Make a Pocket Size Notebook with these Colourful List Printables

I love making lists and taking notes!  While having pretty paper to write on isn’t a necessity for either of those activities, it certainly doesn’t hinder them.  When I found myself in need of some more note paper for my planners, I decided it was was good time to make some of own.  I wanted something that I could use in my planners for adding in things here and there, but I also wanted something that wouldn’t take up a ton of room.  The result is the pocket size, colourful list printables you’ll find below.

Colourful List Printables in Monotone

When I sat down to make them I decided that I wanted them to simple and flexible, but still fun.  To keep them simple I went for a monotone look, similar to what I used for the Understated Rainbow collection.  For flexibility I didn’t label them in any way.  This way you can decide how to label them or if you even want too.  Rather than making them lined, I opted for the alternating shaded lines.  This served two purposes – a guide for those of us who need a little help writing in a straight line and adding that little extra bit to make them ‘fun’.

There are 8 colours you can choose from.  I honestly couldn’t decided which ones I liked best so I included all of them.  You can pick the colour you like best or use them all.  If you like to colour code things, I’m sure you could put them to work for in that capacity as well.

I plan to use them for a variety of purposes:

• add-ons for my weekly and daily planning
• shopping lists
• goal setting (one goal per page)
• project planning to do lists
• general to-lists
• turning them into a notebook (see below for instructions on how I’m doing that)

Colourful List Printables – Mixed

Because I couldn’t decide which colours I liked best, I also made these mixed colour versions.  I thought these might be fun to include on their own for those who like to mix things up.

If you’re new to Scattered Squirrel, to snag a copy of any of the printables for yourself, just simply click the pictures of the ones you want and the PDF version will open for you to save. All of the printables are for personal use only.

For those who would like to have all four of the pages pictured above, I combined them all into one file.

Just click the picture above to grab the rainbow set.  This is the file I’m using to make my notebook, because I couldn’t pick which colours I liked best.

As I’ve already mentioned, I designed these pages so that they could be used in a variety of ways:

• cut out each box and use them as loose note/list pages
• cut and stack them and staple together to make a mini notepad
• after cutting them out, hole punch them or use washi to put them into your planner
• or follow the instructions down below to find out how to turn them into a pocket size notebook.

How to Make Them Into a Notebook

Even before I started using traveler’s notebooks, I liked to have a small notebook to carry on me.  I like to make notes and jot things down as the day goes on.  I thought these colourful list printables would make very pretty notebook paper.  Best of all, it’s really easy to make a notebook out of them.

You can read and follow my steps below, or you can click here to hop over to YouTube to check out this tutorial by AdventuresInDIY.

Step 1 – Printing Them Out

It’s best if they’re printed double-sided, though they don’t need to be.

Make sure to print them at Actual Size (Do NOT select fit to page or they won’t work quite right)

Print out 8-12 pages, depending on how thick you want the notebook.

Step 2 – Cutting the Paper

I tried to make this step easier by adding a light dashed line in the center of the page.

Double check that your printer didn’t accidentally add a margin to the top or bottom before you cut, by folding the page in half to see if the line is in the center. 

Cut all the pages in half across the middle.

Step 3 – Fold and Stack

Now that you’ve got the pages cut in half, you can fold each sheet in half again so that each list box becomes its own page.  Once they are all folded, slide them together, or open them all back up and stack them so the fold is the middle.  Then fold them all together into a book.

Folding each page on it’s own can make it easier to fold.  But, you can also stack all the pages together and then fold them all at once if you’d like.  I’ve tried it both ways, and find that folding them all together is quicker, but it’s a little more tedious trying to get a straight fold.

Step 4 – Trim and Bind

Keep your pages folded.

With the fold on the left, use an a box cutter or exacto knife and ruler to trim the edges so they’re all even.

For a pocket size book measure 3.5″ from the fold to the edge and mark it.  Trim away the excess, and you’ll be left with a 3.5′ x 5.5′ book.

To bind – you can staple the center of the book, sew along the fold, use an elastic or string around the center to hold the booklet together.

Bonus Tip

Use scrapbook paper or card stock to create a cover for your notebook.

Now It’s Your Turn

I’d love to hear what you think about these colourful list printables.  Are they something you will use?  If so, how are you going to use them?  Drop me a line in the comments below and let’s keep the conversation going.