Random How-To: Making binder dividers from file folders

My Dad is a mechanic and a pretty skilled backyard handyman, and my Mom is good at various needlecrafts (sewing, embroidery, crochet, and knitting, among others - she once sewed zippers into the sides of Dad's coverall legs so he could take them off without getting hung up on his boots - what a clever couple!), so us kids grew up getting involved in projects to create something needed and useful out of whatever we had on hand, or with minimal purchased materials.  I've always enjoyed doing this as well, and it's come in very handy; I got 100% on a Hamlet created out of welding rod and a brake rotor for my English class in high school (though I'll happily admit that Dad and Bob did all the welding, while I was "creative designer").  Every now and again, I'll try to showcase some of my upcycling and transforming as a Random How-To.

This project grew out of a lack of binder dividers at work.  I was trying to organize a large amount of paperwork and information on copyright one day, and the only dividers left in the supply cabinet had been cut out of cardstock.  I was totally fine with this, but I discovered that the four in there were not enough for my project.  I had noticed a few file folders in the recycling earlier in the day, and I decided to improvise some more dividers out of those.  When I recently decided to reorganize our recipe binder, I knew I would need more dividers.  I have found that mass-produced dividers, especially ones big enough to use with page protectors, are very expensive (to me, anyway).  So I headed to our local Value Village to see what I could find.  Being November, they were pretty short of office supplies, but I was able to find one package of regular dividers accompanied by about 8 manila folders for $1.99.  Perfect!  Here's how I turned those folders into binder dividers:

Supplies needed:

Cutting mat and knife (or scissors, if you have the patience!), ruler, hole punch, folders.

Note: I am right handed, so in every photo, I will be cutting on the right side of the ruler.

Line up the folder along one of the lines on the cutting mat, if yours has a grid.  If not, measure the distance along the shortest side from the folded edge to the top of the folder.  In this case, it would be the top flap of the nearest edge in the picture above.  Mark that measurement on the other edge of the flap, and line up the ruler.

Cut the top part of the folder off.  You should now have two straight edges.

Place the ruler diagonally across the folder.  Cut.

Now take the section with the folded edge, and cut off the fold so you now have two loose triangles of manila, just like the other side.

Line up the right angle in the hole punch, and punch some holes :)  These dividers need only two holes (not three) to work.  If you want reinforced holes, simply add a piece of packing tape down the edge to be hole-punched before punching the holes - this will eliminate the need for paper reinforcements in the future.

Using a piece of paper (or a page protector) as a guide, determine how long your tabs need to be.  They should be at least half an inch longer than the paper.  Cut off the point of the triangle.

Here's the finished product!  These tabs were made using a page protector (while the ones made in the tutorial above used a sheet of paper) as a guide, so they stick out far enough to read and grab.  Simply alternate their direction - one tab at the top, one tab at the bottom.  Here I've used colour-coded sticky notes as labels.  These are inexpensive (especially if you can find folders at a local second-hand store) and are fully customizable - doodle on them, write on them, cover them in pictures, use different coloured folders - the options are limitless :)