Vintage Map Travel Journal DIY

Last week I shared the big news about my upcoming trip to Belgium, Amsterdam, and France.  I've been busy making travel plans and finalizing arrangements for the trip, but I had a little bit of time to make a quick and easy travel journal out of an old map.  I thought it might be a good thing to take with me to write down notes and record my thoughts and activities while traveling.

Here's what I used:

a paper notepad

cardboard

scissors

wide clear packing tape

a map

washi tape

rubber cement

I started by making a cardboard cover for my paper notepad.  (If you're using a notebook that already has a cover, you can skip this step.)  Next, I taped the cover to the notebook.  I used wide clear packing tape, stuck the tape on the top of the cardboard cover, and folded it over the top of the notepad.

Once the cover was taped on, I cut an old map to fit the notepad and glued the map to the cover.  I used Mod Podge, but I didn't like the way it worked.  The map didn't adhere smoothly and there were air bubbles.  Mod Podge also made the cardboard cover warp.  I wouldn't recommend using any type of water-based glue like white glue because it will probably have the same result.  A glue stick might be ok to use, though.

I used rubber cement on the second notebook and it worked much better.  The map glued on smoothly with no bubbles and no warping.

To finish it off, I added some patterned washi tape to the top of the notebooks to make them pretty.

That's all there is to it! 

These notebooks are ready to go!

And so am I!
Just seven more days until I leave!
I can hardly wait!

Inspired by this pin for DIY travel notebooks.