BOXES TO BOOKS

We begin with a humble box, the kind with a little plastic window, and turn it into a beautiful journal base. You will also discover the many kinds of 'junk' worth rescuing from your recycling bin to make the signatures for your journal.

To bind this journal I am using a traveller's notebook binding, but I would rather it stayed off the spine, so I will teach you a little trick for creating a hidden binding while strengthening your spine at the same time.

Now for the fun part: digging into your box of treasures. Whether it is magazine images you have been hoarding or greeting cards you could never quite throw out, we bring everything out to decorate the cover, and pick up a few tricks for finishing a box journal so it looks beautifully neat.

I can rarely leave a shop without a new reusable tote in a design I love, and in time they do add up, especially once family and friends know your weakness for them. In this video we turn a keyboard box and a reusable tote into a beautiful journal, adding embroidery and sequins for a truly magical finish.

This build is a little more challenging, and I share every tip and trick I use to rescue a project that might otherwise end up in the bin. We will make larger signatures from scrapbook paper we never quite loved, turning it into perfect pages for collage and vision boards, and finish with a beautiful closure made from velvet ribbon.

A smaller journal that closes almost like the box it once was, covered in Dollar Tree art and gorgeous butterflies. This is the one to tuck into your bag and take with you everywhere. Join me as I build the base, create the cover, and add the closure.

Now we make our signatures and bind them into the journal using embroidery thread. The pages here range from paper bags to old book pages to scrapbook offcuts from my scrap pile, and plenty of other fun finds along the way.

Let us create our first layout, along with a little dashboard on the inside cover and opening page. I make mine using scraps, picture book pages, and a few Dollar Tree finds.