Posted on 19 Comments

A pad for all seasons

I’ve been having such a hard time getting into the idea of keeping my house clean.  Not that it’s ever easy for me to get there, but it’s been even harder lately.  I’m thinking it may be the fault of the weather, and the fact that our heat is out of commission and the house has been 60 degrees most days, and all I want to do is cozy up under a blanket in my favorite chair and keep warm.

So today, I actually felt the urge to clean up the kitchen in the late afternoon.  I was just about to do it, too.  Really, I was!  But the little guy wanted to play outside.  And there are so few afternoons left for playing outside before the really cold weather sweeps in.  Who was I to deny him this simple pleasure?

Paper for notepad-making

Not being one to sit outside and do nothing, I generally take my laptop with me or something, but I really was more in the mood to do something.  So I decided to try my hand at making notepads a la The Small Object.

Notepad-making supplies

I gathered my supplies:

  • printed sheets for the pad content
  • card stock for pad back
  • binder clips
  • padding compound
  • paint brush
  • old-school, heavy, dangerous paper cutter that used to be my grandfather’s

Cutting paper for notepads

I lined up the paper, which was not as easy as it should have been, and sliced, which was also not as easy as it should have been.  (The cool factor of my paper cutter only slightly makes up for it’s inadequacy in the actual cutting of the paper…)

Binding a notepad

I lined up all of the pages and secured them with binder clips.

Then I painted on a thick layer of the compound and let it dry for about an hour.

Homemade notepads

Voila!  Custom-made pads for any occasion imaginable.  I’m thinking these have great gift-giving potential if I can work out my paper-cutter kinks.

Boring Office Guy loves his, as does Boring Buddy (who helped me with the wording and the design on his pad).  I plan to use mine to leave little notes in orders I’m shipping.  Sometimes I have things to say, and this is a bit nicer than a post-it note!

I’ve got all other kinds of ideas

  • a check list for Aidan to bring to school with him and reference when he’s packing up to come home
  • a mechanism for me to keep track of the points the boys are collecting as part of an incentive system we’ve come up with
  • a countdown pad (days until Christmas, days left of school, etc.)

Homemade notepad
Fun stuff!  And this bottle of padding compound will most likely last me the rest of my life.  It’s insane.

[edit: if you’re looking to buy the compound, I got it here at the same place that Sarah at The Small Object got hers.  She also mentions an eBay seller who has smaller quantities of it available.  And lastly, I saw a comment on her post this morning that indicated this place is also an option.]

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Posted on 19 Comments

19 thoughts on “A pad for all seasons

  1. Shut Up! Where do you find this compound you speak of?! I.LOVE.THESE!!!!!!!! 🙂

    1. I got it here, and it is seriously going to last a lifetime. I’ve already got another pad made since I took these pictures. I sense a new addiction coming on…

  2. Huh. I didn’t know there was even such a thing as padding compound. Neat! And your pads turned out great, too!

    See what Michael has been blogging about: Handmade Texture Tools

    1. Thanks! I was so excited when I first heard of this stuff. Very fun to play with, especially for a note-taker like myself.

  3. I loved the notepads at The Small Object so of course love yours. I like Boring Buddy’s – great tag line about it being a novel. I can see my daughter loving something like that.

    See what Tsoniki has been blogging about: Tragedy Aboard USS Neb

    1. He came up with that tagline on his own. 5-year-olds really crack me up 🙂

  4. Whoooooa! I am breathless with all the possibilities…

    See what Courtney Quiet City has been blogging about: And the winner is…

  5. This is so AWESOME! I’ve wondered where to get the compound stuff. I didn’t even know what to call the stuff. Thanks for sharing the links for the instructions and where to buy the compound. I know what we’ll be making the grandpas for Christmas this year!

    See what Chocolate on my Cranium has been blogging about: Next Wordfull Wednesday Topic for October 1

  6. is blogging: A pad for all seasons http://tinyurl.com/4yt4pa

  7. What a wonderful idea!! I’ve always wondered how to do that……i think i’ll try to make some for Christmas stocking stuffer’s! And to be honest, doing crafty things like that versus cleaning the house, hmmm, not hard to figure out what i would rather do *smile*

  8. Thank you so much for sharing these!! My mind is spinning with gifty ideas for all the little kiddoes at DS’s school! Love the “boring” series you made 🙂

    See what MelissaS has been blogging about: Happy Birthday – TechnoStamper Style!

  9. How cool is that!
    Why must you tempt us?! Gawd, I love it!

    See what Amanda has been blogging about: Deals, Portfolios, and Careers, Oh My!

  10. wow – TOO COOL! Oh the possibilities….

  11. These are awesome! I love BOG’s though; I’m a big fan. =)

    See what Laura has been blogging about: Vibrant necklace – karmabeads

  12. Oh what possibilities I see for the Holidays!…Great job Lisa…I saw some compound somewhere that dries clear…Can’t wait to see what you come up with next…you know hubs might need a note pad too???…. 🙂
    Bet he feels left out… 🙁

    See what Melanie has been blogging about: "Blackberry Somethin" Recipe

  13. […] DIY is by Lisa Clarke. She blogged about how she did her stack the other day and I thought it was too good not to share. […]

  14. […] DIY is by Lisa Clarke. She blogged about how she did her stack the other day and I thought it was too good not to share. […]

  15. […] You can try your hand at making your own notepads using a tutorial posted by Polka Dot Cottage here. […]

  16. […] a colorful binder clip or magnet clip can work.  Ooh, and I just thought of this – remember the padding compound from a few years ago?  That would be a great way to make a calendar with tear-off […]

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