The Notecard Journal

Read this post if you have: a love for all things homemade, any interest in decoupaging, a stack of old magazines that you refuse to recycle  (because let's face it, there has GOT to be some little project you can use them for), and a really, really low budget.


My friends, I present to you:
The Notecard Journal
(If I tried to come up with a more creative name, it would just be plain cheesy.)


After randomly making one for myself last semester, I came to the realization that it would make a pretty good birthday/baby/wedding/anything gift, if I don't say so myself.

I made one for Mama Lisa's big birthday and I actually remembered to take pictures so I could share with all of you. Check it out...

1. Find yourself a smallish (slightly larger than a postcard) sized box.
I picked up this gem at Target for $1.00.

2. Cut up a bunch of symbolic, kitschy, fun pictures from a stack of old magazines.
If you're a magazine hoarder like myself, this will be your easiest (yet still incredibly time consuming) step. 

3. Glue those bad boys on!
If you were really serious, you would probably use special decoupage glue. Or if you're cheap like me, Elmer's clear craft glue works just fine.
After your box is completely covered in pictures, use a sponge brush to cover the box in a thin coat of glue for a more polished look.

(Um, no idea what the heck is up with the lighting in this photo. Woops.)

4. Use 366 lined index cards for the actual "journal" part.  Use your best penmanship or a date stamp to indicate the month and day on each card. (Don't forget to include Leap year!)
Warning: This step takes longer than expected.

5. And there you go. A Notecard Journal.
I used old photos as month dividers, but postcards would be pretty great too.



For a birthday gift, you should start the journal with the date of their birthday.
(For example, Mama Lisa's birthday is July 1, so the very first index card in her box is July 1.)

Each line on the index card is used for one year. The first line would be 2011, the next 2012, the next 2013... Pretty self explanatory. After writing the year, the owner would write a short little something about their day. Most index cards have ten lines so you could potentially have a decade's worth of one liners. (Literally... Gosh, I'm punny.)

The daily entries don't have to be profound, witty, or breathtaking. Because, as we all know, some days just aren't. My entries range from:
"ONE OF MY BFFs GOT ENGAGED!!!"

to
"found some great new music: Amos Lee, Benjy Davis Project, and Ben Rector"

to
"Crappy day. The only good thing was Oreos.".


A lot can change in a year, let alone ten. I think it is going to be really cool to look back at July 13, 2011 in a few years and see that I "decided to go cold turkey on my Diet Coke addiction". (Unfortunately, I'm not making that up.)

Years from now, maybe I'll look back at that terrible day with the Oreos in 2011 and it will be the day  that I finally get my Dream Dog. Or some sort of wedding day. Or it could keep up its sucky reputation and be the day my Jeep Cherokee dies. Only God knows.

Maybe I'm just overly sappy and sentimental, but I can already tell you after a few short months, my notecard journal is one of my most cherished possessions.

Happy Wednesday and happy birthday Nana!