Up Crafted Book Journal
Create your own Up Crafted Book Journal for Back to School
Back to school season means buying materials for the classroom! After purchasing the pencils, pens, and markers, build your own notebook out of a used book to personalise your school supplies. See what my pals have created, then go to the bottom of the post for even more DIY back-to-school ideas. Create one, then create them all!
Supplies
a used hardcover book, copy paper, a machine for punching holes and binding,
scissors, a table saw or box cutter, a wire cutter, a wire binding comb, and metal straight edges
Grab an old book to start; it could be one from your youth or one that appeals to you from a garage sale or thrift shop. Look for a picture book for kids or an art book with a colourful hardback. Books should be cherished and given to others so they might read them. Look for books that are not in excellent form and might need a new life because they are one of those items that are difficult to get rid of, throw out, or destroy. Keep in mind that by recycling some old books for your school supplies, you are protecting the environment and preventing them from ending up in a landfill.
Remove the book spine
It can be challenging to remove the book’s spine and binding, but there are a few techniques that will ensure a clean cut. If you have access to a table saw, you can remove the spine; we asked a neighbour to assist us with this project. Or you can use a box cutter, metal straight edge, and cutting mat to manually remove the spine. Although this technique takes more time, the end result is neat and tidy.
Choose a few pages from the book once the spine and binding have been taken off. These will be kept for the front of the journal. Just choose a few pages, maybe 7–10, to include in your unique handcrafted diary so you may explain part of the story or pick your favourite pictures.
Since we love recycling, preserve the other pages to make gift tags, book marks, wallpaper, jewellery, or for any other papercrafting projects like decoupage. Adding used book pages to your creative supplies is a terrific idea. Save your scraps, as we always advise!
Prepare the Book
Cut your plain copy paper to suit the book’s cover and pages after taking measurements. To achieve even results, use a paper trimmer with an integrated ruler. Cut 30 to 50 pages of plain paper; this will make up the bulk of your diary. After all, the purpose of this diary is for you to take notes in class, record your thoughts and ideas, and perhaps even draw on the pages in between.
We chose a combined hole punch binding machine with flexible sizing to fit all of your reused book covers over one of the many affordable spiral binding devices available.
Punch holes in the front and back covers using your binding machine. Punch holes in the rescued book pages next, and then in the plain insert paper after that.
Assemble the Journal
Add the front and back book covers to a binding wire comb, keeping in mind that the right sides should be facing each other as you do so. Place the plain paper on the comb wire after the salved book pages.
Place the pages and the spiral comb in the machine’s cinching section after removing them. Press the comb binding together gently. The new wire binding’s clasp should be concealed inside the book’s rear cover.
Finish your Journal
Trim the excess wire using wire cutters after the binding comb has been tightened, then bend the raw end in and under.
Here it is—a hardcover book that has been transformed into a notebook for back-to-school. Create a couple extras to present to friends or perhaps as teacher gifts, as well as one for each subject.
The most crucial thing to remember is to work hard in class and earn excellent grades.
You may reuse an outdated book and bring it back to school with a purpose if you have some creativity and ingenuity.
Create Craft
