Saturday 9 February 2013

Make a flexible today marker and note holder for your Filofax

It's DIY time again. This is part today marker, part note holder for important messages you want to see every day.


The marker acts as a sleeve for a piece of paper or card which you have cut to size. One usage suggestion is shown below, but you could also use this to carry your reading or shopping list, or if you're abroad a few important phrases in the local language perhaps.


And you don't need to choose just one use, either. Because it is transparent, you can have a different note facing the other way.

The paper note is easy replaceable, thanks to the crafty shaping of the back piece, behind the 'Today' tab:


The piece of card that runs the full height of the marker is used to glue the open cut sides together and to strengthen the edge that will be stressed when you remove it from and replace it on the rings. After punching, use scissors to cut slots from each hole to the edge. This means you can move it easily from week to week without having to open the rings.


So, how is it made? Well, if you've studied the pictures, you should already have a pretty good idea, but I'll run through the steps.

You should start with a clear polypropylene file folder, one of these, for instance:


These are closed on the bottom and left, open at the top and right. Choose one that's fairly thick and robust.

Your starting point is to use a Filofax page as a rough guide to cut out the part you want. It's the bottom, left-hand corner of the folder where the joined sides meet. The piece you cut out should be about 0.5 - 1.5 cm taller than a Filofax page (depending whether you want it to protrude at the bottom as well as at the top.) The width is a matter of personal choice. Mine is about 60% of the width of a Filofax page.

Next you'll need the strip of card for the side. This should be the full height of the piece and 1.5 cm wide. Glue it on both sides and place between the two open long edges. Leave it to dry and trim at the top if necessary.

Next you can punch the holes. Because you're punching plastic, this isn't as straightforward as paper because the plastic will resist the cut and try to stretch instead. Having the card helps, but I've found a single hole punch works better than the 6-hole ones. Use a Filofax page as a guide for where to punch and cut the slots with scissors.

Now you can shape the top tab with a craft knife, before turning the piece over to shape the reverse. This is the hardest bit, because you want to cut through only one layer of plastic, not both of them. I did it by first cutting a few pieces of scrap card to fit together between the layers. Then, I used a craft knife and cut the shape freehand. The blade bit into the card underneath, but didn't penetrate to the plastic behind.

So, how will you use yours?

4 comments:

Minnie said...

Love it!!! Brilliant!

Unknown said...

Would it be easier to do the shaping before you glue the card so you still have the open edges making it easier to get to the individual sheets of plastic?

Ray Blake said...

Yes, that might work better. I'll give it a try.

Just passing by said...

Step by step pictures would have been helpful

LinkWithin2

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...