Calendar/Spiral Covers Tutorial

I have had the honor of being asked to be apart of the Resource Team at The Pink Elephant! I was so excited when Arielle called and knew exactly which tutorial I would do first! I am posting here, but please, go check out the amazing talent by the rest of the team over at The Pink Elephant!

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Do you have a spiral bound notebook or calender? Well, how cute is its cover? Not very probably! I have a spiral bound planner and I just couldn’t stand looking at its ugly cover so I came up with one! This tutorial will show you how to make a very simple cover that slides right over the one already on it.

First, measure your nnotebook. For this tutorial, I used an ugly spiral notebook. You will need to cut 4 pieces of cardstock 1/2″ larger than your notebook. This notebook is 8X11″, so I cut my black pieces 8 1/2″ X 11 1/2″.

Place red sticky tape along both short sides and one long side of two of the pieces. Place the other two untaped sides on top of each one. You will then have two large pockets.

Using a corner rounder, round the two corners oposite the open sides.

Trim down the cover of your notebook. I trimmed about 1/2″ off all three sides of both the back and the front.

Slide the original cover into one of the pockets. Do this for both the front and the back.

To help cover up the little sliver that shows next to the spiral, I cut a piece of DSP 11 1/2″ X 1 1/2″ and used an edge punch on one side. I adhered it down so that it hangs off the edge of the cardstock a little and covers up the remaining old cover.

> This is where yo ucan creative and decorate your cover however you want. I cut a pices of DSP to 7X10″ and rounded the edges. I cut another piece of DSP to 4 X 71/2″ and layered it over. This is where you can place a title for your notebook, a monogram, a fun di cut or stamped image, or even a photograph!

For the inside, I cut a piece of DSP 7X7″ and rounded the top corner. I adhered it to the top of the inside cover.

Next, I cut a piece of DSP to 8X6″ and only put adhesive around the outside and bottom edges. This will form a pocket for you to put papers in.

Lastly, I cut a piece to 2X8″, scalloped the edges and placed it ontop of the pocket. Again, you have room to decorate as you llike on th ebottom of the pocket.

For the back, I did a simple paper layout and placed a favorite picture. The back piece of DSP is 10 1/2″. I rounded the corners. The next piece is 8 X3 1/2″ and the third piece is 2 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ and scalloped. I did not do anything to the inside of the back cover because it will always be covered by the notebook paper. But, this would be a great place for another pocket or even some type of reference sheet such as a class schedule!

To add a finishing touch to your spiral, tie ribbon along every few spirals!

My 2nd grader has a planner for school as well, and she decorated hers a little differently!

It’s so simple, even a 7 year old can do it! I can’t wait to see your spiral notebooks all dressed up!