How to Decorate Your School Binder

Draw doodles on your wrapped binder. Binders offer great opportunities to express yourself artistically, especially if you've covered your binder in paper or fabric that's easy to draw on. Consider simply using your binder as a doodling surface — whenever you get bored, simply add a new sketch or design to it. This way, your binder will gradually get more detailed and unique over time.

• Sharpie markers will draw on nearly any surface (even the slick plastic of a binder) and come in a variety of colors.
• If drawing on paper, nearly any pen or marker will work.
• If you covered your binder in fabric, try fabric pens or markers.^[1]

Draw sketches on your binder cover. If you're not content with the simple, messy look of a doodled binder cover, spend a little more time making a deliberate, detailed drawing or sketch. This will take a little more skill and effort, but the results can be quite impressive. You can pick anything for your drawing, from a simple still-life scene (like a single object) to a detailed landscape — it just depends how much time you'd like to spend on your project!

• If you choose a neutral colored paper in a mid-range grey or brown, you may be able to create more nuanced shading and shadow-effects. Use graphite and/or charcoal pencils for mid to dark lines, and you can use a white colored pencil for highlights.^[2]
• Once you're done with your sketch, you may want to protect it by carefully covering it with see-through tape. You can also use a protective spray (which are usually available at art supply stores and sold as "workable matte" or "workable fixatif").^[3]

Paint your binder cover. Painting takes a little more deliberate effort than drawing or doodling, but the colorful results can be amazing (especially if you're willing to take your time). However, if you want to avoid the paint leaking through your cover to your binder, strongly consider taking the cover off first and painting it over a protective surface, like newspaper.

• Most basic acrylic and watercolor paints should work well on paper covers.
• Fabric, on the other hand, may require special fabric paints or even puff paints. Check your paint's label before using it to make sure it's suitable for use on fabric.
• For best results, your fabric should be a tight weave, so that the paint doesn't bleed through. Cotton is an excellent choice, though you can experiment with other tight-weave fabrics like rayon or silk.^[4]

Use stencils to create awesome designs. Don't have the time to make your own drawing or painting freehand? Just use a stencil! Stencils make it easy to add good-looking designs to your binder cover in just a few seconds. You can trace the outlines of stencils or fill them in — it's up to you.

• If you're using paint, tape your stencil down so that it's tight against your binder cover before you start. Apply your paint sparingly. If your stencil isn't tight or you use too much paint, paint can leak under the edges and leave you with a messy design.^[5]
• You can make your own stencils, too — just print pictures and carefully cut around the edges with a pair of scissors or craft knife.

Create artistic labels for your binders. Are you using your binder for school or work? If so, you may want to label it so that you remember what's supposed to go in it, but you of course want the label to look awesome.

• For example, draw “Chemistry” in bold, fun lettering across the front of your binder cover, but consider adding a beaker with colorful chemicals in it as well. Be as creative as you wish here — as long as you can keep your binders straight, there's no such thing as a "wrong" label!

Choose your collage images. Making a collage is easy and fun! To start, gather a big collection of pictures to use. Exactly which pictures you use is up to you, but here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

• You could use pictures of your friends, family or pets. Make sure you have permission before cutting up old family photos.
• You could cut images from your favorite magazines, such as pictures of celebrities, athletes, or fun fashions.
• You could use newspaper headlines.
• You could use old comic or "funny page" clippings.
• You could use interesting postcards or stamps from places you've visited or would like to visit.
• You could use individual letters to spell words and phrases ("ransom note" style).

Crop the images. Cut each picture you're using into a size and shape that will allow everything to fit together more or less like a jigsaw. Your pictures can overlap somewhat — this is perfectly fine (and if you don't want any of the surface underneath to show through, it's something you should shoot for.)

• Set your pictures down where you want them to go, but don't stick them down yet. Feel free to try different layouts and designs. Once you start securing your pictures, it will be trickier to make any adjustments.

Secure the images. Once you know where you want everything placed, begin to stick each piece down. A small dab of school glue or a rub from a glue stick usually works well.

• You can glue the images to your paper-covered binder or, if you don't mind ruining your binder, directly to the binder itself. Test the first couple of pieces to make sure the glue you are using holds firm.
• On the other hand, if your binder has clear plastic sleeves on the outside, you can just glue your collage to a piece of paper and slide it into the sleeve.

Cover or seal the collage. Collages can look great, but since they're made of so many tiny pieces, they're vulnerable to having pieces tear and fall off. Luckily, there are a few ways to protect collages:

• You can seal your collage with it with a paint-on fixative (Mod podge is a popular product that dries clearly).^[6]
• You can also find spray-on fixatives and sealants (Krylon Crystal Clear is a product to try).^[7]
• If you don't have these products, you can try carefully covering the entire collage with clear packing tape, pressing each piece smooth to avoid wrinkles.

Use negative space designs. So you're not content with the basic ideas above? In this section, we'll discuss some more "out-there" ideas for covering your binder. For example, if your binder and the cover are different colors, consider using a negative space design for a striking effect.

• Negative space is the area that surrounds an object. Playing with both negative and positive space in your picture will help bring balance and interest to your design.^[8]
• To create a negative space design, take a blank cover and cut shapes, letters, pictures, and so on into it — the binder underneath will show through and appear to give these shapes their own color.
• If you're worried about the holes in your cover allowing your binder to wear, cover them with clear packing tape. You'll still get the negative space effect, but your binder will be well-protected.

Make a metallic gum wrapper cover. Ever notice how chewing gum usually comes in a shiny foil wrapper? If you have a lot of these wrappers lying around, you can use them to give your binder a cool metallic sheen. Gently flatten the gum wrappers and stick them to your binder cover (or the binder itself) with a small amount of glue. Repeat until the whole surface is covered. Voila—a metallic binder.

• If you're having a hard time getting the wrappers perfectly smooth, try rubbing them with a coin or the front of your fingernail to smooth them out.
• You can also use clear packing tape here as well to put a clear protective layer over your wrappers.

Use old calendar photos for big, gorgeous images. Don't throw away your calendars after the year is over — instead, use the photos or artwork inside as a cover.

• Simply cut the picture out, lay it on your binder, trim the edges to fit if necessary, and cover it with clear packing tape to secure it.

Make duct tape patterns. This thick, durable tape is great for protecting your binder and can give it a semi-metallic sheen. You can also find a wide array of color selections. If you don't want to stick the tape directly to your binder, try making a "sheet" of tape by sticking two layers of tape so that their sticky sides face each other.

• Making basic designs like checkerboards and stripes is fairly simple and will definitely liven up your binder.
• On the other hand, you can also make more complex designs with the "negative space" approach. Cover your binder with one color, then lay a second (different-colored) layer on top of this. Carefully cut shapes from the top layer with a craft knife and peel them off to make a negative space design.

Add your favorite quotes. Give your binder a dash of humor or inspiration by recreating your favorite quotes on the cover. For instance, try typing your favorite speech excerpts, song lyrics, or poems on the computer.

• Be sure to pick an attractive font, print out the quote, and then affix it to your binder with clear packing tape.
• You can also try your hand at calligraphy.

Give your binder an aged look. For something a little out-of-the-box, you can try “aging” a paper cover by soaking it in tea. This can make it look like your binder is an old-fashioned book or tome!

• See our wikiHow on how to age paper using tea for detailed instructions.

Bedazzle your binder. Even if your binder contains boring history or math homework, it doesn't mean that the outside of it can't be fun and fabulous.

• Glue on rhinestones or sequins for a binder that sparkles.