Back to School DIYs Day 1: Upcycled Hardcover Notebook

With school just around the corner, I figured it would be a good time to post a blast of DIY projects to get you started on a creative foot. This week, I will post a new project every day to get you psyched for this year! Today's project is an easy notebook made out of an old hardcover book.

Have you ever been looking through old books at a garage sale or second-hand store and found a book with a super cool looking cover, but you know you probably would never read it? Here is an easy DIY project that you can do with those books!

I found a collection of these old Reader's Digest books at the thrift store the other day for only 25 cents:

They have really cute patterns on the covers!

Materials:

You will meed a hardcover book, a ruler or carpenter square, an X-Acto knife, a power drill with a 1/16" drill bit, embroidery thread in a color of your choice, paper, bulldog clips, and a tapestry needle.

(I forgot to put the clips and the needle in the photo... Oops!)

Step 1: Take Apart Your Book

Open the front cover of the book and cut the cover away from the pages using your X-Acto knife.

 Turn the book over and cut the other side free:

 Save the pages for another project... or read the book!

Step 2: Cut Paper to Fit

Measure the height and width of the book cover, including the spine in the width measurement. Mine was 6"x7.5"

Take these measurements and subtract half an inch from both. (5.5"x7" for me)

Using your ruler or carpenter square, mark out that measurement on a piece of paper:

Stack your paper and cut through multiple sheets at once using your ruler and X-Acto knife:

Cut out as many sheets as you would like. I ended up with about 80 pages.

Save the excess pieces for scratch paper!

Step 3: Assembly

Make a mark every half inch at the joint between the spine and the cover:

 Sandwich the paper inside the covers and secure with bulldog clips:

 Drill holes along your markings, making sure to drill through both covers and the paper

*Note- it's important that the holes are drilled at the joint of the book cover so that the book can open easily.

 Keep the clips on the book and thread your tapestry needle with about 4 feet of embroidery thread:

 Thread through the first hole at the top, and tie the thread around the top of the book:

 Cut off the excess:

 Thread back through the top hole to hide the knot:

 Begin weaving the thread through the holes as you would sew a running stitch (over, under, over, under):

 When you reach the other end, loop back around and weave back, this time in the opposite direction to fill in the gaps:

 When you reach the top again, tie off by threading the needle under the first stitch and looping the thread through itself:

Repeat 2-3 times until it feels secure and cut off the excess.

And you are done! Your finished product should look something like this:

Try this with a thrifted copy of your favorite classic book or just one with cool cover artwork! Remember-you can still read the book, but use your own discretion as far as using really nice vintage books or first editions. And please don't deconstruct any family heirlooms!

 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you try it, let me know. I would love to see it!