Putting Your Journal Together

Once you've begun creating pages of your Pregnancy Journal, you'll want to keep them in one place until you're ready to turn them into a book. Consider the following ideas to help you pull everything together.

QUICK & EASY

1. Bind it together. Use a basic three-ring binder. Often you can find nice-looking clear versions with a pocket on the front flap at office-supply stores. Punch holes in the pages to add them inside; when you're done, make the Journal's cover page and slip it in the cover pocket.
2. A ribbon runs through it. Punch two holes in a straight line along the left margin of the Journal pages. Weave one or two colored ribbons (pink? blue?) through the holes, tying the ends in a bow, to create a sweet little book.
3. Use a Folder. Get a report cover (either clear or colored) and make a pretty label to attach to the front of it. You can use permanent marker, or your computer, to show you style. Then, simply clip your Journal pages into the report cover itself. For extra pizaaz, print the Parents.com stickers and affix them to the outside.

POLISHED & PRETTY

1. Turn a Regular Binder Into a Piece of Art. Apply Peel & Stick Fabric Sheets to any looseleaf binder for a pretty, custom look.
2. Make a Memory Box. Print all your pages, staple them together, and place them in a box with other items you'd like to remember from your pregnancy (photos, ultrasound pictures, CDs, baby's hospital bracelet, first footprints, etc.). You can order Memory Boxes online, use an old hat box, or just peruse your local craft store for something that will do the trick.
   *Want to go one step further? Buy a memory box that has space for a photo on the front, and include a big belly shot of you or a cute first pic of you and your little one!
3. Step Up the Background. Print the Journal on regular printer paper, then use decorative edge scissors in fun patterns like a zig zag or waves, to trim the edges. Then mount the freshly cut pages on pretty paper. Once you have your pages arranged, you can hole punch them and weave a colored ribbon through the pages, place them in a clear folder, or buy a binder for easy page browsing.
   *Decorative edge scissors can be round at most craft stores.
   *For paper, choose either 8 1/2" by 11" scrapbook paper, watercolor paper, poster board, construction paper, or something equally sturdy.
   *To get the Journal pages onto the background paper, use a glue stick, dry mount spray, or double-sided tape.

FOR THE EXPERTS

1. Personalize the Outside. Using puffy paints (or a product like Styli'stick paint), personalize a sheet of Peel & Stick Fabric. Once you've created the design you want, apply the Peel & Stick Fabric Sheet to any looseleaf binder for a beautiful, customized cover.
2. Create a Pregnancy Scrapbook. Turn our printable Pregnancy Journal into a scrapbook masterpiece. Using 8 1/2" x 11" or 12" x 12" scrapbook paper as your background, cut out each question and answer and mount them on the pages. Cut them into interesting shapes using paper punches and decorative edge scissors. Use photos and add stickers and embellishments (such as Parents.com stickers, glass beads embellishments, rub-on words and phrases, tags, buttons, etc.) to tell the story of your nine months.