Over the years I've used countless Mini Journals. For most of the time I just made notes in them, but at some point I began to decorate some to use for other reasons. Mostly it was because I have a stash of stamps, stamp pads, Gelatos, washi tape and other miscellaneous supplies that I love to use.
The notebooks I choose are sometimes gimmes (small notebooks that come from suppliers with their logo on the front), or, most often, they come from a Dollar Store. I've used all sorts of shapes and sizes. Lately the ones I have been finding are 5"X7".
The first thing I often do is a test page. Does the stamp pad ink go through the paper? Some of the notebooks take the Gelatos very well, others don't. Same with Washi tape-at times it is easily removable, and other times moving it makes a big mess. The wonderful thing about the spiral notebooks is, when experiments go awry the page simply goes away.
So...what do I do with these mini journals? Most become my version of a day planner. Some become quote journals, others are filled with prayers or scriptures. They make great, inexpensive gifts, too.
The one I embellished this weekend is now my day planner.
A simple lined notebook is the type of planner I tend to use the most. I've tried "professional" day planners ranging from elaborate to cute to completely outlandish. And they all end up in the trash because I don't use them. Their elaborate dated pages and blank areas for to-do lists bring out the procrastinator in me. Although those amazing kit-type planners fascinate me, after years of purchasing pre-made stuff that I didn't use, I've learned what works for me and what doesn't.
Consequently, I shy away from to-do lists in preference of jotting things down that need to be accomplished. Yes, I know it seems like semantics but it works for me. I put notes about professional tasks on one side and home/personal things on the other. This works very well for me since I work from home.
My favorite thing about this type of mini journal is that while it reminds me of what I need to do, the rest of the empty book doesn't stretch out beyond me. If I skip a day (or a week, or a month) I simply pick it up and begin again; there is no reminder of how many days I floated along without a goal in sight. Another thing I love is that it reminds me how much I get done every day. It keeps me on task (when I remember to use it) and there is a particular joy when drawing a line through a completed task.
So...how to you make a mini journal? The most important thing is to buy (or acquire) one. They don't have to be decorated, in fact, most of the ones I've used through the years haven't been embellished at all.
If you choose to decorate them, dig out your stash of stuff for paper and get after it. I keep my journaling stuff in a tote so I can easily find what I'm looking for. All I have to do is bring it to my work area, load a stamp with ink and randomly flip through the notebook and...stamp. I usually don't decorate all the pages. Sometimes I use Washi tape but remember that it can cause issues with writing over it so place it accordingly. I usually place washi tape on the outer edges of the paper.
In my new mini journal, on today's list is cleaning off the kitchen table. Since I use that area as an office of sorts, it accumulates clutter like crazy, and today's mess is the stuff I used to decorate the latest mini journal described above on Saturday. Another note is about remembering to spend time each day working on a quilt I designed for an upcoming church fundraiser. The date of the fundraiser has been moved from mid-June to the middle of March so that particular task got moved up in importance.
So, while I put up all this stuff on the table and get my day started, think about acquiring a small notebook and how you can experiment with making mini journals. I hope you love them as much as I do!
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