Turn Paper Bags Into Beautiful Little Journals | Easy No-Special-Tools Tutorial

[music] Would you believe that these cute little journals are made from paperbacks? Easy way and surprisingly spacious for all kind of inserts and pockets made from these simple box. If you would like to create it, come to join me today for creating this cute little uh journal. I'm going to be using paper bags. These paper bags I have found on Amazon and I do use them daily for our lunches for you know work lunch. So it was great that I had had them at home when I wanted to try that first that pocket idea and then I added that rest of the back. So these bags are wonderful because they are quite strong and nice thickness. So they do work well even for those journal pages. I will put link down below for those who want to have a look. link will be for uh UK Amazon for British Amazon, but you can copy the name and place it in your Amazon and I do believe it will find probably exactly same ones. So, I'm going to be using these paperbacks, five for journal pages, one for journal cover. for cover thickness. Uh I'm going to be using this leftover from craft envelope and luckily it came also from Amazon. [laughter] I do shop mostly on Amazon and I do love their packaging because they are very useful. So I'm going to be using this to create journal cover. Then, uh, I'm going to be sewing my pages with just normal thread. And, uh, I'm going to be reinforcing my spine, this one, with this fabric [snorts] tape. This is fabric tape, self adhesive tape, medical tape, also found on Amazon. And I really like to use this tape because it sticks immediately. It reinforc beautifully spine of my books and it doesn't have a huge thickness. It's nice and soft and it's already made for me. So that's what I did used here and it does have this beautiful edge. You know, for decorating pages of my journal, I'm going to be using 6x6 papers. When I was digging in my shed of later project and later um craft supplies, I have found so many uh 6x6 paper parts. So this I'm going to be using today for this journal. So all pockets and pages I have made quite similar way. I grabbed my scissors and I have cut uh that paper back here on the bottom. So as you can see that paper back is folded this way. So I kept it folded and here where I can see fully the bottom of the back. I started to cut about I will say 1/8 of inch from the edge of my back. And here I have created top like this. Very easy way. Nothing too complicated. And because I wanted to have these tabs always on different spot. Where is it? Oh, where was that? That next one. And here. So, you have bottom, middle, and top. This first one I grabbed. I flip it over and follow my cutting. like this. So I do have one on the top, one on the bottom, and that the middle one. Well, I took my pencil and I kind of made marks here and here. I try to make it on each side of this top kind of equally. And I have cut it along those marks. And if you need, you can always grab your readym made envelope with already pre-cuted top and follow that here. I do have cuted my paper box and I do have different uh different position of taps. Now from those leftovers these parts I'm going to use them for pages. And what I did before, I took my scissors and I just cuted these little leftovers from here and from here. And I think I left these. Yeah, definitely left these because there is enough of of the paper. I'm going to cut off this one. Then I have open it each back like this. I just flatt it down and there wasn't uh like way where I decided which way I will flatt it down. I just flatt it down some way. And I took my bone folder. And the way when you do use a letter opener, just slide in that fold and kind of rip that back apart. And on that opposite side and then fold it on half. That was all the base I did with each of my box like this. And some of these bags, they do have this gluing part. Like some of these parts, of course, all of my bags, they do have this gluing part here where the back is, you know, glued together. I'm not sure where is it. It is. Oh, it is here. It's glued together. So, some of these pages, they will have this one. [snorts] And I use that to glue here on this one, my extra pockets. That's why I can do this. Tada. I do have that pocket glued on this extra part of my back. So, I'm going to prepare all that uh rest of these papers exactly same way. I'm just going to open it some way, no matter which way. And I'm not going to cut this one straight because I actually like these uh ups and downs. I think they do up interesting look into my pages. When you flip through and you see these downs and waves and tabs, it does add a little extra to those pages. They are a little bit more interesting and fun. So that's why I left it the way which is looking right now. And I just, you know, rip those. Okay, I'm going to Yeah, rip those paper backs here and here here. And fold it on half. And here I do have my extra piece here. That will be interesting. Okay, I'm going to glue that paper back. This one here [laughter] something new. I'm going to continue with all of these bags. I do have all pages cuted. Now, I'm going to grab my corner punch. And because I don't like these sharp corners on my pages, I'm going to use that corner punch to cap all the corners to make them softer and better for me. Like this. Here on the bottom, I do have same corners. So this way I'm going to cut it on every single one of these papers. So I do have all corners rounded with my paper punch. Uh I'm going to separate pieces which do have this this part where the paper back was glued together. And these will be like my first papers in the signatureish. Signature will be two pages only. So it's minimal signature because it's very small journal. So I will have I should have Yeah, I do have five of them. This one it's on different place. Look at that. It will be even more interesting. And I will have papers which will go inside. here and here. So each of them each of these papers I'm going to cover with these beautiful decorative papers and I will do it exactly same way. So I think it will be much better if I will show you what I did here on each of these papers. So this one it's like this first one. So here, as you can see, my paper is ending here. And I do have strip of green paper here on this little spot. And then that rest, this one, I do have different paper. This is holding on this. And I just glued my pocket in the middle and cuted these sides. I will show you that in the process. One more thing before I will start to cut decorative papers. Uh what I did also on these pockets, I left only that bottom top. Going to show you. I do have only that bottom top and this top side. I cut it straight. So you can uh take a ruler if you need straight edge and draw a line there and then cut it with your scissors. That's what I did because I do have uh issues with controlling straight lines. I need the straight lines and rounded corners. I'm not sure why, [snorts] but it's what I am. So I draw straight lines and then I have cuted that top side uh along those lines nice and straight and it did make me happy. And then I cuted of course this behind that as well right there. And this one I have reinforced with a glue just to make sure it will be not flying everywhere. And I can use this one to reinforce that top as well. So any kind of offcut could be useful. Yeah. Yeah. when it comes about matting my pages and creating an extra pocket like I do here like this one is made like an extra pocket. I just glued that matting paper that decorative paper on three sides and from this side I do have a pocket. So when comes on matting and uh placing decorative papers uh I'm always making the cuts one quarter of inch smaller than is the size of the paper. So like here this side of my pages it's always same actually it's five and one quarter and this decorative paper and paper here that will be this one they are 5 in long five so always one4 of inch inch shorter. And also this one to that um to that dividing spot. This is two and 3/4. And my matting paper or extra decorative paper. I do have here I do have slightly bigger than 2 and 1/2. I do have two and five eight. So when it will be placed totally to that fold I will have beautiful frame around these edges. And here with this matting paper I will take same exactly same paper punch which I used for corners. And I will punch these two sides. So when I will glue it down I will follow the shape of my page. So this one will be here. This one will be here like this. Now on these pockets I will do same. I did cut it one4 of inch smaller paper on this side and on this side as well. So when it will be glued down, it will create beautiful decorative frame all around. And before I will glue it down, I will also decorate this and this. For that, I'm going to be mostly using offcuts from my 6x6 papers. I will always have some kind of offcuts because my pages here needs only those 5 in paper. So I will always have an inch of cut from each of these papers so that I can use here in these folds. And I'm going to literally just eyeball it there because it is mostly for reinforcing that side of that paper back. So one here And one there and I do have a reinforced paper back. I need to let it dry, of course, not unglue it. Now, when I [clears throat] glued these pockets on that little flap, I made it this way just to make sure I will don't put too much glue all over of that little flap. Glue that down. So, I do have it glued. Now, I can cut off this and this side. Yep. Come on. And I did use another decorative paper and glue that from the bottom. So then I had interactive little page with funny opening. This is really brilliant idea. I love this pocket so much. It's easy to do because it's already made on that on that paperback. And then every other papers I have cut it in the size I need. Even if there was this one. So let's say I will use this paper maybe here. So I do have it in the size of my page. I'm going to cut those two side corners same like it's on my paper here and here. So I do have this one. But then there is that little you know little top. So what I did I always place those decorative papers this side the way I would like to see them. then draw this entry and then use my scissors and cut along my drawing. So I knew that there will be a little gap between decorative paper and edge of my uh of my between decorative paper and edge of that brown tape uh tape brown paper. I think I'm going to place it this way so you will actually see like this. Now when I will glue it down, when I will glue it down, I will put the glue on this side, this side, and this side. And with that, I will create another pocket. Like this. And with this gluing I have created pocket from this uh from this side. Not going to put there anything yet. I need to let it dry properly. So the glue will sit. I can also used sewing machine and do all kind of sewing. I can do also all kind of stamping. This journal I have created for Instagram real and it was kind of like easy peasy I will be lazy journal. I did do that doodling all all around and I also used my uh sanding tool, my nail uh sanding what is it tool [laughter] and I did sanded edges of my papers because I do love how beautiful it looks like worn paper, old paper. So, I did use my nail polish tool or sanding tool on all edges of my decor, pardon me, decorative papers like this. And then on that I have used my pen. You do have here um fontine pens. Is it that way? Like uh ink pens. This one has brown ink. Really beautiful ink. And with that I did my doodling. Not [snorts] totally straight line more that doodling. Enjoy it and feel free. Nothing too serious. Just enjoy to follow the edges of the decorative paper. Not sure if you can see that. And here is a little bit of sneak peek of my doodling. And again, I did make this drawing on every single one of these pieces on all pages. You can use your sewing machine. You don't have to do this. Uh if you don't have decorative papers like this, you can use book pages or you don't have to use any covering papers at all. You can use only uh papers from those paper bags and that will be totally okay. You will have beautiful pocket like this one. I need to unglue it. Beautiful pocket like this. And then brown papers for writing. That's totally okay. So I do have prepared my five signatures and I also prepared pieces for covers. I do have here for each cover I do have two large pieces and now I'm going to tell you measurements. So my papers for signatures they are if I will take that largest part five and 14 by 3 and half that's measurement that largest measurement of my signature papers and the papers for covers I do have two large pieces they are five and half by 3 and 5/8 two of them. Then two smaller pieces which will create decorative element like this kind of like frame on the top. So these smaller pieces they are 5 and 14 by 2 and 3/4. That's these two pieces. And then I do have two pieces which I will glue inside once the cover is done. And they will create those end papers likeish or cover from inside. And the size of these papers is 5 and half by 3 and half. They are just slightly smaller than these large pieces. Just really very slightly smaller than these large pieces. They they should cover most of that paper. So I do have this prepared for front and back cover. And to create that cover, I'm going to take one more paperback, I'm going to open it here on the bottom and then find where is it glued? It's glued here in this spot. So, I'm going to unglue it right there. So I do have nice beautiful piece of paper and I think I'm going to use the same like before that folding as my guide for how big spine I want to keep because if I will place my signatures together and place them here in this spot, it will be just exactly ly spot for my signatures. So, I'm going to keep this folding as my navigation for where I will place those large pieces of the craft card here and here. And this space is [snorts] 1 and one4 of inch in the width. I'm going to take glue and glue my papers. Oh, first actually I forgot. Look at me. First I'm going to create that uh double layered cover. So I can place it right here. And as you can see this piece it's smaller. So it does create beautiful frame around and once it will be covered with this paper it will be really beautiful decoration. I'm going to do this I'm going to do same with this second piece. Now I'm going to put the glue on this uh this side of my card stock where there is that double layer of that card stock. And I'm going to flip it over and place it along this fold. And I'm going to keep on this side here about 1 inch of paper. Flip it over and press everything nicely. Now I'm going to flip it back. And I'm going to take that second paper and on this reinforced I on on this side where I do have the double layer. I'm going to put the glue and same like before I'm going to flip it over and place it here. And I will try to match the high of my papers. I can take this one as navigation. So slide it to that card stock here. And then I can see how [snorts] high I should go with this paper. Flip it over. Also I need to point that uh I used corner punch which I used on my papers uh pages here. I used same corner punch to punch these round corners here and here. And >> [snorts] >> uh also on these papers and I pointing them outside, not inside, not to the spine, but outside for beginners. I do have glued my card stock inside. I'm going to cut that paper back around. I'm going to keep that one inch all around. And now I can glue my paper to the card stock. So first I'm going to uh glue corners and I'm going to fold it this way around the corner and press it nicely all around. And same I'm going to do on all uh other corners. All those three other corners. And now [clears throat] that rest of the papers [snorts] now because this is a paperback only I need I knew I need to reinforce it to make sure that it will hold beautifully my signatures. So I have used this fabric tape and I started [snorts] about here about in the 3/4 of that high. And because my tape wouldn't cover fully all uh all spine including sides of my cover. I decided to use it slightly uh over the edge of front cover and then down and wrap it around. [snorts] And here on this side, it's great navigation to follow those cards I used as decorative element. And I'm going to keep it open for now. And I'm going to use another strip and [snorts] cover that second part. And again here I'm going to follow line here just to keep nice straight lines like this and fold [clears throat] it down. >> [snorts] >> I can glue straight away also inside papers. one here and one here also before I will glue it down. If you would like to use some label holders maybe like this one where you will use brats do it before you will put those inside papers so then those inside papers can cover the brats of that label holder. I'm gonna use that label holder. So before I will use that, I'm going to also distress my cover. Give it slightly vintage look. I'm going to be using Wut stain distress ink from Ranger. And just add the color to my paper back. And here I'm going to spray it with water a little bit. And I'm going to let it dry properly. And I'm going to do same on that other side of my cover. I do have my cover prepared. And now I can place the label holder on the cover. So probably somewhere here. Yeah, like this one hole. [snorts] And just to make sure I am on the straight line, I'm going to be using my ruler and make a position. Yeah, I think this way it will be straight. Place the branch and fix them here. So now I do have my label holder prepared and I can glue inside these decorative papers. I do have my papers glued now. Uh I have draw lines in that cover before to make sure that I will sewn my signatures nice and straight on the right spot. And I'm going to do same here. It's good to make yourself your work easier not to struggle. And I don't mind that there will be a little bit of lines because I do draw and paint everything all around. So with here will be just a little bit of painting where I was sewing my signatures. I actually don't mind that much. I do take it as another decorative element. So because I do have five signatures, I'm going to be following centimeters here. I mean cm ruler here. And every half cm, I'm going to make a little mark for myself. I do hope [clears throat] I am making right spots. And same here. I can't see that properly. I think I need new glasses. And now I'm going to follow these draw lines. And then I'm going to poke the holes in my signatures. I do have my five lines drawn. And for poking holes in my signatures, I'm going to be using oval. And this my kind of guide for poking holes in my journals. I'm going to be opening in the middle positioning my papers the right way. So I need to make sure I do have it put together nice way as they do belong together. Then I will put my poking guide here. I'm following this line with the bottom of my signature. And then I do have there are three holes and I can poke it through. I'm going to be doing exactly same holes on all five signatures and same guide I can take for mapping here. where I should sewn my signatures. So, I'm placing this on my cover. I think maybe it will be better with with the signature itself actually because it's smaller than the cover. And I can see the holes here, here, and the last one. It's here. And now I can make a line here and here. So I know where I should put my needle. And the rest of the work is quite easy. I'm always starting from the inside. Most of the time when I am sewing my signatures in the journals, I'm starting from the middle. And I'm making very easy three point stitching here. I'm going to actually poke the hole from inside and hold my finger here to know where I should go with my needle. Somewhere here, I believe. Exactly. Now here I'm going to follow this one and poke it through. When you do have a black fabric on your spine, it is not always easy to see the dots, the holes. So we should help ourself with anything possible we have. and make a knot. And one more. And because I'm sewing each of these signatures separately, I'm going to when I'm going to take another uh another thread. This one it's short already. So I do have sewn first signature. And this way I'm going to continue with every single next signature. And this is my very simple, beautiful journal with those funny pockets. I really love them. reads are awesome with cute little pages with so many pockets. I need to create some tags. But I think uh I'm going to actually try to decorate this one and write something into this journal or into these to use them for some uh journaling, you know. I really love these pockets. That was cute inspiration. So this is my mini journal made from paper box and from one old 6x6 uh paper pad. Not even all papers have been used. I still have plenty to use for cards and inserts. And each of these pages they do have pocket. And here I do have this one. Okay. The other side is wonderful. And again open. So that's mini journal. You can create from paper bags. And as I said, you can use either decorative papers or you don't have to use any decorative papers at all because that brown paper, it's just perfect for writing. So if you do like to write something in your journals and I do hope you do like it, just try this one because you will create really beautiful, very cute little journal. That's all my sharing for today. Thank you so much for joining me today and spending your time with me. I hope this inspiration got your attention and you will try to create this little journal uh pockets made from paper bags I saw on Instagram. I will put link down below for that video. Go to have a look. And that's all for today. I will also place links for those paperbacks. Yeah, that's all for today. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day. Take care of yourself and I will be back soon. Bye.