February is the new January. That’s what I’ve decided this year. I don’t know about you but it’s taken most of the month to wrap my head around the fact that it’s a new year, and I’ve been delaying making goals and plans for 2016. It took me more than New Year’s Eve to say goodbye to 2015 and start 2016.
* pin me *
But now it’s February so the time for denial is over. I realized, as I was starting to write things into my planner for 2016, that I wasn’t really excited about using it, and maybe it was because I had my pretty Kate Spade Inspired Planner last year, and now I was back to a plain functional planner and it just wasn’t motivating me at all. I decided to give it a little DIY love to make it a lot prettier.
* photo covered planner front *
So I came up with idea of a floral photo covered planner, inspired by some of the journals and notebooks I had seen at the bookstores. A beautiful floral cover with pretty script might inspire me to pick this planner up and really put it to use. I used a photo I had taken and posted to Instagram last year. It ended up being one of my best nine posts so I figured it was good enough to be re-used for this project! Also I’m providing the planner cover as a free download, so if you already know where this post is going, you can just skip ahead and download them for yourself. But I’ll give some instructions here for you if you’re interested in copying the idea, maybe with a photograph of your own.
* photo covered planner back *
Supplies for a Photo Covered Planner:
1. Planner of your choice. (I use this one.)2. Pretty or inspiring photograph.
3. Avery white 8 1/2 x 11 mailing labels.
4. Printer.
* let’s do this *
Instructions for a Photo Covered Planner:
1. Save your photo as an 8 1/2 x 11 image (or the size of your planner cover).
2. Import the photo into Picmonkey and edit to add some inspiring text or a favourite quote, and the year… be creative, it’s YOUR planner! I created two different versions, one for the front of the planner and another for the back.
3. Save your creations, and print them out onto the mailing label paper.
4. Carefully peel the backing from the label and stick your photo to the cover of the planner. Repeat for the back cover of the planner.
5. Trim to size if necessary.
(edited to add: my planner has a soft cover, and after using it for awhile it seemed the edge of the sticker paper close to the spiral binding was starting to come up, and I put a strip of contact cement just along the edge of the paper to make sure it stayed secure)
* completed floral cover planner *
I threaded some satin ribbon through the spiral binding to create a pretty “bookmark” to keep my page in the planner. (I ironed the ribbon for the photo, please appreciate that…thank you!).
I love how my planner looks now, it makes a pretty addition to my desk and I’m a lot more inspired to open it up and be organized about my time. Click below to download these planner cover printables for your own planner or journal, or just to display hung in a frame or on a clipboard (something I love to do too…so easy to switch up the artwork that way!)
(Please note, downloads are for personal use only, please do not edit, or distribute without proper and direct credit back to this site. Thanks for understanding.)
* clip it onto a clipboard for inspiration *
And now I’m ready to say Happy 2016 lovely friends! Who’s with me in starting the new year for real today?!xo andrea
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