Craft

Mini Booklet Stapler

Saddle stapling for zines

If you like creating little DIY booklets or zines, but have been frustrated by the short arm length in standard staplers that forces you to curl up (or worse, fold) your notebook pages in order to get a center saddle staple, this two-way stapler is a terrific little solution.

It looks just like your ordinary handheld personal stapler, until you twist the upper portion: it twists all the way perpendicular to the body of the stapler, so that you can easily staple booklets at the center fold.

When I found it, I was kind of surprised I’d never seen this before. It’s sheer genius and simple. I’m a huge pocket notebook fan. I have a boxful of Moleskines, which I love, but I’ve been playing around with crafting my own Moleskine-size blank notebooks for keeping notes on small projects or short trips. In the past, I’ve had to either fold up the pages a bit (and carefully unfold and smooth out the crease). Or I waited to go to someplace like Kinko’s that offers saddle staplers.

-- Lani Teshima 01/14/21

(For tougher jobs, you'll want to go with a larger, more robust long-reach stapler. -- SL — editors)

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