Modge Podge Journal

Last year Jeremy and I made homemade journals as Christmas gifts for several people. As I've just filled mine up it was time for me to make another journal for myself. I think this time I improved upon the technique and quality of last year's product. Last year we bought composition notebooks, took full sheets of patterned paper, used a glue stick to adhere contrasting paper to the inside and outside covers of the composition book, and then cut around the edges with an exacto knife and glued in a ribbon for a page marker. This year I made my journal from tiny bits of paper (all of the scraps from the numerous journals we made last year), then painted the paper with Modge Podge Matte and secured them in place, after these had dried I applied a top coat of Modge Podge Gloss and then glued in the ribbon. On the inside cover this time I got a little more creative and did a hodge podge of pictures of me and Jeremy and cut out magazine words and pictures of things I like to inspire me. I like the eclectic look of this journal and think the Modge Podge will hold up much better than the glue stick did (half way through last year my journal started coming apart and I had to use tape to fix the bubbles that came up). Either way I love the creativity of this journal, I love the satisfaction of knowing that I made it, and with using scraps of paper and a composition book that was less that $0.90 to purchase at any grocery store this is the most inexpensive (and still attractive) option that I can come up with.

finished outer cover




finished inner covers

my journal from last year (notice the corner coming up)

inside of my journal from last year


Shannon