DIY 12 Year Journal

I originally saw this idea, I think, in a Pottery Barn catalog about five years ago.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I finally got around to making a DIY version today that will last for the next 12 years!  Actually, I'll have to purchase more composition notebooks, but this one will get me started!

Here's what I did.  I purchased a black and white composition notebook at Dollar General ($1), a pack of colorful pens also at Dollar General ($2), and a handful of Sharpies at Office Max (on sale for 50-cents each).

I used the Sharpie to divide the page into sections for each year.  As you can see, I allowed four lines per year and that gave me space for six years per page.  I'll do this on the back side of each page so I'll have an additional six years.

I put the month and day in the upper right hand corner of each page.  I'll be able to record four lines about my day each year for the next twelve years!  Of course, each comp book has only 100 sheets.  So, I'll have to add three books to my collection.  The plan is to use packing tape to tape them cover-to-cover so that I have a nice "bound' stack of composition notebooks.  You could use any kind of tape, but I have a nice big roll of packing tape so that's what I plan to use.  In the end, I'll have invested three-bucks into a 12 year journal.  Not counting cool pens and Sharpies, of course.  Note to self, the Sharpie did bleed through a little, so I used a piece of card stock between the pages to prevent marking up the other pages!