Friday, May 29, 2009

Decorative Binder Clips

I figured I would just jump on in with a tutorial. This is a simple project that I learned to make several years ago but forgot about them until I saw someone else making them. You know how it is, you learn something, make a bunch of them and then move on to other things and forget about things here and there. So anyways here we go. Be patient with me as this is my first ever tutorial.

1. Here is what we will be making today. You can use any paper that you like. I am catering to several people's likes thus the random camo, bright happy stripes, and purple pattern designs. I bought some zebra paper at Hobby Lobby the other day that I thought would be perfect for this. Photobucket

2. Here are the supplies you will need.
A. Cutting mat
B. Mod Podge ( I love this stuff )
C. Binder Clip
D. X-acto knife
E. foam brush
F. Paper of your choosing
G. template (I made one out of a business card I had gotten.) I used a tape measure to measure the binder clip and then created the template so I could just use the X-acto knife to cut around it. Makes is super easy!
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3. Cut out paper using cutting mat, template and X-acto knife.
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4. Use foam brush to spread a little Mod Podge on back of your paper. Remember a little goes a long way! I put down a piece of scrap paper to do this step so I won't have to scrub Mod Podge off of my cutting mat.
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5. Place the paper on the clip and line it all up. Make sure to press down on the bottom of the binder clip as it's a little rounded and the paper won't secure unless you press it down. Let dry for about 10 minutes.
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6. Now just put a small layer of Mod Podge over your paper to seal it in and keep it from tearing.
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7. Viola once the Mod Podge has dried you have a cute binder clip.
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I am making several of the zebra ones for my supervisor at work. I am making her a gift basket for her birthday that will have these, button tacks, magnets, and a notepad. All are going to be in the black and white theme and I may dress some of them up with my pink or red accents. I will post a picture of the finished basket.

If you make these I would love to see how your's turn out. I love seeing what all papers people choose to use.

Happy Crafting.

7 comments:

Lo said...

LOVE them! I just made clipboards like that. I bought the exact zebra paper but ended up using the cheetah print because my oldest loves cheetahs. Im using the clipboard for homework and other school stuff :)

Very Shannon said...

Love this idea! So fun!

Lorie said...

Very cute! We have about a million of those in our house. I might have to dress some up!

Covered In Crafts said...

I love the ones you did! I haven't done that in a while either. Thanks for the reminder!

Kim at Polka Dot Thought said...

Te he he! These are adorable and a must for my office at work! Cute idea!

Unknown said...

Great idea! Check out my crafty blog for some projects you might really like!
http://www.creativejewishmom.com

Unknown said...

Hi,
Love this idea....!!!!
Check for some nice idea's my site at; paperwrapping; tubepurses etc. etc...
http://www.ursulavandongen.com