WHAT TO DO WITH OLD NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINES

Since 2015 started I’m trying to reuse instead of separate products for the reclycle bins. Reusing is even better for the environment and for our pockets. I’m always looking around the house to see what I have and could do something amazing with that stuff.

I arrived from my trip in South America in March and collected a bunch of maps, postcards, notes, contacts that I’d like to keep with me to bring all those happy memories and to show my kids one day. I could buy a nice cartoon box but I have this habit of personalizing everything, I love to be unique :) A great way to achieve that is to build something with your hands.



First brainstorming, then an idea, looking for the materials and make it. I had this useless shoe box but don’t like pink so decided to get some old magazines and clip clip images I enjoy. The only magazines I have are National Geographic I bought in Flea Markets and Thrift Stores and they are getting more and more dust. I know some people might think this is a kind of “crime” because these magazines have precious information, they are considerated books, do you clip books? I don’t. I really don’t blame you if you think it’s not cool but I’m ok with that, better using them somehow then sitting there forever.

I also needed a new Agenda, as a blog planner and a personal calendar but didn’t want to buy one in almost the middle of the year. I admit I’m a bit picky with agendas, I mean, I love all the beautiful cover designs with colors and nice graphics but the inside usually doesn’t satisfy my needs so I usually make mine. Hopefully for 2016 I will find the one I’ve been looking for ages.

With this being said, I was ready for a DIY project for decoration of an agenda and a box. I love these projects I have everything I need at home so I don’t have to go look at stores and also I’m reusing. Let’s make it ourselves!

Materials: 

* old magazines (don’t need to be National Geographic, if you have decoration or fashion mags, that works too, depends on your tastes and interests)
* shoe box (this was my mom’s but I asked before in a local shop and they gave me)
* notebook (this one was kinda cute but I have it for years…)
* scissors 
* adhesive paper 
* confetti (optional) 
* glue stick (better in stick so you can always change a clipping that doesn’t look good after glueing it)

Time: About 3 hours.

I started looking for animals and cultures related images. Animals to decorate my box and cultures for the agenda. There are so much pretty photography in these magazines, not hard at all to find what I was looking for.

After this I just sticked all the images and the confetti (the small stars in the box were too tiny to stick) and then used the adhesive paper. You can also choose for with glue to make the agenda cover and the box consistent but I think with plastic is better protected from liquids.

This is the way my agenda looks like. I really love the tibetean faces and the couple dancing. For the back I picked one single image of a indegenous person from the Brazilian Amazon. I only used one butterfly confetti and then some paper confetti to write “Marta Notebook”, did I mention before about me personalizing? :)

The box was the hardest to make because you need to focus in the measures of the images so they fit in the box. I left the inside part pink and you can still see a lot of pink here and there, when you make some handmade project is hard to get perfection.

I’m happy with the results and I feel super inspired to write in my new agenda! It was a pleasure to make a DIY project after so many months. I’m already brainstorming the next one, something related with travels, just for a change ;)

What do you think about my new agenda and memories box? Would you make it differently?