There’s a lot of reasons why you might want to make your own bound books with covers. Maybe you want to make a personal planner. Perhaps you need a place to write down your songs. Or you just need a new journal. Whatever the reason, making your own bound books can be a huge asset when trying to Do It Yourself in school, a band, or just day-to-day living. Here we’re going to break down for you how to make a book yourself with stuff you probably already have around the house.

Special thanks to Hollie Joy for her help making this article!

Click on the above picture to see the full diagram made by Hollie

STEP ONE: Make two covers and a spine. The two covers will be the front and back of your book, so get them even and to the size you want the book to be eventually. The spine should be folded into thirds, each section the size you want the spine to be, and the same length as the cover boards. You can use cardboard from a cereal box if you don’t need it to be too durable. Other stuff that works: corrugated cardboard, plastic, metal – whatever will keep its shape and that you can cut to the size and shape you want the book covers to be. The spine should be made out of material at least as strong if not stronger than the covers.

STEP TWO: Take the paper you’re going to use. It can be printer paper, lined paper – whatever you want to write on. Get the paper in a stack and cut them down uniformly to the size and shape you want the book to be in. Make sure you’ve got both the paper and the covers measured – or at the very least eyeballed. Then fold the stack of paper in half and sew them together along the crease. This is usually done with a sturdy piece of thread and needle. You can also just poke holes and use sturdy wire to keep it bound. Ribbons, staples, roundhead brass fastners, even rings will work as long as they keep everything tied down. Experiment with it – each way of doing it has its advantaged and disadvantages. Feel it out.

STEP THREE: Sew or fasten the paper to the center panel of the spine, so that the two other thirds of the spine act like little book covers. Punching holes in the spine is tricky, because you don’t want to compromise the structural integrity of it and have it rip. All of the components should be flush with each other. Wiggle room is the enemy. Once you’ve bound the paper to the spine, reinforce it with glue, tape, whatever you can. You’re not trying to fasten the paper to the spine with the glue and tape. You’re trying to keep the material you’re using to fasten the spine to the paper from coming loose – the thread, wire, etc.

My punk rock planner, hand made by wonderful girlfriend

STEP FOUR: Now take the two “mini covers” of the spine – the little flaps to the left and right. Bind them to the covers, again making sure everything is flush. The “mini covers” should be on the inside of the actual cover boards, so that the only part of the spine visible from the outside is the middle section that’s bound to the paper. Again sew or fasten them together. Binding the spine flaps to the cover boards is important to do right because it’s what protects your paper. You’ll want to reinforce this as much if not more than the paper to the spine. Using epoxy, duct tape, electrical tape, super glue – they’re all good options. You don’t want to use white glue, because it’s pretty useless for making books.

STEP FIVE: Glue/tape/staple/whatever all the glittery or obscene crap you want to the outside of it. Keep in mind it should probably be pretty durable. If you’re reading this you’re most likely a punk, so you don’t want stuff prone to falling off. Or maybe you do. Who knows. But you can take magazine clippings or pieces of old shirts and make the book look awesome. If you’re attaching paper, packing tape is a pretty good option for pseudo-laminating.

Now you’ve got a damn book.

Be proud! This is a really useful skill to have because this way you don’t need to dump cash into corporate pockets to get notebooks for school, planners for your life, or just a cool looking journal. Any time you can Do It Yourself is a good time.