Family Journal

A month or so back I received some clothing for the children and several books that had not sold in a garage sale from a friend of a friend of a friend, lol ;o) I came across this book:

I was *so* excited and couldn't wait to look through it and see what kinds of things the owner might have written down. I was thinking how neat it would have been to look in the book and see the life of someone from over 40 years ago! It did not turn out to be the treasure trove I expected, but rather a record-keeping tool for a gentleman who worked with landscaping and such (much of the writing very illegible too! lol) I suppose the reason it was not as interesting to me was because the records were not something that interested me so much. I can't bear to get rid of it unless I find someone who would enjoy it first ;o)

Between coming across the book, and these recent posts,

http://oldfashionedhomemaking.com/2009/09/28/family-journal.aspx
http://oldfashionedhomemaking.com/2009/09/28/family-journal-part-two.aspx?ref=rss

I decided to get a Family Journal going of our own. Because there are several little stories I want to remember that have happened in the past, I will simply include a quick "blast from the past" story at the bottom of each entry in order to keep those stories alive. I am good at forgetting and don't remember nearly as much as I would like to remember, so I think this would be a fun way to pass on the memories :o)

Here is a list of what I used:

• 2 inch binder
• Aida cloth, floss, & ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun
• Batting
• Fabric
• Page Protectors
• Homemade journal stationary

First I started out with a plain black binder, nothing special to it! I laid it down on batting and cut it out to the size of the whole binder... front, binding, and back. I then used Wacky Glue to stick it in place on the binder. I am pretty sure it would work the same with a hot glue gun, but I did not get my hot glue gun until after this part. I had to go purchase one, as I am not sure what happened to my original one! Fortunately they are pretty inexpensive at only 2.00!! lol ;o)

The next thing I did was use the fabric and cut it to almost double the size of the binder, this allowed me room to glue and to give enough slack to tuck without any jagged edges. The fabric runs all the way to to the bend for the back of the binder. I quickly cross-stitched the title of the binder "Family Journal", and then glued that down to the fabric. I added the ribbon and done! Here is a picture of the completed binder:

The next step was to fill the binder with page protectors (to keep memories safe)! I went to a site and printed up several pages for the stationary part of the journal. I found a really nice selection here:

http://www.graphicgarden.com/files17/eng/print/sttnry1e.php

This was a really simple project, and one I was basically able to do without purchasing anything (aside from the hot glue gun!) The best part is that it is a NO-sew project ;o) There are binder covers to sew on the internet, but way seemed very simple. I actually got this idea from what my mother had done to make my journal for the 1st or 2nd grade...wonder if she still has that thing?! I remember how much I loved looking in it as I got older :o)

If you decide to do something similar, or already do, I sure would love to hear about it!

Happy Journaling!!