Make Your Own Journal + A Giveaway!

Have you ever wanted to make your own homemade journal? Well you easily can! And Elianna (a contributor to our Spring Issue) has put her DIY skills into showing us how to make one. And if DIY's aren't your thing, stay tuned till the end of this post to win the journal Elianna use as an example :)

This DIY project is great because it costs about the same or a little less than a regular book, but is made with a ton more love. Its a lot easier than it sounds and most of the items necessary for the project can be found around the house. Since I already had a glue stick  a small piece of canvas, a needle and thread, cardboard, and some patterned card-stock  I didn’t add these into the overall cost. The most expensive item is the remnant fabric. Even this item doesn’t need to be that pricey. You can substitute the remnant for fabric from Goodwill. You could also cut up an old shirt or pillowcase to save even more money.

The Price Breakdown

Remnant Fabric: $6.66
Cardstock: $3.99
Satin Ribon: $1.99
Inside Patterned Cardstock: Found around the house
Small Piece of Canvas: Found around the house
Needle and Thread: Found around the house
Gluestick: Found around the house
Cardboard: Found around the house

Approximate Total Cost: $12.64

To start with, you take your plain card-stock paper and fold it in half. The size of my paper is 8.5 x 11 so the size of my book will be 8.5 x 5.5. Once you’ve folded your paper, divide them into signatures. (a group of 3-6 pieces stacked on top of each other) The thickness of the card-stock will determine how many pieces should be in each signature.




After gathering, stack the signatures on top of one another.

Now that you’ve done that, determine where the holes need to go for sewing. This part is tricky so practice on some printer paper before doing the real thing. You need to have an even number of holes. Since my book is going to be 8.5 inches high, I measured an inch and a half in on each side and then one more inch from that.

After you mark where the holes should be located, use an awl or other skinny pointy object to make them. Again, practice on scratch paper. This next part is the most difficult part so take your time so you don’t make mistakes. Take your needle and thread and your first signature. When sewing, remember to go from the outside of the folded paper. Keep your thread tight!

An inside look...

Once your done with the first signature attach the second signature, like so.

When sewing, you can hold the signatures together with a binder clip.

Once you’re done, then tie off the ends. Completely cover the spine in glue, then place it under something heavy until its fully dry. If you want a book marker, also glue this to the spine. (That’s why you have the skinny ribbon)

Now that the spine is totally dry, glue the canvas piece on as well. The piece should be shorter than the book and have extra on each side. I recommend that you cut your canvas 1 inch shorter and 1.5 inches wider than the spine. Glue on spine over book mark and let dry completely.

Now take your cardboard and measure the covers and spine of your book. My book is 8.5 x 5.5 and I want the pages inside, not flush with the cover so the amount of cardboard I cut out for the spine will be 8.75 x 1.00 and both of the covers will be 8.75 x 5.75.

Glue it onto your fabric with about a .25” space between each piece. Cut your fabric so there’s about a .5” border around the edges. Be careful when cutting!! Especially the corners!!

Glue the edges of fabric over the cardboard, put weight on it, and let it dry.

Put glue on both sides of the canvas (attached to the book) and glue it to the front and back covers. For this part you’ll want to use stronger glue. I forgot to take a picture of this step. Close the book part, while making the sure the canvas has been glued in place and let it dry under some weight.


Take your patterned cardstock and measure both (front and back) to be the same size as your original paper. For me, this would be 8.5 x 11. Fold it in half and make sure it fits nicely between the cover and first page of your book. Lightly coat the back of the page with glue. Attach it to the cover and first page of the book, then close the book to make sure it stays in.



Any questions on this project? Email me at: dancingstar98@toast2.net!

There you have it y'all. How to make a lovely journal for your prayers, plans, or dreams. But for those of us that can't sew/glue to save our lives, we are giving away this journal that Elianna made for us. You have a week to win it ;) And you have no reason not to!

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May 9th: The winner is....Sarah Holmes! Expect an email from us within 24 hours, Sarah! Thanks everyone for entering!
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