DIY Mermaid Notebook Cover

Hello everyone! It’s one of my favorite times of the year… back to school season!! School looks a little different for everyone this year. But whether you’re going back in person, hybrid, all digital, or even trying a digital charter school or traditional homeschooling, everyone loves cute school supplies! Today I’m sharing this DIY Mermaid Notebook Cover that is perfect for jazzing up a cheap plain notebook OR putting new life into an old notebook.

Don’t we all have notebooks that our kids used 3 sheets out of and is still useable, but our kids trashed the cover? This is the perfect project to fix up those old notebooks! For this project I’m using my son’s old science notebook (that he never used) and some cute scrapbook paper I had on hand.

If you love mermaids, check out our mermaid activity pages, too!

Note: If you have a cutting machine like a Silhouette or Cricut, this project goes so much faster! Not going to lie, I went and (finally!!) picked up a Cricut for this project, and now I can’t stop using it. However, you can totally do this by hand! I’m including a png file at the bottom of this post that can be printed out to cut and trace, or imported into your cutting machine software. We love versatile project options!

DIY Mermaid Notebook Cover

Supplies:

• Notebook
• Scrapbook paper in mermaid colors
• Permanent adhesive roller
• Scissors/craft knife, pencil, dry erase marker (for holographic paper) OR Cricut/Silhouette

If you’re going to the hand cut method, we’re going to print out the png file and cut out the scalloped pieces. Set them on the paper you’re using, and trace them. I used a pencil for standard scrapbook paper. The holographic paper is so smooth that pencil won’t work, but a dry erase marker works perfectly and wipes away easily. Now you can cut out the pieces with your scissors or craft knife!

If you have a cutting machine, import the png into your software. Size it as you’d like (mine was sized out so the strips were 10 inches long, and cut them out!

At this point we’ll have a whole bunch of cut out strips in our different colors, a pair of scissors, the notebook, and our adhesive. First we’re going to cut a thin strip out of one of our papers that’s slightly longer than the notebook is wide. Roll some adhesive on the back, and stick it down against the bottom edge of the notebook.

Figure out what pattern you want the strips to be in. Take your first strip, and roll glue on the back near the flat top edge. We’re leaving the scalloped bottom unglued so it lifts slightly like real scales! Flip it over and glue it down so the scallops are only a tiny bit above the bottom edge of the notebook. See the point of the thin strip of paper now? It hides the tiny bit of notebook that would show through the bottom scallops. Okay! Now for the second strip we need to cup half a scallop off so we can offset the rows. Cut it straight up, glue your second strip, and place it so the curve of the scallop touches the point of the strip beneath it.

See how the scales can lift slightly with the way we glue it? So cool! If you have a younger kid who is slightly rougher with notebooks, you can glue these down as well to make it a bit sturdier. Keep adding rows, making sure to trim off half a scallop every other row. When you get to the top, we’re actually going to place the last row of glue on the top of the strip that’s already glued down.

Then press your last row of scallops on that glue. You’ll probably have overhang at the top and at the sides, but we’ll take care of that! Open the cover of your notebook. See all that extra paper? Use you scissors or a craft knife and trim off all that excess carefully.

And you’re all done! Isn’t this the cutest notebook? You can also do this on a composition notebook, folder, or even a binder!

I love how the holographic paper shines and glitters!

I hope you all enjoy making your own DIY Mermaid Notebook Cover! Just click on the picture below to print out the template, and have fun! P.S: This can also be a fish or dragon scale notebook with the right colors!