Couples Love Journal & Valentine Blog Hop

THIS COUPLES LOVE JOURNAL IS SO SWEET AND QUICK TO MAKE WITH A SIMPLE COMPOSITION NOTEPAD. WHEN USED OFTEN, IT WILL BLESS YOUR MARRIAGE BEYOND MEASURE.

So excited to share this sweet little project with you AND let you know all about the Valentine Blog Hop my friends and I are doing today (Feb 1) AND tomorrow (Feb 2)! Links to their blogs are at the bottom of this post so be sure to check out the wonderful Valentine posts they have up.

Now, check out my little Couples Love Journal project below. It is a tease on my post tomorrow, Feb 2 for the Valentine’s Blog Hop. I am posting on how Bill and I have perfected the wonderful and romantic ‘Stay-at-Home Valentine Date’ over our 33 years of marriage!

Inspiration for the couples love journal

Just a few months ago we had a flood in our basement….again! Ugh. The clean-up and sort out resulted in the emptying of my entire sewing and craft room, which is also my ‘stash’ area. You know…the place where you stash all the things you are not quite sure what to do with.

Well anyway, in my sorting and cleaning I found all my love letters and special cards from my sweet hubby over our 35 years of being a couple.

I so enjoyed reading through them, but boy was it a big stack! Hubby has done well!! But, all those store bought cards take up room. And then I thought about how expensive cards are and how we have both bought so many through the years and decided there had to be a better way.

Since I treasure the love notes written on scrap and notebook paper just as much as the cards I decided I needed to come up with a way for us to write the love letters on papers and not cards. And it would be nice to have them all easily kept in one place.

A place to share notes

That is when I came up with the idea of the couples love journal. We could share it and could write love letters in it to each other any time. And it would keep them all together, save storage space and money. It was a win!

And, we can easily take it along on dates and get-a-ways to share with each other, or use it here at home when the opportunity arises and leave it on the pillow to be read at the end of the day.

So, I am super excited to share this project with you and hope you make one for your spouse this Valentine’s Day. Be sure to mark the first page with something special, then put in your first note and hand it over as a gift!

How to sew a couples love journal

1. Cut out journal cover fabric pieces – one piece 30″x10.5″ and one piece 5″x10.5″
2. Zigzag stitch 10.5″ sides of the small piece to keep them from fraying.
3. On large piece fold each 10.5″ end back 1/4″ two times and sew for a clean edge
4. Place this piece on the table right side up. Fold each end toward center (right sides together) approx 6.5″. Adjust folds so that the total piece is 15.5″ wide.
5. Lay the 5″x10.5″ piece directly over the center where the folds come toward the center and center top to bottom. Align with top and bottom raw edges
6. Pin all three layers together on each side for sewing.
7. Sewing down both sides with a 1/4″ seam. Snip corners.
8. Turn cover ends right-side-out and then turn middle piece through until it is right side out.
9. Draw a 3″ heart on the paper side of HeatnBond. Then cut out just outside lines.
10. Iron onto wrong side of wool felt (or fabric) piece. Then cut out on drawn line, peel paper backing off.
11. Position on notebook front cover with the glue side down and then use iron to hold in place.
12. Use a pigma pen to write some love notes or a scripture verse on the front around the heart.
13. Slip composition notebook inside and begin writing a love note to your spouse!

How to use the couples LOVE journal

• Date the first page, and every journal entry so you don’t forget when you last wrote in it
• Write in it at every anniversary, Valentine, other special annual occasion
• Remember to mark ‘big’ moments in your lives… births, promotions, moves, trials, joys with a note to your spouse.
• Leave it out on the bed pillow as a surprise for your spouse to read any time you write in it
• Use it any time to affirm your spouse and re-affirm your love and commitment to him/her
• Get it out on date nights or get-a-ways and re-read to each other what your wrote in the past

Journal cover ideas for the whole family

Be creative in your fabric choices and you can make a journal cover for any occasion or any person. I have made them with fun animal, camouflage, cowboy and farm prints for my kids.

And they are super gifts for your girl friends and your kid’s friends. My kids have even sewn them for each other as Christmas gifts.

The ones above are done in wool felt and light upholstery fabric. Denim and quilting cottons both work well also. (Note: It is best to use an iron on stabilizer with lighter weight cottons.)

These journals come in several paper styles perfect for any age or project. You can get college ruled, wide ruled, children’s primary composition (with lines only) and primary journal (with space for drawing and lines). And my favorite is graph paper!

Watch my Couples Love Journal video

Supplies used to make the couples love journal

Drop cloth – My favorite brand and size.

Wool Felt Squares by Moda Fabrics This is a super little sampler of small, quality wool felt for crafting

Pigma Pens – my favorite pens for fabric, scrapbooking, and card making

Composition notebooks – College Rule Wide rule Graph Paper Primary Composition with extra wide lines Primary Journal with room to draw above extra wide lines. When covered with my pattern here these are fun for school, journaling, kid gifts, friend gifts, note taking, etc. I always keep a stack on hand.

My Sewing Supplies I use every time I sew:

Gingher 8″ Shears My favorites that I’ve used for 33 years.

Gingher 4″ Featherweight Thread Clippers I hang these on a lanyard around my neck where they are close at hand and my littles can’t get them.

Olfa Standard Rotary Cutter 45mm  Still using the one I got almost 33 years ago.

Olfa Quick Change Rotary Cutter 45mm The newer cutter I would love to try

Endurance Refill Blade 45mm Worth the money!

Omnigrid 6 1/2″x24″ ruler  My number one go-to ruler

This Omnigrid 6″x12″ ruler  is my number two go-to ruler

Omnigrid 6″x6″ ruler  Super handy for small projects

Olfa 24×36 self healing Cutting Mat Still using the one I purchased 10 plus years ago

Bernina Virtuosa 155 Quilter’s Edition sewing machine – buy used on ebay or search for newer model.

Pin it for later

So, what do you think?

Wasn’t this fun! Leave a comment and let me know if you like the idea of using a couples love journal with your spouse.

Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse. Be sure to visit the blogs below for more great Valentine posts!

These are the great ladies sharing today on Day 1…. check out what they have posted for Valentine’s Day!

• Brianne at Home Made on our Homestead
• Amy at Essentially Handmade Shop
• Jenny at Yellow Rose Jenny
• Lindsy at Treasured Oak Springs
• Amanda at Cozy Tasty Home
• Rachel at Australian Working Mama
• Kelly at The Willow Mama
• Misty at Our Grace Filled Journey

See you tomorrow for my Valentine post on the ‘Stay-at-Home Valentine Date’ that my hubby and I have perfected over the last 35 years! Then follow along with Day 2 Valentine Posts from my friends.

• Dana at St. Martha’s Lens
• Anja at Our Gabled Home
• Callie at This Corbett Life
• Jersey at Farmhouse Basic Collection
• Wendy at Little House Simple Living
• Gabrielle at Life with the Correas