Fun Twist on a Journal

Last week when I showed you my Christmas Planner, I told you I'd show you a few variations on this idea.  Here are a couple of journals, an adult version and a teen/tween version, and also a cookbook, all out of the same basic supplies.

A couple years ago in the October 2007 conference session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Henry B. Eyring gave a wonderful talk about journal keeping called "O Remember, Remember".  I LOVED this talk, maybe because I'm not a very good journal writer and this is really something I need to work on.  Anyway, shortly after this, my sister-in-law, Alana, brought a cute journal for us to make at our traditional Thanksgiving craft fest.  So I decided to combine the two and add Elder Eyring's talk to these fun, twist on a journals to make a cute gift.

The basic "how-to" is the same as the Christmas Planner.  However, the tabs for these journals are as follows:  Goals, Accomplishments, Adventures and Travels, Books I've Read, Favorite Scriptures and Quotes, and Blessings.  As I said, I made a Teen version, too. For those tabs I used: Goals, Favorite Songs and Artists (since this changes week to week, it's fun to remember), Books I've Read, Friends Info., Travels and Adventures, and Blessings.  I also dressed these up a bit more than the Christmas book by adding quotes to each title page and matting each title and quote with either one or two layers of cardstock and/or scrapbook paper.

On the left is the front title (pocket) page.  On the right is a sample section title page.

For each tab, I sectioned off about 5 pages and then left the rest of the tablet for the Blessings section.  In the front pocket (inside page) I added a shortened version of Elder Eyring's talk.  In this talk, he speaks about every day writing down "how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family." And as you pay more attention, you'll notice more blessings - even if it's little things like a neighbor helping out or someone letting you go in front of them at the grocery store.  If you would like to make your own, you can download them all here:
Titles and Quotes
Titles and Quotes - Teens
O Remember, Remember
This is two pages, that I print back to back, cut down to size, and then fold it backwards so the title is on the front.


In the picture at the top, you'll also see a Recipe book.  Cheyenne made that for Natalie a year or so ago for Christmas.  This is a place Natalie can jot down her favorite recipes she got from 4-H, or while she's cooking at home.  It has the sections of Breads, Meats & Main Dishes, Cakes & Desserts, Cookies, Candy, and Misc.  Cheyenne also found some cute food quotes to go with a couple of them:  "Man cannot live by bread alone...he needs peanut butter and jelly to go with it"; "You do not like them, so you say. Try them, try them, and you may. Try them and you may, I say."; "You get what you get, so don't throw a fit!"; and "The problem - how to get 2 lbs. of chocolate home in a hot car. The solution - eat it in the parking lot."  She also decorated it with cute cooking stickers.

These make great (thrifty) gifts.  I made the journals for my friends, ladies I visit for church, my girls made them for their friends, and I made them for my children's teachers.  I got rave reviews from them!  I even had the mom of one of my daughter's friends (who I didn't know at the time) call and tell me how much she loved it. Really! That made me feel happy.  The best was when I actually saw them using them.  Quite a few of those who received them would take them to church meetings to take notes in.  I have loved mine to keep track of all the books I've read - found out that I read about 2 books every month. :)  I also used the Quotes section to keep track of my favorite scriptures, but also the funny things my kids would say. It's fun to look back on that now.  If you decide to try this, I love to hear about and see your version.  Let me know!

This post was feature by: