Fall “Pumpkin Spice Me” Notebook DIY

This DIY Fall “Pumpkin Spice Me” Notebook combines two favorite things – notebooks and Pumpkin Spice! I absolutely love notebooks of all shapes and sizes. I always have several lying around that I use for journals, to do lists, planners, idea books, the list is endless. And, with fall upon us, Pumpkin Spice abounds!

I am always on the lookout for pretty notebooks or small spiral notebooks that I can fit easily in my purse. I’ve found I can’t always find exactly what I’m looking for so I decided to start making my own. By doing so, I can use sturdy covers (a necessity inside my purse) and make them in any size and shape I want! The cover also gives me another opportunity to create beautiful designs and funny sayings.

To make notebooks I use a great tool called “The Cinch” to punch holes and “bind” the spiral notebooks together. It’s a handy little device that allows you to make notebooks of different shapes and sizes, as well as varying spiral sizes.

This cute fall notebook is easy to make so let’s get to it!

FALL “PUMPKIN SPICE ME” NOTEBOOK

This is a fairly easy project to make using either scissors or a Cricut machine (I have the Cricut Maker and I LOVE it – read my blog post about The Amazing Cricket Maker to learn more). I created both an SVG file and a PDF file for the design. You can get both templates for free by clicking below:

Materials Needed to Make this Fall Notebook

MAKING THE NOTEBOOK

Making the notebook is not complicated. It involves cutting the front and back covers, cutting the filler paper, loading it on the spiral, and binding it all together using The Cinch!

WARNING: obvious pun coming

It really is a cinch to make!

See what I did there?

(please don’t leave)

STEP 1: Cut the Covers and Filler Paper

Using the chipboard, cut the front and back covers for the notebook. This particular notebook is 6 inches by 8 inches. You can cut it using scissors or a guillotine paper cutter.

Measure the chipboard to the desired sizes and cut accordingly.

You will the have two pieces of equally sized 6 by 8 inch chipboard.

Next, cut the filler paper. For this notebook I cut the filler paper 1/4 inch smaller than the covers making the filler 5-3/4 by 7-3/4 inches. By cutting the filler slightly smaller, it allows for a slight overhang of the cover to protect the paper inside. You don’t have to make the filler smaller if you don’t want to, it’s really a matter of preference.

You can cut as much filler paper as you’d like (and that your spiral will hold). For this project I cut probably 40 to 50 pages. When finished you will have two correctly sized covers – front and back – and plenty of filler paper for your notebook!

Step 2: Punch Holes in Filler Paper and Covers

This is where my favorite little tool, The Cinch, comes into play. You will use it to punch the holes in the covers and filler, as well as load and bind the spiral into place!

Begin by punching holes in the filler paper. The Cinch can only handle a few pages at a time so you will have to multiple batches. On The Cinch there is a moveable ruler to help you line up the holes properly. To evenly punch the holes, I set The Cinch ruler to 1/8″ in from the ruler being fully flush against the side of The Cinch.

Before punching the holes, make sure all the turquoise knobs are pushed in. When they are pushed in, the plunger will come down and cut the hole. If they are pulled out, the ones that are pulled out will not cut a hole. After confirming that all buttons are pushed in, begin punching the holes in the filler paper.

Due to the size of the filler paper, you will not be able to punch all the holes in one go. After you punch the initial holes, adjust the ruler an inch to the left thus having it at 1/8 inch before the number 12 line on the top ruler (essentially just under the number 12 on the ruler).

Next, pull out all the turquoise knobs from 1 through 10 so they do not punch holes. Only numbers 11 and 12 should be pushed in to punch the remaining two holes.

Once you have these settings in place, you can punch the remaining two holes.

Repeat the above steps to punch the holes in all of the filler paper and two cover pieces.

Step 3: Assemble and Bind the Spiral Notebook

To assemble the notebook, cut the spiral to the appropriate size to fit the covers and filler paper. You can cut the spiral wire to the desired size using wire cutters.

Load the spiral onto the side of the The Cinch.

Next, load the spiral with the back cover.

Next, load the filler paper:

Finally, add the front cover to the notebook spiral:

Once you have all the parts of the notebook on the spiral, turn the Cinch to the back. Set the spiral size to the size of the spiral you are using. In this case, it is 3/4 inch on the spiral.

Next, place the spiral in the binding section at the back of The Cinch. Be sure to have the spiral openings flush against the back of The Cinch.

Press the handle down slowly so the spiral begins to close. Move slowly to make sure the spiral closes properly, in a round form, and not too tightly. The front and back of the spiral should just meet or slightly overlap.

The notebook is now complete.

ADDING THE DESIGN TO THE NOTEBOOK

If you are using a Cricut to cut your design, continue on to Step 1. If you are cutting the design using scissors, skip to Step 2.

Step 1: Upload the SVG to Cricut Design Space

Download the SVG file through the links within this post and upload it into Cricut Design Space. The file will look like this:

STEP 2: Cut the Shapes and Lettering

Next, choose your desired colors of vinyl you want to use for the designs and lettering and cut per the Cricut machine prompts or with scissors.  When you are finished cutting you will have multiple pieces of the design ready to assemble.

PLEASE NOTE: If you don’t have a Cricut machine and want to cut the pieces out by hand, you can use the PDF file as a guide.

STEP 3: Transfer the Design Pieces and Lettering

As I cut each piece of the design, I use transfer paper to have all the pieces ready to layer once cutting is complete. I find it easier to do it this way as I could cut everything first and then assemble the design.

Begin to transfer the design to the notebook piece by piece. Layer the design starting with the cup, then adding the top:

Next add the thin piece on the top of the cup, the cup sleeve, and the pumpkin design and lettering to create the final design:

While I used this design to make a notebook, it would also look great on a coffee or travel mug! You can re-size the SVG to meet your needs!

Where do I Get the SVG and PDF Files?

You can download the SVG and PDF files for this specific project by clicking below:

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS PROJECT? POST IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!