I am a notebook lover. I can resist a big piece of my favourite cream cake, a big block of thick milky chocolate, but I can’t resist a good notebook. And “Good” notebook in my Universe means very simple inside – pure white pages or with light dots or only lines, no days, no numbers, nothing else. But the cover must be exciting! Whenever I see this combination, I can’t resist.
And, of course, this addiction makes me buy more and more piling up the notebooks. Once I’ve filled the inside they’re no longer useful of course, but the covers are so beautiful that I don’t have the heart to throw them out, so I decided to keep the covers, rescue them and use them again.
A look back
I started my first notebook – the one with golden glitter covers, which I first used after my mother died from cancer. I learned a lot of lessons from her life and last days. I wanted to change my life, to start living healthier and especially – to find and create more time for my family, for the friends I love and for the things I love. To be sure that one day I will be able to say “I was alive!”. Because for me this is the biggest problem of us as human beings. We are often not actually living. “Wear your new clothes, boys!”, says one poet. He doesn’t mean clothes, of course, but the everyday ability to enjoy the Life.
So, this was somehow a significant notebook. It helped me a lot and I really changed my life. Every time, even now, looking at the shiny cover, my instincts start talking and I become inspired once again, full of bright shiny positive energy.
It was interesting to look back at these pages, full of decorated tables and drawings on all the pages. In the next years I also changed my ideas about how to “journal” and how to plan your life. This look back was very helpful. I realised I had changed my perception of things and became a lot more minimalist “oriented” in my planning. It was cute to see the younger “me” – stressed, but full of hope.
Making the cover look better
I tore apart the notebook. Saved the cover and the body, with all the tables, trackers and drawings went into the recycling bin.
Then I made two holes in the bottom and the top of the cover spine.
With thick ribbon I covered the edges, where the pages were connected to the cover.
The important thing was that before gluing them, I folded the edges of the ribbons. This was to prevent the ends from fraying.
Add the elastic
Adding the elastic is actually the most important thing in this process, because it makes the cover useful again. And it also gives the opportunity to add different notebooks inside. I decided to have only two, but you can use thinner elastic and add four or more notebooks.
The problem was I didn’t find a golden elastic, so used a black one. I didn’t like how it looks from outside.
So, had to hide it. For this I used two pieces of the same ribbon I used before. Covered the elastic with the ribbon pieces
… and then glued it under the main ribbons. This made the “structure” stronger and also – looks nice from inside
And outside
The finale of the rescue operation
The finale was actually to put the notebooks inside the new cover and to enjoy my work.
The good thing is you can use also different sizes of notebooks – depends on what exactly you need to write, plan and track. The little notebook in this picture is my “craft idea notebook” where I am drawing all my ideas about blogging and making things. When I go out, this little notebook is in my handbag – to help me not miss a single idea. When I am at home, the little notebook is inside the cover – to help me plan my work.
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