Upcycled Book Notebooks made with the Cinch DIY

Upcycled Book Notebooks made with the Cinch DIY

I love notebooks, do you?  I have a bazillion notebooks.  Some I write in...some I doodle in...and some just sit there, too nice to mark up.  But I love notebooks all the same.  The next best things to notebooks, is making more notebooks!  This tutorial is all about taking old books and upcycling them into wire bound notebooks.

Don't fret though.  We aren't wasting books.  Find some old books on the shelf, at the thrift store or in a garbage pile and upcycle the cover for a notebook.  Keep all the pages for upcycling into their own fun crafts...like these:

Book Page Rosettes
Whimsical and ephemera-like roses with glistening gold on the edges.


Rolled Paper Frame
This frame turned out adorably...but it's the most tedious craft ever...do not attempt!


Book Page Pinwheels
Cute and whimsical...covered with some chunky glitter!

Okay, let's get back to these wonderful Book Cover Sketch and Notebooks!

Supplies Needed:

Hard Book Cover
Hobby Knife
32 lb. Paper
Paper Cutter
Cinch Binding Tool
Binding Wires (Cinch compatible 2:1)

I'm using an old model of the We R Memory Keepers Cinch Binding machine.  I found it at my local thrift store and bought it for $15.  I love it!  It was such a GREAT price!  You can buy a newer Cinch Binding Machine model on amazon:  (aff link)


Here's a video of the process that helps demonstrate the machine at work:

Begin with your books.  I love Sherlock Holmes...but I felt okay about ripping off the cover because I have the complete works on my Kindle...have you switched to digital books?  Or do you love the tangible book and the turning of the pages?

This Mother Goose book is adorable beyond belief!  But the binding was falling apart...I'll use the darling nursery rhymes and images for another project.

Start by cutting off the covers with the hobby knife.

Cut off the front and the back of the book cover.

Measure the cover and check the chart on the We R Memory Keepers Cinch binder.  It will let you know which button to pull.

Slide the cover in and press down firmly.  Then pull the stop of the number listed and then slide the ruler out and line up the edge of the book cover on the edge, then press down again.

I love 32 pound paper.  It's at least got to be 24 pounds.  Use the paper cutter to cut pages to fit the size of the book cover.  Go through the hole punching process on each paper.  You can cut up to 20 pages at once.

Then follow the directions to add the wire to the cover and papers.  When inserting the book covers, start with the back cover and place it on the wires upside down.  Then add the cover face down on the back cover, upside down too.  Then add all the paper to the wires.  Watch the video for more specifics!

 Then press in the cinch to make the wires nice, tight and round...again, watch the video I made.

Now you have amazing notebooks filled with high quality paper ready to record memories, sketch pictures, or doodle inside.  Great handmade gift ideas too!

Check out this post on another great We R Memory Keepers product!
The Envelope Punch Board:

Here's the full video tutorial for this fun Envelope board too!

This post published on Doodlecraft first