Make Your Own Notebook!!!!!!

First if you are an avid follower of this blog and notice that today is Saturday and I do not normally post on Saturday that is because I am going to be really busy tomorrow and will not have time to blog so I decided I'd post now instead of not at all.

Secondly let me apologize for my lack of art journal posts recently. I was on vacation this past Wednesday and did not have wifi so I could not post and before that I have been busy with school and tests. There will be a post this Wednesday though. And now onto the diy...

Okay so when I first saw this YouTube video on how to make your own notebook I was in love and I knew I had to try it.  

The Finished Project...

...and I made a second one later since I loved the first one which will be posted about later.

What you'll need...

A cereal box or cardboard box or just a piece of cardboard

Paper, either ruled or lined

Depending on the type of paper either ribbon/string or staples and duct tape.

Scissors

Decorating supplies

So let's get started...

Here's my cereal box... if you wanted to know.

 And to use it we'll have to deconstruct it. The easiest way to do this is to undo the seams on the top and the bottom and as I figured out later there is a seam on the side.  I'd recommend doing this instead of cutting down the side.
When you have undone your cereal box it should look something like this...

 And now to cut the box to size.
Lay your paper down with the edge of the paper lined up with a seam. This will ensure easy closure and fold. If you're using blank paper I would recommend using the paper folded but it is not necessary. If you want a special size it is also an option to cut your paper to size,
Once your paper is laid down you are going to want to trace around the edge of the paper.

 The you need to flip the paper to the other side and trace around that too.

 After tracing and removing the paper you should have something like this.

 Now something I didn't do this time but I should've done and I did the second time is to add some wiggle room. As you might've saw my paper stuck out a little at the edges. To prevent this measure simply draw another line around the size of the paper. To make this line even I would recommend to use a ruler to make the distance equal all around. That would be the line that you want to cut out.
When you do cut it out it will look something like this...

Now is the time to decorate the base of your notebook. You can leave the extra small details until after you have secured your paper in. The point is to cover up the cereal box design. To do this I used newspaper. This involved tons of layers of mod podge and newspaper due to the bright colors of cereal boxes. You could also paint it or use scrapbook paper.

 Then to finish off the edges  I used some washi tape.

 Now to bind the edges. If you are using folded paper there are two ways that you can bind it. You can either staple it or sew the paper the the edge. If you are using non-folded paper you are going to want to punch holes in it if it doesn't have holes in it already.
To bind this kind of paper place you paper on the inside of the notebook where it will be bound and mark where the holes are.

Getting the holes is the tricky part. I used a series of screwdrivers to puncture the holes. There are probably other ways to do this but this worked for me.

                                     

 Now you can add all the little detail to personalize it (not that its not personalized already) or you can secure the paper down. I personally personalized mine first.

 To secure the paper in you are basically going to cut pieces of ribbon or string thread them threw the holes and tie them off.

Add tada you are done! Have making a notebook that is totally your own!