Christmas journal

Need an easy DIY gift idea that any kid will love?  Jaime from That’s My Letter here to share DIY Christmas journals made from inexpensive kids composition books.

There’s still time to make this Christmas journal gift for all those kids on your list who love to write and draw, it makes a great small gift or a nice add on to a larger gift.

Christmas journal 1

Take a peek inside and you’ll see the kids composition books are printed with lines just their size and bonus!  a place to draw pictures above the writing:

Christmas journal 3

Kids can use the journal to keep track of gifts received for thank you cards, adventures and travels during the school break, all the exciting events surrounding the holiday and on and on.

Wrap your  journal with a fun holiday pencil and printed ribbon:

Christmas journal 4

Supplies required:

Christmas journal 5

Instructions:

Step 1: Give the exterior cover (front and back) a quick sanding to rough up the ‘shiny’ surface – this will help the kraft paper adhere better.

Christmas journal 7

Step 2: Wipe the exterior with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust.

Step 3: Cut a piece of kraft paper to fit the exterior cover with excess on three sides.  Apply a liberal amount of mod podge to the exterior cover.

Christmas journal 8

Step 4: Place the kraft paper on top of the mod podged cover, line up the edge of the kraft paper with the black binding.  Smooth the surface with your fingers to remove as many wrinkles as possible.

* Let dry completely.*

Step 5: Rub the sandpaper along the edges of the book to remove the excess kraft paper.  The sandpaper will give you a clean edge.

Christmas journal 9

Step 6: Rip off a piece of packing tape slightly longer than the book, apply over black binding on front side.

Christmas journal 10

Step 7: Flip book over and wrap tape around to back side.

Step 8: Trim excess tape from short ends.

Step 9: Print labels (free download here) and cut to size.  Apply mod podge to back of label and adhere to center front of book.

Christmas journal 14

Step 10: To make pencils, use thin green ribbon, slide through hanging loop in bell and double knot.  Then wrap around metal portion of eraser end and tie a knot.

Christmas journal 11

Step 11: Use the grosgrain ribbon on top of the thin green ribbon knots, double knot the grosgrain and apply fray chek to cut ends.

See below how the grosgrain ribbon hides the knots underneath and provides a clean finished look:

Christmas journal 13

Use a wide printed holiday ribbon to wrap the pencil and book together for an easy, simple but completely USEFUL holiday gift.

Christmas journal 6

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and a Happy Holidays!

Jaime signature

 

~learn more about Jaime~

4 replies
  1. Karen Marie Kedzuch
    Karen Marie Kedzuch says:

    This is perfect! I could see this being a great gift for bloggers to jot down ideas for blogs. I am sure you know, you must strike when the idea hits you, or it might be gone. Plus you can make lists, to gather your supplies, even though those extra trips to the store, can lead to awesome finds. Or while you are reading a great blog , an idea hits you, by the time you finish reading it that idea is Gone!!!! Thank you for inspiring me. I have to go make a list now. KMK

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.