simple diy watercolor journal...

I drool over nice watercolor journals like this, but the thrifty girl inside me can't bring herself to pay when it's so easy to make my own. I made this late last week and posted my progress on Instagram. Thought I'd provide a little more detail here so that you can make your own!

Supplies:

22x30" sheet of watercolor paper

ruler

ribbon - cut to 18" or more
awl or nail

With a large ruler, divide the watercolor sheet as shown above: 

5" divisions on the short (22") side which will give you an extra 2". (I kept the 2" on my last cut and made that my outside page, giving it a little overlap.)

Divide the long (30") side in half. I scored the paper with an exacto blade then folded and tore the edges so that they would be deckled (the term for the pretty edge of watercolor paper).

When all of your pieces are torn or cut, you'll have eight sheets. Fold each long (15") side in half, making your page height 5" by a length of 7.5".

Mark three sets of dots with the two outside sections about 1/2" apart and the center section a little wider than the width of your ribbon. Take your awl or nail and poke a hole through all of the sheets. You may have to do sections. Another way is to lay the sheets onto a board and hammer the nail all the way through without having to worry about hurting yourself or a tabletop. 

Note: As the pages go in, they stick out longer toward the middle. To fix this, I drew a line along each sheet working from the outside in with the top sheet and cut along the line. Once it's done, the pages line up.

Cut three pieces of twine approximately 8" long and thread each piece from the inside out through all eight sheets.

Knot the twine.

Thread your ribbon evenly through the center section as shown above.

Add a strip of the double sided tape down the center of the front and back to hold the ribbon into place.

Guess what?

You're done! Enjoy your new journal.