DIY | Decorative Tape Notebook

Last updated on 23 May 2022

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I don’t know about you but getting my craft on is something that can be so soothing for the soul. And one of the easiest craft projects I’ve done for this quick and easy craft series that I’ve been doing is this DIY decorative tape notebook.

If you’re anything like me, then you probably have what seems to be an endless supply of notebooks. And you’re probably one to buy every pretty one you see, even though you still have many sitting empty on your shelves. Amiright or amiright?

Hmm, I thought so.

But here’s the thing! Some of the notebooks that I have on my shelves are perfect for bigger projects or they’re art journals, but they’re just boring on the front. They’re black or white or card-coloured and when a notebook doesn’t look pretty it’s hard to find the motivation to pick it up and use it.

Again, that might just be me.

I decided to give a bit of a spruce up to one of my art journals, and thus the DIY decorative tape notebook was created! And it’s actually so so easy!

What you need to make a DIY decorative tape notebook

• A notebook of your choosing
• Some pretty tape (pattern Scotch tape like I’ve used, or washi tape)
• Optional if ring-bound notebook: a strip of fabric

For this DIY I used an A4 ring bound art journal, but obviously, this will work with whatever you have. If you have a ring-bound notebook, I suggest using a strip of fabric too, because the tape won’t really work over the ring-bound edge.

And with that in mind, here’s how you make it!

How to make a DIY decorative tape notebook

1. First, make sure that your notebook is clean. Give it a wipe over with a dry cloth to remove any dust.
2. Take your tape, and run it carefully down the length of the front cover of your notebook. Fold the ends into the notebook, to hold them in place.
3. Take the tape again and run along the line down the cover, either leaving a gap if you like that look or slightly overlapping to form a fully-covered cover.

And that’s basically it!

Spiral-Bound variation

Grab a piece of scrap material that goes with your tape and cut it so it’s a bit longer than the notebook. I actually suggest doing this with the notebook closed.

Place an edge over the spiral, so it’s on the cover itself, and put another strip of tape along it, sticking it to the cover. Flip the notebook over and put a little bit of tape on this side, and then just check that you can comfortably still open and close your notebook.

If you can’t, give the spiral a little extra material by removing the tape your just placed.

Play around with the tension if you need to, to get it just right. If it’s good, grab another long piece of tape and tape that baby down! Tuck the remaining fabric from the top and bottom to the inside cover, like you did with the tape. If you find this comes undone, try sticking it down with Mod Podge or hot glue gun, or something similar to keep it down.

And you’re done! This DIY decorative tape notebook is a super quick and easy craft to do but will immediately make your notebooks a lot prettier.

And who knows – maybe you’ll even start using this one!

Will you give this DIY tutorial a go?