How to Make a Paper Notebook

Making a notebook is a pretty easy and fun craft. You can use the notebook to keep a journal, to sketch drawings, or to give someone a gift. This is also a fun activity for young children. DIY diaries are much cheaper than pre-made diaries, and you can even design your own cover and pages to your liking.

Table of Contents

Make a small handbook

Fold a piece of paper into 8 sections. Take it easy when folding the paper, as the quality of the folds will determine the quality of the notebook. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Remember to fold evenly and carefully rub each fold of paper. You can use a fingernail or a hard object like the edge of a pencil to smooth the crease.
Start by folding the paper lengthwise into a long rectangle (fold the long sides together.)
Next is to fold the short side together.
Fold the paper in half again, the short side joining the short side.

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Open the paper. You will have 8 paper boxes. These boxes will be the pages of the notebook.

Fold the short sides together. Fold the paper in half in the opposite direction to the first fold.

Cut the paper. Place the paper so that the folded edge is facing the person. Cut along the crease in the center of the paper until it intersects with the horizontal fold.

Remember to stop cutting when you reach the horizontal fold. You only cut half of the paper, do not cut the whole sheet of paper.

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Open the paper. The paper now still has the same 8 cells as the original, only there is a gap in the middle of the 4 central cells.

Fold the paper in half, the 2 long sides folded together. Repeat the first fold exactly. The gap should now be in the middle of the edge of the paper.

Fold the paper back into the shape of a book. Raise the sheet of paper so that the opening is on top, then push the two ends of the paper together. Separate the two middle seams away from each other. ^{[2] X Research Source}

You will have to reverse the direction of the fold in one of the seams.
Push the ends of the paper together until you have 4 “wings” moving from the center outwards, which look like a cross or an X. ^{[3] X Research Source}

Flatten the notebook. Select 2 adjacent “wings” and push them close together, closing the other pages inside.

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Fixed pages of paper. If you want the notebook to keep its shape, you can use a pin or string to attach it (see “binding” below).

Make a medium sized notebook

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Decide on the number of pages in the notebook. The number of sheets of paper to use will depend on the number of pages of the notebook you want to bind. 6 or 12 sheets of paper will make a notebook with 12 or 24 pages (including the cover).

Think about what you use your notebook for to decide on the right number of pages.
Consider using a special sheet of paper or a different color for the cover.
You can use more than 12 sheets of paper, but notebooks with more pages will be more difficult to close.

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Choose paper for the notebook. Plain white paper is usually suitable, but depending on the purpose of the notebook, you can choose other types of paper.

This guide assumes you’ll be using standard paper (22×28 cm), but other paper sizes will work as well.
Heavier (thicker) weight paper may be more durable than regular printing paper.
Paper cover or colored paper will make a beautiful effect for a notebook cover if you are going to bind the notebook as a gift.
Avoid lined paper if possible. The lines will be vertical and the notebook will not look very nice.

Fold the paper in half. Fold the short side with the short side of each selected sheet of paper. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Fold the sheets one at a time so that the folds are sharper and more even instead of trying to fold all the sheets at once.
Be sure to align the edges before applying the crease.
Use a fingernail or a hard object such as a pencil to trace along the crease for sharpness.

Stitch the sheets of paper together. Stitch the sheets in half together, one inside the other. If you have more than 6 sheets of paper, you should only concatenate no more than 6 sheets per stack.

If you combine more than 6 sheets into a stack, the inner pages will stick out longer than the outer pages, making the notebook look messy.
If the number of sheets is even, it is recommended that you fold the sheets into even stacks (for example, 2 stacks of 6 sheets, 3 stacks of 4 sheets, or 4 stacks of 3 sheets).

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Pin the stacks of papers together. For a sturdier product, you can now staple the stacks of paper together. Staple at least 2 staples as close to the folded edge of each stack as possible.

Try to staple each stack of paper in different positions so that the staples don’t get stuck in the same place and clump.
Depending on your binding technique, this step may not be necessary. If you are using duct tape, this step is required.

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Arrange the stacks of papers into notebooks. Make sure to line up each section of the notebook neatly. Line up the folded edges of each stack of paper.

Make sure all the edges of the stacks are straight and aligned. If there is a sheet of paper sticking out, it means that you did not fold it neatly. You may need to replace the sheet with a more carefully folded sheet.

Bookbinder

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Make a book cover. Choose a sheet of paper as the cover for the notebook. You can use colored or thick paper, or decorate the cover with stamps, stickers, or your own unique designs. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Fold the two short edges of the card together and smooth for a sharp crease.
When to clip the cover sheet depends on your binding style.

Use adhesive tape to attach the stacks of paper to the sides of the notebook. This method is especially useful if your notebook has a lot of staples.

Cut a strip of tape that is as strong as fabric tape, slightly longer than the notebook.
Carefully apply the tape to the front cover of the notebook and loop around the spine of the notebook to the back cover so that half of the tape is on the front cover, half on the back cover.
Trim the excess tape at the top and bottom of the notebook.

Stick the cover in the notebook. If you want to attach the cover to the glued notebook core, you will clip the folded notebook cover over the glued core.

Cut two strips of tape the same length as the notebook.
Fold the tape in half lengthwise, adhesive side on the outside.
Open the back cover of the notebook and place the tape (doubled) along the seam on the inside edge of the back cover. One side of the tape is on the inside edge of the back cover of the notebook, the other side is on the outer edge of the last page inside the notebook.
Open the front cover of the notebook. Place the second strip of tape (also doubled lengthwise with the adhesive side on the outside) along the seam between the inside edge of the front cover and the outside edge of the first page in the notebook.
Fold the notebook back and run your fingers along the folded edges so that the tape adheres to the notebook.

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Use string or ribbon to close the notebook. With this method, you don’t need to pin each section of the notebook.

If you’re going to bind the cover of the notebook, clip the folded cover over the stack of stacks of paper.
Use a puncher to punch holes through the entire notebook, where you want it to be closed. Remember to punch the hole close to the folded edge of the notebook, but don’t mess with the folded spine.
Punch at least two holes. You can punch more holes if you want, but remember that the holes should be evenly spaced to make the knot look good.
If your notebook has more than 6 sheets of paper, you may need to punch holes in each individual stack, but be sure to align the holes so that the notebook stays neat when closed.
For a short diary, try using decorative pins through punched holes.
Thread string or ribbon through the holes and tighten. You can thread the string through several holes, then flip over the back cover, run along the spine of the notebook and tighten, or tie a small bow through each hole by threading the string through one hole, looping around the spine of the notebook and tying. again. ^{[6] X Research Sources}
With a longer journal, you can use strong thread to sew the stacks together by punching holes in each stack and threading the needle up and down the holes until all the stacks are glued together. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Warning

Children should be supervised when using scissors to close notebooks.

Steps

Make a small handbook

Make a medium sized notebook

Bookbinder

Warning

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