Almost a week into the new year and I've not done much aside from working on this blog, keeping cool, and watching my vegetable garden grow. Today, I took down the Christmas tree, packed away my Harry Potter Hogwarts Express train set, and ate the last mince pie and that signals the end of Christmas. Now, I'm trying to be more organised to get more stuff done as well as keep on top of my writing. I'm also trying to finish my Dramione fanfiction, and I'm lucky to have a beta reader that spurs me on.
One thing, well, technically, two, that keeps me on track and stops me from getting lost, forgetful and falling behind are my planners. I rely on them every day, to see what needs to be done, to remind myself to drink some water, hell, even to wash the dishes. Having a planner helps me to compartmentalise my days and stop me from being lazy, as I am wont to do.
Last year, I had a daily planner from Typo as well as a notebook from The Reject Shop, and they each came with a ribbon marker, which is excellent. I like being able to mark the page that I'm on because I'm too lazy to properly flick through the pages to find it. This year, while my daily planner did have a ribbon, my blog planner and my new notebook didn't come with any way of marking the pages. Luckily, installing one is super easy and does not take more than several minutes to accomplish.
You can do this with any book that has a spine, because when you open them all the way, there's a gap between the spine of the cover and the spine of the pages. This tutorial won't work with a spiral-bound or exercise book.
Materials
Some cardboard
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Scalpel/Exacto knife
Ribbon
Thin/pointy tweezers
Hot glue
Candle
Directions
1. Open your book all the way, and measure the width of the inside of the spine. Cut a strip of cardboard with the same width as the spine. Too narrow and the marker will slide out easily unless secured with glue. Make the length of the strip at least half as long as the spine of the book.
2. With the pencil, draw five notches into the top section of the strip, staggering them apart. Carefully cut a line into these notches with the knife.
3. Thread the ribbon into the notches like the picture below. At the bottom notch, tuck the loose end of the ribbon into the one above it. Secure it with a bit of hot glue.
4. Slide the strip into the spine of the book. If you have measured and cut it correctly, it should stay in place easily and not budge. However, if like me, you've gone a little too short with the measuring, just secure it in place with a bit of hot glue.
5. Cut the ribbon to the appropriate length for your book, and then cut the end of it into an angle. Light the candle and hold the edge of the cut close to the flame. Do not touch it to the flame or else it'll result in a singed edge. Just hold it in place until the edge starts shrinking away from the flames. This helps to stop the ribbon from fraying. Otherwise, you can use the product that stops the fabric from fraying.
I love the new planner I got for my blog this year. It's super cute. I may not care about mermaids as much as other bloggers, but I really do like the style of this one, along with the holographic text on the front. The planner is in a weekly format, which means I can see the week ahead of me when planning stuff for the blog. I originally bought a journal for this year, the mint one with the gold spots, but then I decided that I wanted two separate ones. One for daily use, to list all of my tasks and reminders, and the other, this one, for the blog.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and that it inspires you to make your own page markers for your planners.
Do you have a planner or bullet journal? Where did you buy them from?
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