Kickin' It Old School

Chic, that is.

Did anyone else ever get excited about going school supply shopping? There was nothing like finding the cutest new pencil box to store your freshly sharpened pencils, colorful chunky erasers and your red marking pen. I still remember having a tub of paste glue that Bobbie G. ate when I was in Kindergarten. To be fair, it did smell good, but dude, eat your own paste! One year I was incredibly lucky to talk my mom into buying me a Trapper Keeper. The multitudes of hidden pockets, doo-dads and thingamajigs on a Trapper Keeper made me oh, so happy.

Going to auctions, DH and I always bid on the box lots of old office supplies too. Even the packaging for those old goodies was cool. Boxes that slide open to reveal red colored pencils, bottles of ink, old letter openers, fountain pens, graph paper notebooks; yum, yum, office fun!

I think this is why I will always be drawn to playing with paper, pencils, inks and glues. The memories of tactile work. I'll admit that I still get a little thrilled when the shelves at stores fill up with new school supplies. I'll even buy a few new folders and pencils to feed my habit.

Having lots of school, office and art supplies means I always have a lot of scraps. The following little project I learned years ago from a Club Scrap retreat. At the time my friends and I thought it was so cool, but I never used the knowledge again until I was face with bulging folders of paper scraps that I hated to throw out. Hence, my uptake on this notepad project:

I pulled together paper scraps, scrap cardboard, office clips, a foam brush, Club Scrap Bookbinding glue (you could probably use K&Co craft glue or another bookbinding glue), assorted stamps and Ranger Distress Ink (both stamps and ink optional)

1. First you need your paper scraps. For mine I cut scraps of script and ledger paper into 3x5 inch rectangles. I also cut scrap cardboard into a 3x5 rectangle to use as a backing for my notepad.

2. If you desire, you can stamp images on your papers. It's totally up to you. I used a few unmounted stamps from Studio Calico. This is also a great opportunity to use up odds & ends of old rub-ons.

3. Stack your cut paper rectangles and cardboard rectangle. I mixed several different patterns. Clip together at the top to hold. Apply the bookbinding glue to the top of your notepad with a foam brush, being careful not to oversaturate the paper, but also to get a nice even coating on top of your notebook stack.

Set aside to dry for a few hours. The bottle says 24 hours. I don't have that kind of patience. I keep going back to check, recheck and fiddle with it. Really, mine was dry in a few hours.

The completed notepad...

with lots of different patterns and designs...

I made a little tag from pink ledger paper, an old flower and some seam binding to tie it all up. Maybe it will be a little gift or the start of favors for a party or just sit pretty on my shelf for now. Quick, easy and fun upcycling. Now I'm wanting to try making pale floral notepads, funky graphic notepads and more.

I made this card as part of the "How Does Your Garden Grow" challenge for Opus Gluei and yes, I am late once again! One of these days I won't feel like I'm a day late and a dollar short. The notepad project came about after making this card using all scraps from my scrap folders. That scrap folder keeps generating lots of small projects it seems.