If you've got a stack of Easter egg dyed paper sitting around — or honestly any colourful scrap paper you've been meaning to use — this short tutorial might be just the nudge you need. I had these beautiful, scrunched, jewel-coloured pages that I'd made two Easters ago and never found quite the right project for. What came out of an afternoon of just going with it was a tear-away notepad with a beaded handle — something you could hang on the fridge, tuck into a junk journal, or wrap up as a gift.
What we cover
This tutorial covers making a tear-away notepad using machine sewing (instead of glue), setting eyelets, and creating a beaded twine handle. I also show a smaller variation with a long necklace-style handle and a charm — the kind of thing that looks beautiful hanging off a journal cover.
What you'll learn
How to make tear-away pages without glue — by sewing through the page stack with very close stitches at the top edge. The closer the stitches, the cleaner each page tears off. No soaking in glue, no clamps, no drying time.
How to attach a backboard using double-sided tape as a working hold — I sew the pages first while the stack is thin, then attach the cardboard backing separately. Trying to sew through pages and cardboard in one pass makes the stitching harder than it needs to be, so the double-sided tape gives you a secure temporary join while you move on to the next step.
How to set eyelets through a thick page stack, including:
- Using a cropadile (or an awl and hammer) to punch the holes
- A workaround for when your eyelets aren't quite long enough — pierce the pages first, then attach the backboard and glue them together before setting the eyelet, so the layers compress more tightly
How to make a beaded twine handle, including:
- A short loop handle for hanging on a hook or fridge magnet
- A long necklace-style handle for attaching to a journal cover
- Threading beads onto a single length of twine and knotting at the back so the front stays neat
How to add a charm to the handle — a simple way to turn a plain handle into something that looks quite finished. I used an old jewellery piece; anything with a small loop will work.
A journal-insert variation of the same notepad — same steps, but without the thick backboard, and with a longer handle so it drapes over the journal cover like a necklace. It's more decorative than functional, but it's a lovely little detail.
Using old or repurposed jewellery for the beading — if someone gives you a piece of old jewellery they'd otherwise throw away, the beads or charms can be worked into the handle and the notepad becomes a genuinely personal gift.
Tips & gotchas
Sew the pages before you attach the backboard. The page stack is already fairly thick, and adding cardboard underneath before you sew makes it noticeably harder to get close, even stitches. Do the sewing first, then bring the backing in.
When you're using double-sided tape to hold the backboard, it's doing a temporary job — it's not a permanent bond on its own. I only trusted it here because the eyelets and the handle string were going to do the real holding. If you're not planning on eyelets or a stitched handle, add glue as well.
If your eyelets aren't long enough to go all the way through the full stack, try this: punch the holes in the pages first without the backboard attached, then glue the pages and backboard together before setting the eyelet. The thinner separate layers compress more easily, and once everything is glued flat the eyelet has less distance to travel.
You don't need eyelets at all. Plain punched holes work fine — especially if you're threading twine through anyway. The eyelets are just there for reinforcement and a cleaner look.
For a quick gift version, plain white paper works just as well as the dyed pages. The beaded handle and a charm carry the beauty of the piece regardless of what the paper looks like underneath.
Once you've made a few of these, the decision that slows you down most is the handle — how long, which beads, front loop or back knot. I found it helped to have a small prototype to look at while I was deciding, rather than trying to work it all out in my head first.
A small tear-away notepad becomes a journal insert, the insert becomes a charm, the charm becomes a necklace detail on a cover — and at some point you're sitting there looking at a collection of journals all wearing their little accessories and wondering why you didn't do this sooner. The Easter egg dyed paper tutorial is coming at some point too, and when it does, these notepads will be a natural companion project — the dyed pages really are well-suited to something that shows each sheet off one at a time.
