Altered-Book Home Journal

A home journal has always seemed like a good idea.  You know, a place to keep track of routines, favorite recipes, ideas, that sort of thing. The problem is, each time I’ve tried to make one I hated it: three ring binder= blech.  But I’ve found a solution and I’m having so much fun with it!  Presenting my Altered Book Home Journal:

You may have seen altered books before.  People make awesome works of art out of old books using mixed media and imagination.  My Home Journal is an altered book to be used every day.  It is a constant work in progress and evolves as my needs for it evolve.

My sections are about routines, home school, cooking and ideas. I’ve included pages about what we’re learning, a semi-permanent grocery list and inspirational quotes.  To make sections easy to find I made tabs by gluing two pages together to add stiffness, and gluing a label on the edge.

I’ve blanked out a couple pages that I can work on when inspiration strikes.

The back page holds “Pocket Dockets” to fill in with my to-do’s and on the back cover the pocket holds that day’s to-do list.

If you’re looking for a creative way to keep your day on track you might give this a try.  I invited a friend over one evening and we prepared our chosen books by removing pages, making tabs and painting over some pages.  We each made a little art box for ourselves with our altered book supplies so we can keep adding to our home journals in little pockets of time during our bus days.   My journal  is constantly in progress; I don’t worry if a page looks bad because I can always clip it out or paint over it.

I love having this bit of whimsy to work with for mundane tasks.  Do you have any beautiful, creative or fun ways you stay organized?

This post is linked to Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma,
and Sunday Best at Feels Like Home.