{cork journal}

i read something today. i read that, and i quote, "regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Other research indicates that journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Pennebaker believes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health." {source}

 this is very good news because i like writing and i can always use some extra t-lymphocytes in my life. i wonder if blogging does the same thing? in either case, i decided yesterday that i needed a pen and some paper in my life once more. and then i decided that my journal needed to fulfill a short list of requirements {interesting looking, some sort of closure, pretty pages, flexible spine, under 5 bucks, etc}, and promptly became discouraged in my journal search.

the ones that had closures were 20 bucks, the ones that were $3 were ugly, the ones that had pretty pages had boring outsides, etc.

 boo and hiss to the journal makers!

 so i gathered some supplies and a friend, and got right to work making my own. i decided i wanted a journal with a cork front so that i could pin notes and pictures to it when i got board of it. we stuck paisley in the corner {she was fine with it} and began cutting and gluing.

it's pretty self-explanatory. cut, glue, and so on.
and so on. and so forth? cork board is dirt cheap and so were these cheapy notebooks we found in the clearance bin. the whole thing ended up costing about 5 bucks. {and aren't those thumbtacks the sweetest things? i can attach notes and pictures and food...you know, whatevs.} what is better than dirt cheap and exactly what you wanted? now, if you don't mind, i need to bulk up on t-lymphocytes.