How to Turn an Old Book Into a Journal: A Beautiful DIY Project
There's a worn hardcover on your shelf right now. Maybe it's a novel you'll never reread, a outdated textbook, or a thrift store find with a cover too beautiful to pass up. The pages inside have lost their purpose — but the book itself? It still has so much life left to give.
Learning how to turn an old book into a journal is one of the most satisfying DIY projects you can tackle in an afternoon. You get a one-of-a-kind writing space with a cover that already has character, history, and heft. No flimsy spiral binding. No generic design. Just a journal that feels like it belongs to you before you write a single word.
Here's exactly how to do it — step by step — even if you've never done any bookbinding before.
Why Old Books Make the Best Journals
Mass-produced journals are everywhere. But when you turn an old book into a journal, you create something with texture and soul. The linen grain of a vintage cover, the faded gilt lettering on the spine, the satisfying weight when you pick it up — these details can't be manufactured.
Repurposed book journals are also perfect for:
- Travel journals — durable hardcovers survive getting tossed in a bag
- Art journals and sketchbooks — you choose the paper weight and type
- Gratitude or morning pages journals — the ritual of opening a beautiful cover sets the tone
- Gifts — pair a meaningful title with blank pages for a deeply personal present
What You'll Need to Turn an Old Book Into a Journal
Supply List
- A hardcover book (thrift stores, library sales, and your own shelves are goldmines)
- A craft knife or X-Acto blade
- A metal ruler and cutting mat
- PVA bookbinding glue or a strong craft adhesive
- New paper — blank, lined, or dot grid depending on your preference
- A bone folder or smooth-edged tool for creasing
- Binder clips or rubber bands
- BookGuard Premium Cloth Book Binding Repair Tape — for reinforcing the spine and hinges so your journal lasts
A quick note on tape: regular masking tape or duct tape will yellow, crack, and damage your cover over time. BookGuard tape is acid-free, pH neutral, and archival-quality — it's the same cloth tape librarians use to repair books that need to survive decades of handling. It comes in colors like black, burgundy, and brown that blend seamlessly with vintage covers.
Step-by-Step: Turning an Old Book Into a Journal
Step 1: Remove the Old Pages
Open your book and look at how the pages are attached. Most hardcovers use signatures — small groupings of pages sewn together and glued to the spine. Use your craft knife to carefully cut through the pages where they meet the spine, working in small sections. Don't rush this part. A clean removal means a cleaner final product.
Leave about a quarter inch of the original pages attached to the front and back covers. These stubs give you something to glue your new pages onto and help maintain the book's structure.
Once the pages are out, gently scrape away any old dried glue from the spine using your craft knife held at a low angle. You want a reasonably smooth surface for the new binding.
Step 2: Prepare and Attach New Pages
Cut your new paper to size — about a quarter inch smaller than the cover on all sides so nothing sticks out. Fold your sheets in half to create signatures of four to six sheets each (that gives you 16 to 24 journal pages per signature).
Use the bone folder to make sharp, clean creases. Stack your signatures together — five or six signatures is a good starting point — and hold them in place with binder clips.
Apply PVA glue along the spine edge of your stacked signatures and press them firmly into the book's spine channel. Use rubber bands or binder clips to hold everything tight while the glue sets for at least an hour.
Step 3: Reinforce the Spine and Hinges
This is the step that separates a journal that falls apart in a month from one that lasts for years. The hinge — where the cover meets the spine — takes the most stress every time you open your journal. Without reinforcement, it will crack and separate.
Cut a strip of BookGuard Premium Cloth Book Binding Repair Tape to the height of your spine. The 2-inch width works perfectly for most hardcovers — it gives you enough material to wrap from the spine onto the front and back covers, fully sealing both hinges in one strip.
Press the tape firmly along the spine, smoothing it outward onto each cover. The cloth texture grips beautifully to bookcloth and most cover materials. If your book has a leather or faux-leather cover, the brown or black tape blends in so well it looks like it was always part of the design.
For extra durability, apply a second strip of tape along the inside of each hinge as well. This sandwiches the joint and creates a hinge that will flex thousands of times without failing.
Step 4: Finish the Interior
Glue a sheet of decorative or plain endpaper over the inside of each cover to hide the tape edges and page stubs. This is where you can add a personal touch — marbled paper, maps, vintage sheet music, or even a printed photo.
Let everything dry completely — overnight is ideal — with the book closed under a stack of heavy books to keep the covers flat.
Tips for a Professional-Looking Result
- Choose the right book: Look for covers with interesting textures, titles, or artwork. Avoid books with damaged or warped covers — the cover is your journal's first impression.
- Match your tape color: BookGuard tape comes in nine colors including navy, burgundy, and gray. Pick one that complements your cover rather than fights it.
- Consider paper weight: For writing, 24 lb or 28 lb paper works well. For art journaling with wet media, go heavier — 65 lb cardstock or mixed-media paper.
- Add a ribbon bookmark: Glue a length of ribbon to the inside of the spine before attaching your endpapers. Simple detail, big impact.
Give Old Books New Purpose
Every old book you turn into a journal is a small act of rescue. You're taking something that was headed for a dusty shelf or a donation bin and giving it a new chapter — literally. The cover gets to keep telling its story. You get a journal that feels more meaningful than anything you could buy off a shelf.
The key to making it last is treating the spine and hinges with the same care a librarian would. That means using archival-quality materials — especially at the stress points where covers meet spine.
Shop BookGuard Premium Cloth Book Binding Repair Tape to get the same acid-free, pH neutral cloth tape that libraries trust — and start turning your favorite old books into journals that last.
