Difficulty: Medium

Things you will need (per notepad):

• 2 Postcards (or you can use any type of thick card)
• 10 sheets of A4 paper 
• 2 sheets of A5 wrapping paper/wallpaper
• Felt-tip Pens
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Ribbon or string
• Glue (both glue-stick and superglue)
• Decorative items – stickers, magazines, newspapers, glitter, wrapping paper

Instructions:

1. Each A4 piece of paper will make four A6 pieces for your notepad (so you will have a total of forty pages in your A6 notepad). Simply fold your A4 paper in half and then fold in half again. Open up your paper and cut along the fold lines. 
2. Repeat for all of your A4 paper until you have forty sheets of A6 paper. Remember if you want to make your notepad even more interesting why not use a mixture of different coloured papers. Now take your hole punch and make holes at the top (or side, depending on which style you prefer) of your sheets of A6 notepad paper – try to make sure they are in the same place on each sheet otherwise you may end up with a wonky notepad!
3. Now you need to make the cover for your notepad. Take both of your postcards (these will be the front and back of your notepad) and cover them with your two pieces of A5 wrapping paper, coloured paper or material. It is important to create a blank canvas for you to start decorating.
4. Next take two sheets of your A6 notepad paper and stick on reverse of postcard to cover any folds. Then punch two holes (in the same place as your notepad paper).
5. Now have a think about your design. Do you want to make a more feminine or masculine notepad? Remember that images and patterns will often work better than large blocks of text as we will not be able to translate it. But if you want to write bold words like “Peace” or “Strength” then that could also be very effective.
6. Once you have finished your design you need to bring all the pieces of notepad together by using your string or ribbon to join them. Make sure your knots are tight (if you want to be extra sure of security why not add a dab of superglue to the knot).
7. Once they are finished why not take some photos of your group with their finished notepads and send them over to us for our website

TOP TIPS

• Often local cinemas have tons of free postcards in their reception area!
• You could make different size notepads if you’re feeling adventurous.
• Please do not mention Release on your notepads for security reasons.