empty notebooks

I'm making boxes of "happy" for the kids to open when I go into labor with Baby Quattro. This week I added tons of empty notebooks. All three of my kids LOVE drawing and writing stories. Sometimes I put little books like this together for them and they doodle away for almost an hour. Here's what you will need to make homemade empty notebooks...
Blank paper (typing paper, notebook paper, old journal paper, paper grocery bags, etc.)
Thread
Washi tape, Masking tape, Duct tape, etc.

Cut three or four sheets of paper to the size you like and fold. Sew along middle of book to bind it together. I hand stitched a few and machine stitched a few (machine stitching is MUCH faster).

I covered a few of the books in pages from our favorite kids catalogs then I added tape to the outside edge to finish. Boom! Simple, easy and fast happiness.

Side note: I usually stock up on Washi Tape at a local market in our town. However, one night I was running low on a few colors that I loved. Charlie happened to be on amazon ordering a book and I clicked on my beloved washi tapes and added them to his cart real quick. I DID KNOW that Washi Tape is originally from Japan and it is made out of rice paper. I DID NOT KNOW that if you order Washi Tape from amazon it gets shipped to you all the way from Hong Kong. Did you hear that? All the way from Hong Kong. I'll just run downtown for Washi Tape next time.