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You are here: Home / Crafts / How to Make a Homemade DIY Journal Out of Wood

How to Make a Homemade DIY Journal Out of Wood

Filed Under: Crafts, Get Organized, Gift Ideas | 30 Comments

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I love the idea of making a wood journal! Not just because you can make it in 30 minutes, but because the homemade DIY journals make really cute gifts. You can stencil them, paint them, stain them, and even decoupage fabric on them!

Just stuff them with any kind of pages for a one-of-a-kind DIY wood journal! But don’t stop there: think about photo albums…agenda books… and much more!

So this is reeeeeaaaally simple.

Ready??

Click here to save this post on Pinterest!

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Personalized wood journal tutorial - Thrift Diving

(I participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites).

Materials: How to Make a Wood DIY Journal

  • 1/4″ birch plywood. Get the full sheet for $12. It’s 4’x8′ in size, and you can make probably at least 8 or more journals!!
  • Jigsaw
  • Metal book rings
  • Power drill with 5/16 bit
  • Sandpaper (220 fine)
  • Stain
  • 3-prong hole puncher
  • Wood burner (Buy the Creative Versa wood burning kit from Amazon)
  • A printed design
  • Transfer paper (or a stencil)
  • Hemp oil or polyurethane
  • Computer paper or any 8.5″x11″ paper to fill the middle

But First…..Do You Know How to Use a Jigsaw?

For this tutorial, you’ll need to pull out some power tools, my friend, but if you’ve never used power tools, it’s not hard to learn!  Just check out this power tools tutorial I did on how to use a jigsaw.

If you’d rather make these journals without power tools, click here to read How to Make DIY Journals Out of Scrapbook Paper.

If you’ve got experience with power tools, then proceed, my friend!

 

How to Make a DIY Journal Out of Wood

Now let’s get to the good part!! I’m soooo lovin’ this! It will last for years and you can fill it with whatever you want–photos, To-Do lists, scrapbooks, and more! Even better, make them for gifts!

(BONUS GIFT): Enter your name and email and download my Room Makeover Journal packet to put inside of your DIY wooden journal!

 

 

DOWNLOAD these free journal pages to insert into your DIY wooden journal or notebook! - Thrift Diving

STEP 1: Grab Your Birch Plywood.

It cost about $12 at Home Depot. Get the 1/4″ thickness.

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Use 1/4" plywood - Thrift Diving

 

STEP 2: Measure using computer paper or notebook paper as a template!

The reason I had to make it a little bigger than the 8.5″ paper is that when you put your journal together, you’ll need a little bit of an overhang for a finished look.

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Use a sheet of paper to measure slightly larger than a piece of paper. - Thrift Diving

 

STEP 3: Cut, baby, cut!

Cut two pieces out. They’ll measure 8-5/8″ x 11″. Basically, the size of a piece of paper plus 1/4″ extra.

 

Cut wood with jigsaw - How to Make a Wooden Journal

 

Wooden piece cut - How to Make a Wooden Journal

 

STEP 4: Make holes in a sheet of paper, then drill.

Use your 3-prong hole puncher to make a template for where the holes will go on your board. Use your power drill and a 5/16″ drill bit to drill the holes.

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Measure for holes in the wood. - Thrift Diving

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Drill holes in the wood for the book rings. - Thrift Diving

 

STEP 5: Sand everything smooth with 220 grit fine sandpaper.

STEP 6: Print out design or name, transfer to front board of the journal.

Just use your printer. I used this site to create a printed name for myself.

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Outline your name and then wood burn it. - Thrift Diving


STEP 7: Use the wood burner.

OOooohhh…I think I have discovered a new passion: burning wood!! This set comes with several tips. It’s fun, actually! Reminds me of the smell of roasting marshmallows. HAHA.

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Burn your name into your wood journal. - Thrift Diving

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Burn your name into your wood journal with a wood burning tool. - Thrift Diving

 

STEP 8: Stain your wood journal.

I used Minwax….Espresso!

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Wipe on Minwax. - Thrift Diving

 

Step 10: Wipe down the DIY wooden journal with hemp oil or polyurethane.

Wipe with Hemp Oil - How to Make a Wooden Journal - Thrift Diving
STEP 11: Add metal rings and paper!

Now you are DONE, honey! WOO HOO!

Can I just say that I love this??!


How to Make a Wooden Journal - Add book rings to make a wooden journal - Thrift Diving

 

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Add sheets of paper into your wood journal - Thrift Diving

How to Make a Wooden Journal - Make a wood journal and personalize it with your name. - Thrift Diving

How to Make a DIY Journal Notebook Out of Scrapbook Paper

What if you don’t have power tools? Then you can make these easy DIY journal notebook out of scrapbook paper, which would take you (literally) 10 minutes to make.

 

How to Make DIY Journals With Scrapbook Paper - Thrift Diving

 

How to Make DIY Journals With Scrapbook Paper Personalized Journals - Thrift Diving

Here are some ideas for how you can use your DIY journal or DIY notebook!

  • Lined paper for class notes
  • Scrapbook (use acid-free pages)
  • Artbook for drawing
  • Teen journal
  • Travel journal
  • Coloring book for kids
  • Photo album
  • Meal planning
  • Blogger calendar
  • Family journal
  • Much more!

Keep Reading!

Click here to learn how to cover ugly binders with pretty paper!

How to Cover Old Binders With Pretty Paper - Thrift Diving

Love this project? Go ahead and PIN it for later! 🙂


How-to-Make-a-DIY-Journal-Out-of-Wood-Thrift-Diving

Here are some ideas for how you can use your DIY journal or DIY notebook!

  • Lined paper for class notes
  • Scrapbook (use acid-free pages)
  • Art book for drawing
  • Teen journal
  • Travel journal
  • Coloring book for kids
  • Photo album
  • Meal planning
  • Blogger calendar
  • Family journal
  • Much more!

So did you know how easy it was to make a wooden journal? I bet you didn’t! Leave a comment and let me know if this tutorial was helpful in creating your own DIY wooden journal or was helpful in creating DIY gift ideas for friends and family! 🙂

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Comments

  1. Mary says

    August 16, 2017 at 12:36 PM

    This is so cool and I love my jigsaw!

    Reply
  2. Jim MBA says

    May 6, 2017 at 8:59 AM

    Love it! What sized rings did you use?

    Reply
    • Serena Appiah says

      May 7, 2017 at 8:36 PM

      Hey there! You can use the 1″ size or less rings. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lanie says

    August 17, 2016 at 8:09 AM

    What a great idea and way to feed my pyrography habit!! So perfect for gifts!! If I may offer a transfer tip that I use 90% of the time now…I flip the image and print on wax paper…carefully apply to your project and press…the ink will transfer perfectly! (especially on smooth wood like this!) If you goof, it will sand off! Thanks again…this is a keeper project for sure!

    Reply
    • Serena Appiah says

      May 7, 2017 at 8:42 PM

      OOoh, great idea, Lanie! Are you just printing this on wax paper and then pressing it onto the wood? I’d like to try this! 🙂

      Reply
      • Lanie says

        May 7, 2017 at 8:47 PM

        Yes! Easy Peasy! I cut the waxed paper a touch smaller than 8.5 x 11 so it doesn’t jam in my printer. Alternatively, the waxy backing sheets from (used) label pages? Save those suckers to print n transfer! Just don’t forget to flip your image or your transfer will be backwards.

        Reply
        • Serena Appiah says

          May 7, 2017 at 8:53 PM

          Okay, I must try this! I think one of my blogger friends did something similar but I didn’t pay much attention to it until you mentioned it. I will try it! I am going to be hosting crafting classes for people to decorate their own wooden journals. This would be a great option for class! 🙂 Thanks, Lanie!!

          Reply
  4. letizia says

    March 1, 2016 at 2:00 PM

    hi! I love this diy but i don’t know how the rings are called.
    Can you help me, please?
    thank you so much

    Reply
    • Serena Appiah says

      March 2, 2016 at 11:14 AM

      Hey there, Letizia! Here is my affiliate link to them on Amazon. They’re book rings: http://amzn.to/1T7TBQK.

      Reply
  5. [email protected] says

    August 16, 2015 at 10:03 AM

    I think this is my favorite! This makes a great gift, now I need to get busy and make a few!

    Reply
    • Serena Appiah says

      August 18, 2015 at 9:50 PM

      Thanks, Dede! I’m digging it, too! 🙂

      Reply
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I’m Serena Appiah (rhymes with IKEA). I think home should be affordable. All you need is paint, power tools and thrift stores. >> READ MORE...

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