Mom & Me Notebook

I’m always looking for ways to connect with my kids at the level they need it. Recently we went though a big change in our family -fostering a little boy and now adopting him! I wanted to find a special way to communicate with our daughter -who recently was moved to middle child status. We made this journal together -as a way to leave secret notes, pictures and letters to each other. Come see how we did it!

Step One:

Gather your supplies. Just a trip to the store or an online excursion is fun enough for most girls! We suggest sticking with one designer or theme of embellishments to keep your journal cohesive. We used the Cinch bookbinder -but any binder will do! Or even gather your items and bring them into a local office store to bind.

–paper, decorative and lined

–envelopes

–embelishments

–binder

–binding wire

–cardstock or book board (for front and back cover)

–mod podge or other adhesives

Step Two:

Cut out all your paper and card stock to the size of you book. Arrange in the order you would like it to be. We added lots of lined paper mixed in with fun double sided scrapbook paper. We also added in envelopes to hold trinkets and treasures.

Step Three:

Decorate your cover! Here we used mod podge to adhere the pretty paper to the book board cover. We also covered it with confetti!! Fun trick -to give the edges of the book board a finished look we stamped it with our pink ink pad!

Step Four:

Bind! Follow the instructions of your bookbinder. For ours, we first punched out the holes (be careful to measure) then place the pages on your binding wire. Cinch the wires shut.

Step Five:

Add some final details (we love puffy stickers, ribbon and felt!) and don’t forget to date the book. We leave the book under each other’s pillows inscribed with messages and pictures of the week. It’s been fun leaving this little gift for each other and a perfect fit for my gift giving daughter!