It's that time of year again! I don't know about you, but I've always measured years by when the school year starts. As a kid, I loved getting a new book bag and pencils and notebooks. It was so exciting to get a new schedule and a clean slate!
As a mom, back to school time was bittersweet. I was always sad to send my babies off, but I was excited for them in their new adventures. Along with the school year also comes new scout troops and new sports teams and new music lessons and so on.
When I was raising my kiddos, my planner was my constant sidekick -- trying to keep track of who needs to be where and at what time gets a little crazy sometimes! Now days, I actually keep certain items in an online calendar that can be accessed by my husband and myself, but I still like to use a planner that I can touch and write in and make lists in and so on. Having a physical planner helps me engage my mind a little better, and I think I remember things better if I pick up a pen and write them down.
I was looking for a new planner earlier this year, but nothing out there seemed to fit my needs. I wanted a small pocket sized calendar for "overall" planning, plus a weekly calendar. In addition, I wanted lots of notebook space for brainstorming and note taking -- something along the lines of an engineer's journal. I needed an envelope or two for receipts, a place to keep a blog schedule, and a place to keep lists.
I decided to create my own planner system, using a vintage decorating book that was heavily damaged. A child had colored throughout the book and the spine was fragile and torn.
I removed the spine, and replaced it with a more durable spine cut from a recycled cereal box. To secure the new spine, I cut a rectangular piece of fabric and added stabilizer to the back of it, as shown. The book cover pieces and spine were glued to the fabric with Mod Podge.
Once it was dry, I turned the edges in and glued another piece of fabric to the inside spine for a finished appearance. I went over everything again with Mod Podge, for extra durability.
Next, I added an elastic closure. To do this, I punched a hole in the center back cover, about an inch from the edge. I used an inexpensive punch from Harbor Freight.
A grommet was added and a hair elastic was inserted.
Easy peasy!
I decided to add grommets to the spine, as well, so I could tie my notebook into the cover. You don't need to do this -- just grab another hair elastic and secure your notebook spine to the planner spine.
The notebook was covered in pages rescued from the vintage book.
A manila envelope was cut down and secured to the inside cover of the notebook,
Clips and more hair elastics hold calendars and scratch paper.
I decorated the front of the book with stickers and with a chapter heading from the book. Of course, you can leave the book cover plain, and it would be utterly charming. The hair elastic holds everything together securely.
I loved this chapter title from the book -- Tomorrow Should Be Wonderful. In this chapter, the author discussed "homes of the future"!
It seemed like a perfect sentiment to add to the spine of a planner.
To see how the original spine of the book was turned into a charming bookmark, click here.
If you enjoyed this project, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to you favorite social media sites.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
As a mom, back to school time was bittersweet. I was always sad to send my babies off, but I was excited for them in their new adventures. Along with the school year also comes new scout troops and new sports teams and new music lessons and so on.
When I was raising my kiddos, my planner was my constant sidekick -- trying to keep track of who needs to be where and at what time gets a little crazy sometimes! Now days, I actually keep certain items in an online calendar that can be accessed by my husband and myself, but I still like to use a planner that I can touch and write in and make lists in and so on. Having a physical planner helps me engage my mind a little better, and I think I remember things better if I pick up a pen and write them down.
I was looking for a new planner earlier this year, but nothing out there seemed to fit my needs. I wanted a small pocket sized calendar for "overall" planning, plus a weekly calendar. In addition, I wanted lots of notebook space for brainstorming and note taking -- something along the lines of an engineer's journal. I needed an envelope or two for receipts, a place to keep a blog schedule, and a place to keep lists.
I decided to create my own planner system, using a vintage decorating book that was heavily damaged. A child had colored throughout the book and the spine was fragile and torn.
I removed the spine, and replaced it with a more durable spine cut from a recycled cereal box. To secure the new spine, I cut a rectangular piece of fabric and added stabilizer to the back of it, as shown. The book cover pieces and spine were glued to the fabric with Mod Podge.
Once it was dry, I turned the edges in and glued another piece of fabric to the inside spine for a finished appearance. I went over everything again with Mod Podge, for extra durability.
Next, I added an elastic closure. To do this, I punched a hole in the center back cover, about an inch from the edge. I used an inexpensive punch from Harbor Freight.
A grommet was added and a hair elastic was inserted.
Easy peasy!
I decided to add grommets to the spine, as well, so I could tie my notebook into the cover. You don't need to do this -- just grab another hair elastic and secure your notebook spine to the planner spine.
The notebook was covered in pages rescued from the vintage book.
A manila envelope was cut down and secured to the inside cover of the notebook,
Clips and more hair elastics hold calendars and scratch paper.
I loved this chapter title from the book -- Tomorrow Should Be Wonderful. In this chapter, the author discussed "homes of the future"!
It seemed like a perfect sentiment to add to the spine of a planner.
To see how the original spine of the book was turned into a charming bookmark, click here.
If you enjoyed this project, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to you favorite social media sites.
Thanks so much for stopping by!