Expandable Journal

Confession: I'm kind of a journal hoarder. I love them. I love to write, make lists, doodle and so many of them are just so pretty! But I hardly ever finish them. I have tons of half full journals laying around making great shelf decorations. The biggest problem I have is that I like to keep running lists but it would be nice to get rid of the pages I am done with. Then I saw this journal maker on another blog. So cute!



She has so many great journals that you can fill out and add pages too. I was trolling and then it hit me. I could totally make that! So I did.

Here it the process:

Step 1: Cut down two pieces of cardboard to the size you want your journal. I made them a little bigger than half a sheet of paper so that I could use scrap paper as pages. Then cut out fabric an inch larger than your cover size.

Step 2: Get your glue on. Cover one side with glue and then lay your fabric over it. Be sure to smooth the fabric out as you go so there are no wrinkles.

Step 3: Flip the cover over and glue down the overlap. I mitered my corners like so.

Step 4: Cut a piece of paper to be the inside cover and glue down

Repeat with the back and let dry over night weighted down by books to keep them flat. Text books work great.

Step 5: Drill holes for your binder rings. I actually used this step to create the holes through the whole journal. Paper and all. Just cut your pages to size and use binder clips to hold the whole thing together. 3/16" drill bit did the trick for me.

Step 6: Attach binder rings and enjoy!

I had a whole lot of colored paper left over from teaching so I made mine rainbow colored. It is also a great way to use up recycled scrap paper. As long as one side is blank you can go ahead.

It is great because I can move pages and add new ones as I go through them and it uses up all of the scrap material I have laying around. Great for blog ideas and lists. The cover is really sturdy and if I get bored with that I can make a new one! So great for anyone who likes to coordinate with the seasons.

Cheers!

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