A fun, easy gift idea

A blank sheet of paper and a pencil.
Oh the possibilities!
Am I strange, or does anyone else feel the inspiration when buying a new notebook, or turning to a fresh sheet of paper, just waiting to be filled.
Unfortunately, the only thing I seem to write lately is the grocery list! :)
Ever since I was young, I've loved to write, draw, and doodle while taking notes in class!  School supply shopping was almost as exciting as Christmas! Ok, I better stop or you'll start to think I'm REALLY odd!
Anyways... I have a brother who loves to draw.
He turned 11 last month and I wanted to give him some of that motivating freshness that I love.  ;)
So when I ran across the idea of homemade sketchpads, I had to try it.

It was simple really.
All you need is some thin cardboard or think card-stock paper.
I used the pages from one of last years' calendars.
Covering those in fun patterned paper, I created the front and back covers.

I taped them together with clear mailing tape, leaving it lay open.
I then cut regular printer paper to size, and used a stapler to fasten them to the tape and into the cover pages.

So simple.
So versatile.
Kids would love these for doodle books for car rides, church (if that sort of thing is allowed), or to create their own story books.
The rest of us could use them for grocery lists, handy purse/by the phone notebooks, and so on.
My brother, Damen, got a whole stack of them just waiting to be filled.
Happy 11th Birthday Damen!

(of course, I couldn't resist keeping a few for myself!)
:)