Sunday School - Personalized Notepads

Good morning CraftyStealers!

This past week was a busy one at my house.  Mother's Day Tea with one child, Field Day with another, Teacher Appreciation gifts to be made, and an early Mother's Day celebration (my mom loved her Jacob's Ladder mini-album by the way!).  So many occasions, and so many gifts I have to come up with!

In preparation, I literally scoured the web looking for easy, yet personal gifts - I was amazed at what I found.  I now have a mile-long list of projects to try!  Today, I am passing on another quick, simple, and budget-friendly gift idea.  I found it on the crafty blog, Skip to My Lou, and it is a way to (cheaply) make personalized notepads.

First, I headed to the office supply store and picked up a ream of paper. (I got white, basic, cheap $3.99 a ream paper).  Then I walked it over to the services center of the store and asked them to cut the ream into four equal pieces.  Then I asked them to "pad" each stack (the padding, is glue - so it turned each stack into one notepad).  Each "cut" (They had to do 2) was $.50 and each "pad" was $.50).  NOTE: Make sure to tell the person working the counter that you need STRAIGHT edged paper.  Apparently it can be important - because when I came back later, the kid at the counter hadn't taken great care, so each stack was crooked.  I had them re-cut the stacks, and they had to divide each stack in half - so instead of four huge stacks, I took home 8 still pretty big stacks.  It was serendipitous, because I think the smaller stacks are much more manageable.  Here is my pile o' pads:

Next, I decorated the pad's sides and top with stamps, and tied up neatly with a ribbon and bow.

These are such a great way to give a little something special to anyone who needs some love - a dad, a grad, friend, or end-of-year gift for a teacher.  I'm even thinking of having it as a craft (and favor!) for the next birthday party at my house! 

To make it even easier for you to pull together that end-of-year teacher gift - today's American Crafts Wood Stamps steal is PERFECT to decorate the pads AND make a matching card - all for a STEAL!!
I hope everyone has a great Sunday, and if you are celebrating today, Happy Mother's Day!