Custom Binder Clips


As a teacher, one of my most used office supplies is the binder clip. So when I saw these on Pinterest, it seemed like the perfect project.

I started off by choosing a few slightly dinged up binder clips from my stash of office supplies.

For this project you'll need:
Scrapbook Paper
A scissors and/or paper cutter
Mod Podge and brush
Optional: A post-it note


I started off by making a pattern of the binder clip with a post-it note. You could use any size binder clip you want, but the one's I used ended up being 1 1/4" wide. When I wrapped the post it note around it and trimmed along the top on the opposite side, I ended up with a piece of paper that was 1 7/8" long and 1 1/4" wide. I took my post-it to my paper cutter and cut a 1 1/4" wide strip off of a 12" piece of scrapbook paper. I then used a scissors to make the short cut (a lot easier to make that cut straight). You could just as easily stick the post it note to your scrapbook paper and cut around it--which would come in handy if you had a pattern you wanted to center on the clip.



I chose a black and white pattern so that it would match the edges of the binder clip. Any pattern that would look good with black would do. It would be pretty easy to pop the silver parts of the clips off and spray paint the base if you were hoping to use a paper that didn't go well with black.


I was working with a pretty thick scrapbook paper, so I pre-folded the paper before gluing it onto the binder clip. If you were working with a thinner paper, you could probably skip this step. Next I spread the Mod Podge onto the paper and smoothed the paper onto the clip, being sure the edges were glued down well and the paper was smooth on the bottom (which can be a bit curved) of the clip.


After the paper is securely glued and left to dry, you can come back and spread on a protective coat of the Mod Podge. I was pretty liberal with last coat since I know the finished product will do it's fair bit of stretching and bending when being used.


I set the binder clips on their side to dry for a few hours and they were good to go!


I ended up with a cute set of custom binder clips. I can't wait to make more!



Note: I still have these clips--7 years later--and they've held up surprisingly well! Also, I mentioned spray painting the binder clips to use with different colors--I don't recommend that. The paint scratches off pretty easily--and worse yet, it leaves paint marks on the paper you're clipping.

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