A DIY Blog Planner

Warning: Photo heavy post!!!

So blogging is something that I love doing, but (like lots of things) I have trouble staying on top of it and organizing my thoughts. I came across Mollie's printable over at Wild Olive that she collaborated on with Sew Tara. This was the solution I have been looking for! Thank you to these two ladies for coming up with this! I loved Tara's version, and considered having one bound professionally, but I really wanted to test drive it with a little less expensive of an option, and came up with this diy. This tutorial was made using the printable you can get from clicking here. It would also be great to use for handmade journals to give as gifts. So here's what you do:

Print out the planner pages on front and back. I printed 20 plus one single sided for my first and last page. My plan is for this book to get me to the end of 2011, and that many pages worked perfectly.

Find a thicker paper to use as your cover. I used watercolor paper, because it's what I had, and I knew I wanted to do a watercolor design on the outside. Fold it in half, and go over the crease with a bone folder.

Sketch out a design for the cover in pencil.

Color it in with watercolor or whatever medium you are using.

While it's drying, go back to working on your printed pages, and folding them in half.

Go over these creases with a bone folder as well. The bone folder helps reduce the bulk of the fold, and makes it easier to create the spine.

Open out the pages and stack them so the center folds are lined up. Then make sure all edges are even, also.

Mark where the you will be making holes on the fold to bind the book. You need 5 holes, one on each end about 1 inch from the edge, one in the middle, and 2 between the end and middle holes as shown below. You will use an awl or another sharp object to create the holes. At this step, I went ahead and made preliminary holes. (Notice this is on a self healing mat. Be careful that you don't poke yourself, or the surface you're working on because these things are sharp!)

Go ahead and take a break until your cover dries, and go make yourself a half-batch of chocolate chip cookies. Or don't. Suit yourself.

Once the cover is dry, add any other embellishments you want. I used a Sharpie pen (LOVE these things!) to outline, and add some little extras. It's not fine art, but it's fun!

Next, you lay the pages on top of the inside of the cover. I used paperclips to hold all my layers steady during this part. Then I made sure to poke the holes all the way through the layers and cover.

Being careful not to poke myself, I flipped the cover back to make sure the tip of the awl went all the way through to the outside cover on each hole.

At this point, you should be able to see all your awl punches from the outside.

Then, I threaded a needle with some embroidery floss. I used a yarn darning needle, but didn't necessarily need a sharp one since I pre-drilled the holes.

To bind the book, start from the inside, and put your needle and thread through the middle hole.

Leave about 4 inches or so of a tail on the inside.

From the outside, go back through in the next hole up.

This is what your first stitch looks like:

Now your needle will be back on the inside. Go back through the top hole to the outside cover.

Now it looks like this.

Next, you'll go back through the second hole down towards the inside.

Half of your binding is done.

This time, you're going to skip the middle hole, and go to the fourth one down, and go through to the outside.

This will leave a longer stitch skipping over the middle on the inside.

On the outside again, go back inward through the bottom hole.

Almost finished.

On the inside, go back out through the fourth hole down.

Then, for the last stitch, you come back in through the center hole.

This is what the outside will look like if you have done it correctly so far.

Gently tighten the loose ends to make sure your book will not be too floppy. Remember that long stitch in the middle, and the extra we left at the beginning? Use the needle end and that first leftover strand, and tie a knot around the long stitch.

Then trim the excess and you're ready to go!

Remove the paperclips and fold it back in half and you've got your book!

Here's what the finished binding looks like.

And here's the inside. I am using a swirly paperclip to keep mine on the current week.

I think this is going to be a great tool for planning, and I'm excited to use it in the upcoming months. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you use it, please leave me a comment, and link to your own post if you have one!