Inexpensive, Easy Unicorn Composition Notebook Tutorial

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It's back-to-school time, and time for shopping for all those school supplies for the new year.  Go back to school in style by turning a plain composition notebook into this magical unicorn notebook using materials bought at the dollar store! Magical unicorn fun and saving money on back to school shopping--just the kind of shopping and crafting experience I love!

A composition notebook transformed into a magical unicorn notebook.

My daughter needs four composition notebooks for her class this year, and we decided to have some fun.  I never know exactly what I'll find at the dollar store, but I can always dependably find some categories of supplies that I knew would be perfect for our unicorn composition book craft. And I always find some fun surprises while I'm there, too!  

Materials for the Unicorn Notebook from the 99 Cents Only store.

The 99 is the best place to buy inexpensive silk flowers for crafts; I save TONS compared to shopping craft stores.  It's also a fabulous place to buy glue gun sticks at a great price.  And they always have classic composition notebooks in their office and school supplies section.  I know this, because I depend on being able to find those composition notebooks even after all the other big box retailers have liquidated their back to school supplies.  I love to get crafty with composition notebooks to make favors kids will really like and use (like the wolf notebooks or the archaeological field notebooks I've made in the past). The 99 has all the name brands I need, and at a price that can't be beat.

Little girl holding a unicorn notebook with unicorn horn bookmark.

Turning a plain composition notebook into a magical unicorn notebook is a much better way to customize and claim ownership than just writing your name on the cover, isn't it?  

Unicorn Notebook and unicorn horn bookmark materials

Materials for Unicorn Notebook Craft:

  • plain composition book
  • inexpensive silk flowers
  • sparkling craft foam
  • contact paper
  • sequin ribbon

Composition notebook being covered in pink contact paper

Self-adhesive pink contact paper was perfect for covering my composition book in a durable, pale pink finish.  

Composition notebook being covered in pink contact paper

Carefully peel off the backing from the contact paper and apply to the cover of the composition book.  Cut a V at the top and bottom of the book in the middle, right at the spine, then fold the edges in to the inside cover of the notebook.

Composition notebook being covered in pink contact paper

Tip for Applying Contact Paper:

  • Use a plastic bench scraper (for baking) to help smooth the contact paper out and get rid of any bubbles.

Composition notebook being covered in pink contact paper

The black and white cover of the composition notebook showed through a single layer of the contact paper, so I simply added a second layer, just like the first.

Composition notebook decorated to look like a unicorn with a unicorn horn bookmark.

Remove the silk flowers from their stems, and glue the flowers to the top of the notebook.  Draw on easy eyes and eyelashes with a permanent marker.

Unicorn Horn Bookmark Tutorial:

Unicorn horn bookmark made out of silver glitter craft foam and pink sequins.

The all-important unicorn horn is actually a bookmark for the composition book!

Printable Unicorn Horn Template:

Navigational image leading reader to free printable unicorn horn template.

If you don't want to freehand a unicorn horn yourself, I made a free, printable template for you to use to make the unicorn horn bookmark.

Purple cardstock being cut into a strip of paper for the base of the bookmark.

The lower portion of the unicorn bookmark is made from a simple strip of cardstock.  I cut a piece 1.5" wide, and the length of a standard letter-sized piece of cardstock.  Fold the strip of cardstock in half and glue together using a hot glue gun to increase the thickness and durability.

Silver craft foam being cut into a unicorn horn shape with a printable unicorn horn template.

Trace the unicorn horn shape on the back of a piece of glittery craft foam, and cut out. 

Foam unicorn horn being outlined with hot pink sequin string.

Glue sequined string to the outline of the unicorn horn.

Glue the sparkling unicorn horn to the top of the strip of bookmark paper, and insert in the unicorn notebook to finish off the magical transformation.

DIY unicorn composition notebook with unicorn horn bookmark, surrounded by flowers.

DIY unicorn composition notebook with unicorn horn bookmark

If there's anything that could get my girls excited for going back to school, it's fun school supplies!  Thank goodness it doesn't have to break the bank with a little creativity and smart shopping.

DIY unicorn composition notebook with unicorn horn bookmark

Pin it for later!

Collage of unicorn notebook and bookmark pictures optimized for pinterest.

Other Unicorn Crafts You Might Like:

Navigational image leading reader to unicorn gift bag tutorial

Navigational image leading reader to felt unicorn headband tutorial

Navigational image leading reader to unicorn cupcake tutorial

Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

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