How to Make a Girl's Journal
by Rachel Paxton
If you're looking for the perfect gift for a teen or pre-teen
girl or female friend, then you might want to consider a handmade
journal. Use these tips to get started, then use your own
creativity to create a personalized work of art. These journals
also make great birthday or graduation gifts.
To get started, pick out some pretty card stock for the cover, maybe a favorite
color of the girl the journal is intended for. I used a paper cutter to cut the
piece of paper in half. You should end up with two sheets of paper 4 1/4 x
5 1/2.
Select the paper you will use for the inside pages of the
journal. I chose about 50 sheets of unlined copy/printer paper
and cut them in half.
Then you get to be creative and decorate the cover. You can look
at my example photos for inspiration. For one I used decals used
for scrapbooking and card making. I placed a floral border down
the left side and used rubber stamps to stamp the girl's name
vertically on a scrap of white card stock that I then glued to
the right side of the cover.
On another cover I placed the girl's name horizontally on the top
of the cover, also using rubber stamps to spell out her name.
Behind the cardstock that the name was stamped on I glued a piece
of mulberry paper (craft paper that is thin like tissue paper)
that I had torn around the edges. To finish this journal -
placed a large floral sticker in the center of the cover.
To bind the journal together, I used a comb binding machine. If
you don't know someone who has one of these that you can borrow,
you can go to a local office supply store like Office Max or
Office Depot, and they will either let you do it yourself in
their copy department, or they will do it for you for a small
fee.
Photos of finished project:
http://www.crafty-moms.com/articles/051604a.shtml
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom. For scrapbooking,
card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making
activities, visit
http://www.crafty-moms.com.