3 Inexpensive Journals

Did you know that in the Old Testament certain people were filled with the Spirit of God, giving them "skill in all kinds of crafts." (Exodus 35:31, NLT)

Women "who were skilled in sewing and spinning" are even mentioned among these craftspeople. (Exodus 35:25, NLT)

God enjoys creating things, and He has given us that same enjoyment. 

I love using composition books for prayer journals, writing books, or simply for making lists and keeping records. Since I use them everyday, I've found 3 ways to make them more attractive.

1. Removable, Reusable Cloth Covers:

You make these like you would any book cover.

 You can add a pocket and a ribbon as a bookmark.The best feature of this type of cover is that it's reusable...you can switch it from an old journal to a new one. 
If your cloth is preshrunk, you can even wash it.

2. Decoupage Covers

 

You'll need Mod Podge, a brush, a notebook, and some type of paper to decoupage.

I covered this one by printing a copy of a map of Budapest
and adding pictures from our time in Budapest.

back

This would be a great travel journal to give a friend...just download a map from the location your friend will be visiting...it could even help her get around!

On one of these books, I decoupaged pages from an old Hungarian hymnal. On the other, I used pages from an old dictionary. I don't worry about wrinkles as much with these old book pages because wrinkles add to the vintage look.

The Backs

I decided to put an grommet in one of the books.

I put one on the front and back cover.

Then I threaded a ribbon through creating a tie closure.

3. Starched Covers

 You'll need liquid starch, fabric and a notebook for this craft. I used one of the regular composition books for this, but it's better if you can find a harder covered comp book. These softer covers tend to curl slightly from the starch.

Cut the fabric to the approximate size of the notebook. Dip the fabric in liquid starch. Smooth the cover over the notebook so it is flat without air bubbles.  For more details about this process read "Custom Tray."

 Put pieces of parchment paper between the cover and pages and on top and bottom of the notebook. Then put something heavy on it so it won't curl. Let it dry completely.

  When dry, trim the edges.

 

 and enjoy your new journal.

Thanks for letting me share these 3 ways to make composition books into journals. While you're on my blog, I have two of my One-Minute devotions that you might want to read:  

1. "Journal is a Verb" which talks about great ways to use journals and includes links to other bloggers' ideas as well as mine. 

2. 8 Reasons to Journal which lists health benefits of journaling.

These are two of my one-minute devotions I post each weekday, so it will only take you two minutes to read both!   If you'd like to subscribe to my weekday 1-minute devotions (it's free) use the feedburner tool on the top of the sidebar.