DIY Game Night Score Pad
Keep score on family game night with this fun DIY Game Night Score Pad! Learn how to make this cute notepad using my free PDF and SVG files.
Hello Crafty Friends! As a family, we absolutely love playing games! From board games to card games we play a lot of games. Some of our favorites include Dominos, Cribbage and Bunco. These games are great to play on cold, snowy days in the winter or out on the patio in nice weather. We’ve been playing so many games lately, I thought it was time to make a little scoring pad!
To create these notepads, I used the same pattern I used to create my Mini Notepads and Teacher Notepads. This pattern has been great and I’ve used it many times. I knew it would work great for a little scoring notepad too!
I was lucky to find a cute piece of scrapbook paper at my local scrapbook store. The paper I used is called Game Night Family Fun 400647 Imaginisce by American Crafts. It has the cutest print with lots of games like Uno, Life, Scrabble and Monopoly. I wasn’t able to find this paper available online to link to, but since making these notepads Simple Stories came out with an awesome collection called Family Fun. It has so many great prints, including this page with dominos on it!
How to Make a Game Night Score Pad
Supplies Needed:
- Template and Cut file – Grab the free files by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
- Chip board – I used .024″- 24 point chipboard by Clear Path Paper.
- I recommend using a chipboard with a thickness of around .024 to .032. With this thickness you should be able to cut it with a scissors. If you use a thicker chipboard option, you may need to cut the pieces slightly smaller to work with the pattern and use a craft knife.
- 3″ x 5″ notepads
- Decorative paper for cover and lining of book – thinner paper works well for the lining
- This collection called Family Fun by Simple Stories would be super cute!
- Another cute collection is Game Night by Reminisce.
- Adhesive: double-sided tape, tape runner, glue stick
- Paper trimmer and/or scissors
- Pencil
- Scoring board
- Optional: About 14″ of ribbon
Step by Step Tutorial
- Please note the pattern for this project has been updated and a new SVG cut file created so you can make these with your cutting machine.
Step One: Cut all of the pieces you will need to size.
Download the pattern or cut file to cut the pieces needed for the notepad. You will need to cut six pieces in all. Three from decorative paper including the cover, lining, and topper (the paper that covers the top of the 3″x5″ notepad) and three from chipboard for the cover, back and spine. I used a deep cut blade to cut the chipboard.
Check out my tutorial for making Teacher Notepads for information on how to set up the SVG cut file in Cricut Design Space.
Step Two: Score the cover and fold along the lines.
Start by scoring the book cover to make a spot for the spine. Score at 3.75″ and 4.25″ from the left edge. Fold along these lines. You can also score along the edges of the cover at 1/2″, these tabs will be folded over to the wrong side of the book cover. I have marked these lines in the picture below but they are optional.
Fold along the score lines.
Step Three: Cover the notepad with the cover paper.
Adhere the three pieces of chip board to the wrong side of the cover. Position the spine in the center of the scored lines. Position the two board covers so they are lined up with the scored lines and the tabs. The two side tabs of my new pattern have diagonal lines so they will look slightly different than what is pictured below.
Wrap the top and bottom edges of the cover around the chipboard and adhere in place. Hold them for a little bit to make sure they are secured.
Repeat these steps for the side edges. The side edges should be done second because they have diagonal edges which will create mitered corners.
Gently fold the book closed.
Step Five: Add the lining!
To add the lining, start by scoring the lining piece. I like to lay the lining piece inside the notepad cover and mark lightly with a pencil where the fold lines should go and then score.
Start by gluing one side of the lining down. You will not be gluing the spine down so avoid getting glue between your two score lines.
Glue the next side into place. You can make it so the spine lining is secured down or is kept loose. Both methods will work!
Here is an aerial shot of the notepad. You can see the spine of the lining is free. On my other notepad tutorials, I have secured the lining along the spine. Both versions work!
Step Six: The last step is to add the 3″ x 5″ notepad.
Score the topper .75″ and 1″ from the left and fold along those lines. These score lines fit my notepads perfectly, but you may want to check your notepads to make sure these score lines will work well for your notepads too. Different brands have different sizes toppers.
Glue the topper around the notepad.
Next, cover the back of your 3″ x 5″ notepad with glue and stick into place. I positioned my notepad to line up with my score line. Hold down firmly.
The notepad is finished and ready for keeping score! I’m happy to have a little notepad to use when we play dominos or other games that require you to keep a running score.
This notepad pattern can be used to make a notepad for any occasion just by switching up the decorative papers! Check out my other DIY Notepads for more fun ideas!
Get the Free Game Night Score Pad Files!
Fill out the purple form below with your first name and email address! The free file will be sent straight to your inbox! If you have already filled out the form below, don’t worry – you won’t be added to my list twice! This freebie is for personal use only. I hope you enjoy crafting something special. Please let me know if you have any questions :)