Easy Homemade Journals (I made all these in an hour!) Click through for step-by-step tutorial 

You guys, I made all these journals in, like, an hour! I've made journals before, but this is the simplest way I've found to create a little collection in no time at all. These little guys make great gifts, and I love that it's easy to build up a stash. 

Here's how:

Supplies Needed 
Supplies:
-r
egular 8.5 "x 11" printer paper (you need about 7 sheets per journal)
-Crop-A-Dile punch tool
-string or twine
-paper trimmer
-embellishments for the cover (I used letter stamps and StazOn ink)
-paper, leather, faux leather, or oil cloth for your cover material

1 
Step One: Trim your 8.5" x 11" paper in half. I usually trim about five pieces at a time with my paper trimmer. You are trimming the long side in half so your new pieces are 8.5" x 5.5" inches.  

2 
Step Two: It's up to you how many pages you put in your book. I usually do about seven pieces, which makes 14 halves, which makes 28 pages. Just fold them in half so you can see how big your pages will be. 

3 
Step Three: Use the pages to measure how big you want your cover to be. I like to leave about an extra inch so there's half an inch around every edge between the pages and the cover. 

4 
Step Four: Trim the cover to size.  

5 
Step Five: You can see here how that extra inch (or so) makes the pages fit more comfortably within the cover. 

6 
Step Six: Use your Crop-A-Dile to punch two holes through the pages and the spine. The reason I use a Crop-A-Dile and not just a regular hole punch is that it can punch through lots of layers or thicker textiles like leather.

7 
Step Seven: Next, use twine to attach the pages and the cover together. Hide the knot by tying it inside the book rather than on the spine. 

8 
Step Eight: It's that simple! Once you've made one, you can make 10 really quick. It's super fun! 

9 

Variations: To spice up your covers, try stamping, try using watercolor paper and paints, try leather or oil cloth, and add personal touches like names, dates, and occasions. 

Easy Homemade Journals (I made all these in an hour!) Click through for step-by-step tutorial Easy Homemade Journals (I made all these in an hour!) Click through for step-by-step tutorial Easy Homemade Journals (I made all these in an hour!) Click through for step-by-step tutorial