I approached this project as I would a first draft and just used what was on hand, knowing it would not be great—white printer paper, a few random pieces of super thin material, pink ribbon I found in my junk drawer, silver elastic from a Christmas gift, and the cover and remnants of a book I had been using to make pin-back buttons.

I used my button maker to create a shoelace button and threaded the elastic through the back of the button instead of using an actual button and attached the elastic through tiny holes I cut out with my Exacto knife and glued it behind the last page.

I used the remaining pages from the original book to create pockets at the back (to help hide the elastic) and front and then glued a few on random pages throughout the book (usually back-to-back sine the printer paper is pretty thin).

Next time around, I’ll take the time to cut the fabric or and iron it use a wide bias tape so I don’t have a lumpy back and front cover. It’s not perfect, but I’m sure my mom will love it.