Heart Notebook
A homemade spiral bound notebook that could be use for note-keeping, to give as a Valentine, or even as a mini scrapbook.
What You'll Need:
- 2 Sheets Almond Shrinky Dink Material (the off-white sheets that usually come in the Shrinky Dinks package)
- Hole punch (Use one large one and one small one if you have them)
- Scissors
- Oven (to bake Shrinky Dinks)
- White paper
- Self adhesive foam hearts
- Pencil
- 12 inch red pipecleaner
- Wire cutter
What to Do:
1. Cut two identical hearts out of the almond Shrinky Dink material. You want the hearts to be as large as possible.
2. Stack the hearts and line them up perfectly. Use the hole punch to punch 6 holes down the left hand side of the heart where is is straightest. Take a look at the picture for clarification.
Using a larger than normal hole punch is a good idea, if you have one. Remember, Shrinky Dinks shrink to 1/3 their original size after they bake -- that includes the holes.
3. Bake the hearts according to the manufacturer's directions. Let cool before handling.
4. Trace one of the plastic hearts on the white paper. You'll want to trace one heart for each sheet of paper you want in your notebook. Also mark each of the holes in the plastic. Cut out all the hearts.
5. Poke holes in the paper where you've marked the holes. You'll want to try to match the size of the hole in the plastic hearts, if possible.
We had to use a small nail to make the holes in the paper in our example because we used a standard hole punch in step 2. If the holes in your plastic hearts are bigger, you may want to use a standard hole punch to make the holes in the paper.
6. Once the holes are ready, stack your notebook up. It should be in this order: back plastic heart, paper sheets, front plastic heart. You also need to match up all the holes.
7. When you have it all matched up, start at the back side and push the end of the pipecleaner through the end hole back, the paper, and the front. Pull it through until you have about an inch of the pipecleaner sticking out of the back. Make a basic whip stitch by putting the pipecleaner back up through the next hole on the bottom. Don't pull it tight - leave a small loop (this makes the spiral). Continue until you have laced up all the holes.
8. Use the wire cutters to crimp both ends of the pipecleaner and cut off the excess.
9. Use self adhesive foam hearts to decorate the front cover of the notebook. Now you can write in your notebook, give it as a gift, or create something else with it.
