With an irregular time of life upon us, introducing routine and rhythms help keep us grounded. Even better, try a new discipline to deepen your relationship with God, your family, and with yourself.

A Thankfulness Journal!

A powerful activity I’ve regularly engaged in is keeping a thankfulness journal. Here’s the basic principle: Every day, morning, afternoon, or evening, make an intentional effort to write down something that you are thankful for in your life (or maybe 3 or 10 things!). You’ll be amazed that even on your worst days you can find several blessing in the world around you.

When you choose to aim your mind in this positive direction, you train yourself to see more of the good in hard times rather than just get bogged down with the bad stuff.

Let’s make this interesting though, why not make a DIY custom journal just for this!

Here’s a great write up to make a trendy “Hand Stitched” paper journal.

Read the article here (mind the ads)

What You'll Need:

Paper for cover and inside pages (more on that below)
Pencil
Ruler
Needle
Thick thread, such as embroidery floss
Scissors
Glue (optional)

1. Find Paper That You Like.

I prefer Strathmore Drawing Paper for its versatility, and began with an 18" x 24” sheet. Fold your paper in half and tear along the crease. Keep doing this until you find a size you like. Make 6 folded folios for a total of 12 leaves or sheets.

2. Mark 6 Stitching Holes Along The Spine.

Using a pencil, mark where you want holes along the crease on each sheet of paper. You will see the stitching that runs through them, so how you space it is a personal preference (my spacing is indicated below). Keep In mind that however you space them, the holes will need to line up on each sheet.

3. Poke A Hole Through Each Mark With Your Needle.

Make sure you're going straight through the fold!

4. When Your Inside Pages Are Finished, Lay Them Open Upon Your Cover Paper.

Mark the corners of the cover paper slightly larger then the pages. (It is nice to have a slightly larger cover!) Using a ruler, connect the marks and cut or tear your cover paper. Fold in half.

5. Poke Stitching Holes Through The Spine Of The Cover.

Center your folded pages on the cover. and poke holes through the cover’s spine using the holes in the pages as your guide.

6. Prep Needle And Thread.

Unwind a piece of thread that's 1 1/2 times the length of the book’s spine, and cut. Thread the end through the needle, and make a double knot on the end (make it big enough to not slip through stitch holes!).

7. Stitch.

Begin at one end on the inside of the fold. Stitch in and out until you reach the other end. Double knot the thread on the inside of the book. Use your needle to guide the knot close to the paper—this will assure a tightly stitched book.

And that’s it!

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Thankfulness Journals (and a great DIY journal)