Paperdori

I love discovering new worlds, and thus has begun my Midori-Fauxdori obsession. Midoris originate from Japan and are a kind of notebook where you buy a leather shell, and then you insert individual notebooks. These notebooks can be lined for writing, or blank or made of a sturdier art paper for painting.  Fauxdoris are like Midoris but can come in different colours, sizes & materials and are not made by the Midori company. Check out Etsy or Chic Sparrow for some awesome options! There are also Fabricdoris; haven't ventured there yet. But paperdoris are pretty easy to do!

I found some cute little notebooks at Tuesday Morning by Eccolo for $1.99.  They are 5 1/4" X 3 1/2" and I measured out my scrapbook paper allowing for half an inch more to those dimensions; so the paperdori is 5 3/4" X 4"  Here is the final product I made for my friend Tessa:

This is her favourite quote by John Morgan; Doing diffuses fear. I put quotes on post-it notes and stick them to my mirror in the bathroom. This was one of the notes. I printed this out on some scrapbook paper and then laminated it.

Here's the shell, without the books:

What I would do differently: I would have scored where the elastic bands are, so there wouldn't be that awkward crease. It's not visible when it's closed, but I think it would help better with wear and tear. Another thing I would do differently is that I would NOT laminate the inside because it puckered and I ended up cutting down the middle and overlapping it a bit. This prolly wouldn't be an issue if I'd used a heat laminator.

I punched in a bigger hole to accommodate 2 elastic bands:

About the elastic cord: It was vibrantly rainbowish & multi-coloured & I needed it to be more muted and dark. So I used a black Sharpie marker and dyed the cord. 

For the enclosure elastic, I used a Pilot gold marker:

I used goldish beads to secure the elastic on the outside of the notebook:

and I added a butterfly charm at the top:

This was actually a silver charm, but I used the same gold pen to colour it:

This is what it looks like on the inside:

That first thing is an insert folder that I made using left-over paper:

Outer folder.

Inside folder.

The insert folder slips around the first two notebooks:

Here's how I secured the two butterfly books together before I slipped them under the elastic:

With a rubber band along the center of each notebook.

See?

Here's the last book:

Oops, no photo, but I added some quotes in the book to get her started!

Here's the back:

 

Materials I used:
Aforementioned gold marker
Non-heat laminate roll.  I got it from the craft store and it says "Peel & Stick."  Here's something comparable from Avery.
Eyelet and Snap punch
Corner rounder
Scrapbook paper
2mm elastic cord. I got mine at the craft store, but here's something comparable on Amazon.
Charms, beads from craft store.
Scissors
Packing tape to tape together the papers for the insert folder.
Rubber band to connect 2 of the notebooks together.

Here's a quick flip-thru of the paperdori:

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