DIY Mini Galaxy Journal

This mini journal is great for display and photography, but can also be functional to write your notes or thoughts in. It is a fun and fairly easy project if you are bored and want to make a cute decoration or a new notebook to write down your wonderful ideas!

Supplies-

• Scissors
• Tacky Glue
• Printer Paper
• Xacto Knife
• Pencil
• Paint
• Two Binder Clips
• Polymer Clay (Any Color)
• Ruler
• Oven

Optional Supplies-

• Wire
• Small charm or bead
• Pliers
• Toothpicks
• Clay Roller
• Glitter Glue
• Hot Glue

First, using scissors a pencil and a ruler, cut out pieces of paper that are each about two inches tall and 2 1/2 inches long. Fold each of these pieces in half and stack them until you have an idea of how thick you would like you book to be (I made mine about a quarter inch thick) and clamp them together with a binder clip, lining them up as well as you can (It doesn't have to be supper perfect).

Tip: Make sure all of your pages have the folded side on the same side, or when you glue it your pages wont open right.

Now that you have the pages of your book stacked, put another binder clip on the opposite side and apply a thick layer of glue. You may have to do more than one coat depending on what glue you use. Once dry, test if you can open your pages without them falling apart.

Tip: Try not to get glue in between the pages so that they open nicely and make sure to let the glue dry completely before attempting to open the pages.

While your pages are drying, roll out a piece of clay (this can be scrap clay because it will be painted over) about an eighth of an inch thick. Cut two pieces that are slightly larger than your pages. Now you can have some fun adding details! There is no real technique to this so you can do whatever you want! I cut out a star and a moon and stuck them on the front as well as a thin strip of clay for the edge. After you have sculpted all the features you would like, bake it in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) for 10-15 minutes.

Tip: The grippy bit of an Exacto knife has great texture and if pressed lightly on a piece of clay it gives it a good fabric texture. :)

Now it is time to be creative! As well as the last step, you can customize this however you want! What I did was first paint the covers black, and then went back in with purple, white, and gold paint to make constellations and stars. I also added a stitching affect with the purple paint to add a little more detail. You can experiment and use whatever colors you like for your journal. Then, I added some iridescent glitter glue on top to make it sparkle and make it look like a beautiful galaxy, but this step is completely optional!

Tip: Make sure to wait in between layers for the paint to completely dry, it will make it look more smooth and it makes it easier to paint small details.

Now cut another piece of paper that is the thickness of your stack of pages plus the length of your UNFOLDED pages you cut in the beginning and that will be your length. Your height is however tall your pages are. So if you have been following my measurements, this would be 3 inches long and 2 inches tall. In the exact middle of this piece you have cut, draw two lines that have the thickness of your page stack in between them. Then fold on these lines and glue the pages to the middle section, and the covers to the outer sections. Finally, paint the spine of your journal however you like!

Tip: Make sure to look at the pictures for guidance because this step is a little tricky. :)

Congratulations! You have finished your mini journal! You can choose to stop now, or add some fun, optional details!

How to make the bookmark:

Cut a piece of wire and a small length of chain. Loop the wire around the first loop of the chain and make sure it is clamped down. Then, you can choose your favorite charm to attach to the other end of the chain (If you only have a bead and not a charm you can cut another bit of wire and loop it through the bead and the chain to attach it). Then, glue it to the inside, front cover and your cute bookmark is complete!

How to make the mini pencils and pencil cup:

For the pencils I just painted and cut a toothpick to look like a pencil which means, sadly, this isn't a functional mini pencil, but it is good for photography or display! The pencil cup is also really simple. I found an old tacky glue that was dried up and painted the cap to make a tiny cup.

How to make the papers:

For the moon phases paper I just found a piece of old looking, yellow paper (you can color a white piece of paper with pastels to get this effect) and painted the small moons by painting black circles and then the moon wedges on top once they were dry. For the envelope I used the same paper, and just cut a house shape and folded it over with a dollop of hot glue for the stamp.

The pumpkins were an older project of mine, and I thought they looked cute in the background. Someday I plan to remake them and post an Instructable about the process. :D

I hope you like my tiny book design as much as I do and end up making it yourself one day. Enjoy!