Homemade Gift Journal

One of the most frustrating things about living on a budget is feeling like you can't buy your friends the gifts they deserve.  This is where homemade gifts come in.  They show your friend/family member that you cared enough to spend a lot of time and creativity, even if you couldn't spend a lot of money.

Unfortunately, whenever I look up gift ideas online, so many of them require special skills (such as the ability to knit more than scarves and socks, or the ability to crochet without accidentally knitting) that it can be really discouraging.  That's why I'm here to offer an option that doesn't require any talent or artistic ability whatsoever.  All you have to do is a bunch of cutting and gluing...and finding cool pictures online.

Gift Journal - Front View

Back View

First, you start with a hardcover journal.  I usually find the big ones for around $10 at Walmart.

The next step is to find a bunch of pictures the intended recipient would like.  Since the journal above was a gift for my best friend, I printed off pictures of our favorite movies, books, characters, singer (Josh Groban), quotes, inside jokes, and pictures of fun times we had together.  On other friends' journals, I've used pictures of their hobbies, school spirit, quotes about funny memories, references to tv shows...the sky's the limit.

After you print off all the text and images, you can cut them out, either cutting exactly around the shape, tearing around the shape, or using decorative scissors.  I have some detail scissors that help, but they aren't a necessity.

For the next step, you can either cover the journal with a bigger sheet (I used sheet music in the one above) or, if you like the pattern that's already there, leave the background as is.  I like to use a glue stick at this point to stick everything down to the journal.  It makes the next step a whole lot easier.

Finally, open the decorated journal and lay it cover down on a piece of clear contact paper.  Cut the contact paper a few inches larger than the book on each side, then peel off the backing.  At this point, you'll want to be very careful as you lay the book back down on the sticky surface.  My contact paper always wants to curl up and stick to itself or wrinkle as you press it out.  Try to get it as smooth as you can.  Remember that you can pop any bubbles that occur with a pin.  When you get to the extra inches, curl them back over the edges of the cover to hold everything together.  You'll need to trim around the spine, since you can't really curl that part back over.

And finally, voila, finished gift.  Easy on your budget and fun to make.