threesixfiveart: April DIY: Coffee sleeve travel journal

So April's DIY is finally here!!! It took a little longer to get it up here than anticipated, but alas here it is and it is super cute! This month I will walk you through a little on-the-go travel journal I made out of coffee sleeves while in Toronto :)

Step one: gather your coffee sleeves. I grabbed 8 for this project, but only ended up using 6. I tried to get them from a variety of places so I had different colors and textures. I tried Panera, Dunkin Donuts, and Tim Hortons I think.

Step two: gather a small stash of supplies to bring with you (or use at home). I chose a few scraps of paper I thought looked nice together, some miscellaneous rub-on and stickers, a glue stick, a stapler (this is a MUST for me, makes assembly SO easy and quick on-the-go!), a small pair of scissors, 4 colors of paint, and a small handful of trinkets and buttons.

Side note: these are little inkers that I picked up at the Dollorama in Toronto. They are not super well made and will probably only last you a few projects. However, for only a $1.00 they are the perfect size for travelling.

Step three: gather ephemera from your trip. stuff like, tickets, menus, brochures, etc. if you are doing this day by day, you can use that day's collections, otherwise save it all to use at the end of your trip.

Step four: open up the sleeves so they lay flat, instead of around your coffee (they are usually perforated).paint your coffee sleeves. you will only need to paint one side as the others will be glued together, I painted the most textured sides.

Psst! the Oh, Canada spread is my favorite :)

Step five: decorate!! I used bits and pieces of this and that, here and there mostly attached with staples because glued to the textured surfaces is difficult, and I like the look of the staples. I ended up with six total spreads that will be folded in half when the book is assembled.

Step six: fold each spread in half. Then you are going to glue the BACK of one spread to the FRONT of the next. as you can see in the picture it is easy to make sure you are gluing the right pieces together by lining up the two closed ends next to each other. Continue gluing back to front until all pages have been added.