How to Make Notepads Out of Old Table-top Calendars and Letterheads

How to Make Notepads Out of Old Table-top Calendars and Letterheads

Thanks to Lynnette for submitting this great article (also published at Velvet Notes).

The following are steps on how to recycle table-top calendars and old letterheads into Notepads. I’ve made a number of them and have donated them to charities.

For this project, you will need:

  • Old Calenders
  • Old letterheads or paper you would like to use up (don’t use too many or you can’t fit it into the spine)
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Glue
  • Bull clip / paper clips
  • Access to a comb binder

1. Get your materials

materials

2. Remove the spine from the calendar. Hold one side of the spine with your finger and thumb and the other with the pliers. Pull spine apart.

spineremoval

3. After spine removal

spineremoved

4. Open up the calendar body and cut it in the middle. Each half is a big piece of calendar with a smaller flap (calendar base) attached to it.

middlecut1

5. Now cut very lightly at the fold of the calendar base. Do not cut through.

footcut

6. The back must remain intact. DO NOT CUT THROUGH.

backfoot

7. Trim the sides of the calendar base. This will allow you to peel the cardboard support away from the cover.

sidecut

8. Peel cardboard support from cover. Peel carefully.

peelfoot

9. You will end up with this:

footoff

10. Cut the corners off. About 0.5 cm in.

foottrim

11. Apply glue to the cover flap.

footglue1

12. Fold cover flap over.

footfold

13. Use the bull clips to hold it together. You can use long paper clips.

footclip

14. Leave to dry. I usually leave them overnight.

footclipped

15. In the meanwhile, start trimming your letterheads / paper:

letterheadcut

16. It should fit the size of the covers.

aligning

17. When the glue has dried, you will be ready to go on to the next step.

materials2

18. Using the comb binder, punch the holes.

combbinder

19. Make sure the holes align with those on the covers.

aligning2

20. Use only enough sheets to fit into the spine.

aligning3

21. Place the covers back to back (with what will be the inside of the notepad facing out. See step 22. photo for an idea) and thread the spine into the holes of the covers. Start sliding the paper in. Sliding the paper in makes it easier to fill the spine.

slide1

slide2

slide31

22. Here is how it looks when the paper and covers are in. The next step is to close the spine.

spinetop

23. Place the almost completed notepad into the comb binder as shown. The spine is then closed by pulling the lever. A clamp then closes the teeth of the spine. Do not pull too hard. If the teeth overlaps, you will have a hard time pulling them apart.

spinepress1

24. Properly done, you can easily open the notepad flat out.

middlepage

25. TA-DA!!! The final product. The black notepad is my favourite as a white spine was paired with a black cover. Look out for different coloured calendars.

finalstuff

This notepad is made 100% from recycled materials.

If you do not want a hardcover for your notepad, you can use cardboard. I use the cardboard salvaged from boxes the letterheads came in.

Please send feedback if the steps are a little difficult to understand.

Source: Velvet Notes.

Leave a comment