Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Miss Moxie Composition Book with Clever Closure

I finally finished my journal from the Winter Angel Roundup! It's a composition book cut in half, so it's a really handy size and as you can see, I'm still lovin' the Miss Moxie Paper from TAC!

I cut off the edge of the inside pages to create a place for tabs. (LOVE my Mini File Tab punch!) This is where I'll organize creative ideas, scrapbook layouts, etc. Maybe now that my notebook is all dolled up with ribbons, I'll get organized! Ha!

I also came up with a neat closure with a hair band, which creates a little pen holder and holds the book closed. (See the photos below for a little more detail.) The coordinated Miss Moxie Hardware and Ribbons made this really fun to put together. Photo Turns are here, loops are here, and they come in cool colors here! (The loop is the little thingy I used to make my ribbon bookmark.)

The trick for the closure is to cut one large hole and two small holes in the back cover, creating a place for the hair band to loop around the extra large eyelet to hold fast to the back cover, while coming inside the book to make the pen holder. It then weaves back to the back cover so that it can wrap around and catch a large brad, mounted on the front cover. Hopefully the pictures will explain. (Click the photo to make it bigger) and feel free to leave a comment if you have a question. Enjoy!

15 comments:

Lee said...

Very cute journal!!! And welcome to a new Flybaby!!! I'll get you put on our Flybaby Blogger list!!!

Beth said...

This is adorable, and clever indeed! Great colors, too. Welcome Flybaby friend! :-)

Anonymous said...

OMgosh!! This is super cool! I love the thought of cutting the journal in half! GENIUS!

Jackie G

Unknown said...

I love this. I took a comp. book in to be cut in half and the print shop told me that since it was sewn all the way down the middle that it would ravel. I guess I need to look of a comp. book that isn't sewn. I sure like the closure!

Angela K said...

Great project!! I really love it!

BarbL said...

Julie...this is why we all love you. You are able to take a good idea and make it GREAT! I'll be fixing up my comp book now. Love the way you used the hair tie as a closure AND pen holder. (Like I said, you are FAR too clever!) The photos are a big help in understanding exactly how you did this, especially with the small & large hole punched overlapping. I really like the idea of cutting down the pages and putting in the tabs...great organization tip!

Anonymous said...

WOW! That's an awesome project. Who woulda thought to cute those books in half! Thanks for the inspiration :)

Sarah said...

Your journal looks great! See you at seminar!!

Sarah G.

Laura said...

Now that is impressive!!

Donna said...

Simply adorable. Very clever closure. I do have a question though. How did you cut your book in half? I would love to try this but don't want to make a big mess out of it.
Again, great job...

Jewels said...

Hi Donna,
To cut the book in half, you need an industrial size cutter, found in most copy centers. They will usually do it for a small charge. They cut other pads too, like if you want to turn a legal pad into two tall shopping list pads.
Jewels

Lisa T said...

Cool project! I don't understand the closure at all, though. How is the hair band anchored? Do you set the eyelet and then pull the hair band thru the small hole next to it? What prevents it from just yanking all the way through?

Jewels said...

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for stopping by. I'll see if I can answer your question in words--I couldn't get a photo of every step very well and hold the camera. :)
When setting the extra large eyelet in the larger hole, the hair band goes around the shank as it is placed in the hole and the free end is fed through the same hole as the eyelet is being set in. After it is set, it is held fast around the actual eyelet. The smaller hole is set with an eyelet and then the free end simply goes through through. One of band is pulled tight and the other is allowed enough slack to hold the pen. I hope that helps explain a little better. Jewels

knitting elephant said...

Love the entire idea! Wondering if you remember how big of eyelets/brad you used? I'd love to use this closure on the 30 6x6" books I'm making for my Brownie Troop!

Jewels said...

Hi Knitting Elephant,
The big eyelets are the We R Memory Keepers extra large eyelets. Here is another link for where you can find the exact ones I used:
http://heather.ismyangel.net/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=4787&cid=181&pid=110
What a fun project for your Brownies! Feel free to email if you have any other questions! Jewels