A Peek in My Dori (part 2): Sticking with The (Blog) Plan

Hi All! Yesterday, I showed you my beautiful Quiltdori from Rachel McGough at Handmade U. (You can see more photos of the cover here.) Today I wanted to show you two things: 1) a simple hack that allows you to get more notebooks into any dori cover, and 2) how I'm using these Field Notes notebooks as a blog planner. So let's get started.

Each Field Notes notebook is made up of 48 pages, so I decided to use one per month to plan out my blog. I wanted to carry 3 months with me at any given time, but my Quiltdori has 2 elastics. So what to do.... I turned (as any self-respecting DIY-er would) to YouTube. As it turns out, this is a common problem that is solved by a super easy hack.

Step One: slide one of the notebooks onto one of the elastics as you normally would. Step Two: grab a rubber band.

Step Three: Open two notebooks to their center seams and hold them together front to back. Step Four: Slide the rubber band over the back half of one notebook and front half of the other. In the picture above, you can see how it looks when the notebooks are closed. Below is a close-up of what it looks like from the top.

Finally, Step Five: slide the notebooks under the elastic, letting the elastic sit between the notebooks and over the rubber band. (See the photos above and below.)

And there you go. Three notebooks in a dori built for two.  So now I have blog planners for December, January, and February with me. Perfect!

So now let's take a look at how I set the planner up. 

This is basically a modified bullet journaling system. I began with my index on page one.

Then I did a two page spread for my monthly calendar. It's pretty generic right now because I haven't taken the time to spruce it up.

Next, I added two-page weekly spreads. I only included Monday through Friday because I'm not sure if I'll be blogging on the weekends. I might add a slot for Saturday going forward, but we'll see.

After my weekly spreads, I added a page per day for daily to-dos concerning the blog. I used the last 4 pages to keep my brainstorming list of ideas. (Sorry, no picture of that one.) ;-)

And there you have it. That's how I use my Quiltdori for my blog. I have another one that I use for the rest of my life. I'll do a post on that some other time. :D

To see more fun Quiltdoris, visit Rachel's Handmade U over on Instagram.

Have a wonderfully creative day!

A Peek In My Dori (part 1): The Basics

Hi All! So a couple of weeks ago, my friend Rachel McGough (the host and brilliant brains behind Handmade U) sent me one of her beautiful quiltdoris. She makes these from vintage quilt blocks and fabric, and they are fantastic! I thought I'd give you a peek at mine. (As you can see by the title, this is going to be a multipart post....)

Quiltdori in bag

My quiltdori arrived in a cute barn red box (the signature color of the Handmade U barn), and was wrapped in cheerful, rainbow tissue paper. It also came with this cute muslin bag, that I have some creative plans for.

Quiltdori front

Rachel's quiltdoris come in a variety of colors and patterns. I asked for this one that is a riot of color and has a fantastic combination of vintage patterns. I love these bright, cheery fabrics.

Quiltdori back

I was also able to choose the color of the elastic used for the closure and inside. The yellow is the perfect compliment to the fabrics on the front and the inside of quiltdori.

Quiltdori inside cover

 If you look closely, you can see the awesome red accent stitching on the front and the back. (I love all the details in this little cover.)

Quiltdori with Field Notes

So I've had this collection of Field Notes notebooks since 2011. Yep. Four long years. Now I'm an avid journaler, but these notebooks have dotted pages. I wasn't sure how I would use them, so I set them aside. I'm so glad I did. They are a perfect match for my quiltdori.

Quiltdori fits three Fieldnotes notebooks

Here are the front of my notebooks. I love Field Notes notebooks. The covers are heavy and the paper is so smooth to write on.  There is sense of quality in these books that is touched with a bit of humor. The Fire Spotter edition shown here has the tag line: "Always Watching." If you've seen Pixar Monster's Inc., you can just hear Roz saying that, right? :) It's a standing joke in our family, so naturally I had to pick these up when I saw them.

Quiltdori with Fire Spotter Field Notes

So I have three notebooks in this quiltdori, but you may have noticed that I only have two inner elastics. I'll show you how get two books on one elastic in part two of this post. I'll also take you through one of my notebooks that has become my blog planner. So stay tuned for that.

My Quiltdori

Now, one more look at my quiltdori by Handmade U's Rachel McGough. If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind dori or just want to see some awesome vintage fabrics that are bound to bring a smile to your face, check her out at Handmade U on Instagram. 

And don't forget to pop back by tomorrow to check out the blog planner....

Have a wonderfully creative day!