Midori Household Items To Do List Memo Pad Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Household chores are a hundred times easier to complete when your list is cute. I'm pretty sure that's science. And Midori has put that science to use in this Memo Pad To Do List featuring Household Items.

The pad is small, about an A6 size, and features 80 tear-away sheets. There are two designs with 40 sheets each. One has a reddish color with kitchen items (flour and a cooking scale) and one is lime green with cleaning items (a broom and dustpan). The illustrations are cute line drawings that make chores look sweet and romanticized, and not like torture at all.

Each sheet has a pre-printed checklist for ten items. There's a column for the date, a cute house-shaped check box, and the line to write down your task. There’s also a spot for notes at the bottom of the sheet.

The sheets tear away cleanly from the glue binding at the top. There's a cardstock cover that keeps the pages nice between uses. The paper itself is ivory colored. It's very thin paper, and not coated to be fountain pen friendly. Rollerball, marker, and fountain pen (and Sharpie, of course) all had some bleed-through. Pencil, ballpoint, and gel pen worked fine. But of course, this isn't really writing paper, and it's meant to be disposable. While I love writing even my most mundane notes in elegant fountain pens, I can make my laundry list in pencil. I mean, as long as it's a nice pencil.

The memo pad is very inexpensive at $3.50 from Vanness Pens. With 80 sheets of ten tasks each, that's 800 tasks for that price! At the rate I'm going, that should last me a whole afternoon. And it's cheaper than a cup of coffee these days, which I also need to get through all the tasks. This cute list helps, and all help is welcome!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Letterpress PLAY Write Now, Edit Later Journal Giveaway

In conjunction with the Grit Mercantile Leather A6 Travelers Journal Cover I reviewed yesterday, Letterpress PLAY also sent over this Write Now, Edit Later Journal for giveaway. This slightly larger than A5, 144 page blank journal also ships with a matching pencil from Musgrave Pencil Co.. One person will win this notebook and pencil combo, so read the rules below and enter away!

Letterpress PLAY Write Now, Edit Later Journal Giveaway

Grit Mercantile Leather A6 Travelers Journal Cover Review

It’s not often that I feel a stationery product is designed specifically for me, but in the case of this Grit Mercantile Leather A6 Travelers Journal Cover, sent to me by Austin, Texas based Letterpress PLAY, it suits what I’m looking for in a simple pocket notebook cover perfectly.

Simple is the key to this design. It’s a cover - that’s it. There are no pockets, no pen loops, no accessories or ephemera. Just an internal elastic band to slide a small notebook through, and an external band to keep it closed. That meets all of my needs for how I intend to use it.

That specific intention is as a cover for a Field Notes pocket notebook when I travel. A small notebook like this is my preference to log trip details, day-to-day notes, tracking events, remembering food and drink, and anything else that I’m compelled to jot down. I’ve used this type of setup many times in the past, but none with an added cover like this one.

As I’ve learned more and more about my tastes over the years, I’ve learned that smaller is better when it comes to notebooks. I’ve tried countless options on the market, and the ones that stick in the rotation the most are the thinner ones. Think PLOTTER, as opposed to Traveler’s Notebooks. I don’t do well with bulk, especially when on the go.

A quick note on sizing: I believe the cover itself is A6 sized, not necessarily what you can fit into it. Thin A6 notebooks likely stick out the sides, and thicker A6 notebooks with square bindings are a no-go. It is perfect for this 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” Field Notes.

That makes this Grit Mercantile cover perfect. It spent a long weekend in by back pocket on a recent trip to New Orleans, and proved to be my second favorite travel companion - my wife was first, of course! The cover handled wet bar tops, dinner tables, hotel desks, and the random knee while sitting on a bench, and came out unscathed. It handled everything with ease.

Action shot from the bar! Note: they do offer free embossing on notebooks and covers when ordering.

Most importantly, I didn’t notice it was there when pocketed. I carry a front pocket wallet, so the notebook cover slid into the back. It’s thin enough you could carry a pen tucked inside and barely notice it, but I preferred carrying a pen - in this case a uniball Zento Signature - clipped to my shirt, or next to my wallet in my front pocket.

The Grit Mercantile Leather A6 Notebook Cover did its job perfectly - protect my notebook, and stay out of the way. And at just $22, it is a great deal for an item that will be seeing a lot of use. I’m already trying to find other ways to use it around the house so it doesn’t have to wait for another trip to see its next action.

(Letterpress PLAY provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!