I decided to make the kids some personalized journals. They love to color, write, and paste stickers so I thought instead of random loose papers, it would be nice to have it all in one place. I picked up some cheap composition books up at the grocery store. Then, some decorative papers at Michael’s.
Step 1.) I centered and pasted my paper to the front and back of the book using spray adhesive. This step is best done outdoors. The stuff is STRONG!
Step 2.) I trimmed the corners like so below:
Step 3.) I used paper adhesive to clue down the flaps I’d created on both the front and back covers. Then I let them sit for a while to “set.”
Step 4.) Next I cut some contrasting paper to finish covering the ugly inside of the cover.
Step 5.) I attached a book marker ribbon with some hot clue under the decorative paper.
Then, I repeated all the steps above two more times to create all of my kids their very own journal! And added even more decorative papers, ribbons, and stickers to make each journal unique.
such a great idea danielle!!! book marking this for reference 😉
Very Fun, D. They look great.So, are you going to give it to them anytime soon and let them at it?
We gave the boys their first journal when they were 6 w/ high hopes and expectations to establish a q.time. It went well for a while when we were diligent to do it w/ them. I will admit we slacked off and they turned into a free for all journal.
ah well…the best laid plans. 🙂
I journal quite a bit so I don’t spend much $ on mine…whatever cheap spiral bound I can find. I actually found a 2 section type at Target that I’ve bought tens of b/c they have pockets in them and the perfect sized, lined paper. I’m Type A; of course it must be lined. 😉
I can’t get enough of journals!!!! I don’t think I have less than 20 in my possession at any given time.
I LOVE the DIY journal tips! Thanks!!!
I may have over 20 journals (mostly blank)….I might have to go make a new one…..
I love them! My kids are going to be using a bunch of comp notebooks for school this year, so we might well be doing some of this ourselves. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
@Briana Yes, they’ve had them for several weeks and love to get them out of the cupboard and draw in them. They also take them to church to occupy them sometimes too.
I also like lined journals. I usually have a “writing” journal and a “sketch” journal but sadly I don’t sketch as much anymore. I’ve tried mixing them into one, and sadly my own type A tendencies didn’t allow me to do this well. 🙁
love, love, love! I don’t know if Elijah is ready for this…he’s actually not much into drawing, he’d rather build with Legos or look at books…but such a fun idea, and love the step-by-step tutorial. great tips for myself. I usually use Mod Podge when I’m decorating the cover of my visual journal, but it doesn’t tend to work all that well. spray adhesive would be much better I think. I’ve never used that before. I have two or three other journals I am going to need to recover at some point (screwed up orders from Paper Coterie), so I will have to file this! the stack of blank journals I already have waiting, though, is a bit ridiculous…I’m an addict!
These are fantastic! I need to find a sketch book to do that to. That’s what I use for a journal.
[…] Offer your talent to a friend who’s like to sell this stuff on Christmas day. 11.Finally, create a beautiful journal out of a regular notebook. Little girls love to draw and create a diary and this personalized journal will be a great idea […]