kaileenelise

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere
without moving anything but your heart.
(Phyllis Theroux)

Can you feel it? The holiday season is quickly approaching and the time for thoughtful homemade presents is here. With the current economy, many people are looking to save a few pennies with gifts from the heart.

A friendship journal is great for anyone who lives far away. It’s a heartfelt gesture that keeps giving throughout the year. The idea is to add a few pages at a time before mailing it back to your journal buddy. As time goes by and pages are filled, you and your friend/sister/cousin/niece/etc will have a book full of inspirational images, thoughtful musings and lovely journal entries.

Follow my easy directions below to make your own, or check out this pretty and fabulous store-bought version if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• Journal—the dollar store kind is perfect!
• Magazine cut outs, favorite quotes and any other decorative accents
• Crafting basics—scissors, markers, stickers, tape glitter and glue

Step One: Decorate

Pretty up that plain-jane journal with stickers, sparkle and glitter. I like to make the cover simple at first so my journal buddy and I can add to it as time goes by. Make it custom by infusing your style with creative touches.

Step Two: Journal

Use the first page of the journal to explain the idea behind your thoughtful gift. You may want to include a favorite quote or inspirational photo. This is a great place to tell your journal buddy how much you miss them and how excited you are to keep in touch with them in this creative way.

This is really where the fun starts. Allow yourself to be silly and playful when creating your journal pages. Each one can follow the same theme or be totally different. Personalize it. Love it. This is your friendship journal.

Step Three: Send!

Once you have completed a few pages, wrap it in pretty packaging and send it off into the universe with love. Before you know it, the journal will be making its way back in your direction with newly completed pages, ready for you to dive in and play some more!

photo credit: me

Tags: Creative, Everyday Life, Friends, Treats

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Simple Delights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.