Simple Stitched Notebooks

 Believe it or not, Christmas is here again. My Christmas break from college started on the 16th so when I got home there wasn't much time to get gifts together for my friends. I had already bought a few small things earlier in the year but I felt like my gifts still needed a little something, so I went searching through my brain (and Pinterest) for a quick and easy hand-made gift inspiration. I always like to add something handmade to gifts because it is an inexpensive way to add a personal touch and I have a lot more fun making things than I do buying things.
I ended up finding an idea in my brain for some monogrammed notebooks.

It doesn't look very Christmas-y out there. No snow yet.

I've made five notebooks so far and will probably end up making a few more before the season is over. I used regular printer paper for the pages and some letter size craft paper card stock for the cover. I cut everything in half down the short side so that I had 8 1/2" X 5 1/2" rectangles, then folded everything in half, put it all together, and  used a sewing machine to stitch along the fold to bind everything together. Once the notebooks were bound I embellished them by stitching on some fabric scraps and stamping the initial of the recipient on them.

Cute, huh? I'm hoping to still make a bigger, Listography-style one for my little sis' for Christmas (shh! don't tell!). Yes I realize that Christmas is only two days away. I'm on top of this.