make your own: recycled matchbook sketchpads.

For some of us, it’s a week for filling stockings and offering teacher gifts and generally expressing thanks and gratitude while in the midst of maybe also feeling a bit (or very) stretched. If so, this exceedingly sweet and simple gift idea from Rose is something kids can help with (or not, depending on the moods).

Children aren’t required in order to make these little gifts, of course, but for households with many prolific artists, this project is an excellent way to put all of that production to good use. In our apartment, there’s almost always a watercolor that can be co-opted for the cover and a stack of papers bearing only a handful of pencil flourishes that can be cut up in order to live a second life in a new notebook.

The finished project strikes the perfect balance of being homemade and useful, novel and familiar. A little set can be the gift itself, a single pad can top a present or stuff a stocking. An artful parent or older kid might turn one into a flip book. Kid art has maybe never been put to better use. As ever, Rose has the full instructions below.

Recycled Matchbook Sketchpads

Materials:

+ 1 sheet of recycled cardstock art (5”x 7” or larger)

+ 8-10 sheets of lightly used recycled paper (from a notebook or journal)

+ Scissors

+ Stapler

+ Ruler (optional)

+ Pencil (optional) 

Directions:

+ Cut the cardstock into strips roughly 2.25” x 7” lengths (the dimensions can easily be adjusted to create smaller or larger notebooks). 

+ Cut strips of recycled paper into strips that are a little bit smaller than the size of the cardstock measurements roughly 2”x 6.25” 

+ Fold the stack of recycled paper strips in half, lengthwise.

+ Fold down and crease the top ¾” edge of a cardstock strip.

+ Insert the folded edge of your recycled paper stack into the inside of the folded cardstock end and staple the top center to secure.

+ Fold the remaining length of cardstock over the paper and up towards the top. Make sure that the cardstock edge goes past the overlap but not under the staple. If it’s too long, trim with scissors. 

+ Tuck the remaining overlap underneath the flap to close, and crease the bottom fold.

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Thanks to Rose Pearlman for developing this projects and capturing the step-by-step imagery. Rose is an artist, teacher, and textile designer. With a background in fine arts and a love of well designed functional objects, her creations blur the lines between art and craft and pushes the boundaries with non-traditional techniques and materials. Rose teaches monthly rug hooking workshops in and around her home in NYC, and also welcomes commissions for one of a kind constructions in decor and home furnishings. Her work has been featured in fiber magazines, galleries, and numerous online design sites. Her book Modern Rug Hooking is available wherever books are sold. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her family.

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