Payson Winters {Unique Jewelry Designs}: Matchbook Note Tutorial

Before I begin this tutorial, I just want to thank AmberSky for featuring one of my items in her treasury!

And now on to the tutorial.

Tonight we are going to learn to make those adorable matchbook notebooks. I make mine out of recycled cigarette cartons, but you can use any thick paper you want. I like patterned cardstock for these as well.

Your finished product will come out looking like these:

Lets get started, shall we?

First you'll need to gather a few tools. Necessities include an Xacto knife, cork-backed ruler, and a self-healing cutting board, and a stapler. I have a fancy paper cutter which makes things a lot easier, but it of course is optional. You can do just fine with your Xacto and ruler.

Your supplies should include the cardstock you want to use for the matchbook itself and the filler paper. I use discarded faxes from my day job as filler paper.

The first step will be to cut all the edges off of your cigarette carton. Cut off the box flaps on the sides and either end of the carton.

Next you will need to cut the carton (or cardstock) to 9 inches in length. After this, we will cut the carton into three 1 7/8" strips, going parallel to the folds in the carton. If you use 100s size cigarette cartons you can get 5 strips out of it, instead of the 3 that you get with regular king size. If you are using cardstock, then you will end up with 3 or 4 strips depending on the size you are using.

After you've got your 3 pieces of carton or cardstock, cut them in half so that they are 4 1/2" in length.

Now we need to score the matchbook so that it will fold easily. Using the paper piercer (or Xacto if you don't have one) score along the piece, starting from the bottom up. Measure 1/2 inch up and score. Then measure 2" from that score line and score again. Then measure 1/4" from that second score line and score again. You should have 3 score lines in total when you are done.

You can put the cardstock pieces to the side after you're done scoring them. Now it's time to cut the filler paper. I use 8 1/2x11 sheets of copier paper that are lightly printed on one side. No use letting this stuff get into a landfill, since my job doesn't recycle paper properly.

I cut the copier paper 1 3/4 x 1 7/8 that way it's not right up to the edge of the notebook. I use 10 sheets of filler paper for mini notebooks. It makes them just the right size and doesn't kill my stapler. If you've got a more heavy duty stapler then you could feasibly do up to 20 sheets of filler if you wanted.

Go ahead and staple your notebook right in the middle of that 1/2" fold. This will overlap the top flap and keep your notebook closed and keep your pages in place.