Striving to create a home strong in the foundations of love, respect, and God's truths ...

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Homemade Journals

I recently finished reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I've been excited about this book for some time, and my husband and I thought that recording our own gifts would be a great way to keep our hearts and minds parked on the abundance that God has given us and not in the sludge that we deal with as part of this life.

I saw pictures of the beautiful journals that Brandee decorated here and thought it sounded like fun, so My Big Helper and I set out to create our own blessings journal (I'd love to have a cute name for it, but no luck so far.  Any suggestions??)


You'll need:  the cheapest notebook you can find (we used the regular comp book picked up at Target for $0.40), two sheets of matching 12" X 12"scrapbook paper, one piece of coordinating 12" X 12" paper, a glue stick, Mod Podge, and a paintbrush to apply it.

Line up one sheet of the scrapbook paper along the bound edge of the notebook.  Cut the paper so that it is much bigger than the front cover of the comp book itself - we cut ours to be about 10" by 12".  Then, using your glue stick, rub glue on the front cover and apply the paper, leaving the binding uncovered.


Open the notebook.  Rub more glue along the edges of the inside cover  and fold it over.  I made a cut diagonally from the corner of the paper to the corner of the notebook to make folding the edges neater.


Glue down and fold over the edges as if you were wrapping a present.

Then, from the coordinating paper, cut two pieces that are 6" x 8 " and one strip that is 2" by 12".  Glue  the former pieces over the inside covers, hiding the printing there and any rough edges that you may have left behind.


Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the binding of the book.  Cover that with the coordinating strip.  Clothespin it and allow it to dry.  Add embellishments to the covers as you'd like.


Your journal is ready to go!



Our whole family is excited about using our new journal, and we've been writing in it as we discuss our day at mealtimes and whenever something strikes us in between.

So, for only $1.15, we have a beautiful journal full of paper that's personalized and ready to go.  Much cheaper than the blank journal books that you buy, and it's every bit as beautiful!

Do you record blessings?  Journal in some way?  How do you record your thoughts?




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