds.
Sondra Lyn at Home https://sondralynathome.com/
After assembling several note pads, I wanted to dress them up, so I used the washi tape that was in our swag bags at Haven. I applied it just to the top of the pad and wrapped around to the back, so that they looked like this:
And then, one thing led to another and I made a pencil/pen holder out of a can and washi tape! I love how the ribs of the can give it texture through the washi tape!!
So here is my new desk set. And here’s the best (frugal) part: It was mostly FREE! I did have to purchase the glycerin, so I spent just over $3. I know this is my baby, but I think the note pads are cute enough to put in Christmas stockings!! (Yes, I’m already thinking a few months down the road…)
What do you think? I’ll leave you with some more images. Have an awesome day!!
Pin this Image for Back-to-School!
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These scratch pads are great!!
I have also made scratch pads without the padding compound. I used silicone caulking like this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_51220-72643-LW284_0__?productId=3102449&Ntt=silicone&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dsilicone&facetInfo=
Thanks for reading, Sarah! I’ll have to try your method as well!!
This is so great! I think I may use this idea for stocking stuffers! Pinning for later!
Thanks for pinning, Michelle!! Never to early to start thinking about Christmas, in my opinion!! 😉
Love this! My niece is coming to visit and this will be a great project for us.
G’Day from Oz! That is such a great idea and it all looks so bright and cheerful. Thanks for ‘recipe’ for the glue too!
If you have a minute to spare I’d be thrilled if you could share your post at my weekly Say G’Day Saturday linky party. It has just started and this would be a fabulous addition.
Best wishes for a great weekend.
Natasha in Oz
Thanks for reading, Natasha! I did pop over and link this post to Say G’Day!!
I just popped back to say thanks for sharing this at the #saygdayparty. I just pinned this to the Say G’day Saturday board.
The party is in full swing now so if you haven’t had a chance to visit some the links please do stop by and have a look!
Best wishes for a wonderful week,
Natasha in Oz
Thanks so much for sharing this at the Say G’Day Saturday Linky Party. I will be featuring you at my weekly Friday Favorites post!
Best wishes,
Natasha in Oz
Thanks, Natasha!
Sondra I loved these so much I just had to feature them this week at the Creative Spark Link Party. Hope you stop by again today to link up! http://bit.ly/1ml6d2u
Sondra-
Have you discovered a way to keep the finished product from setting to a full gelatin? It works well but having to microwave it each time limits where it can be used.
I have not, Andy, although it will stay liquid long enough to pretty much complete a project at one sitting. If you discover a way to do this, please be sure to let me know!