Ideas for Using Your Handcrafted Book

A handcrafted book isn’t meant to sit on a shelf.
It’s meant to live beside your bed, in your bag, on the kitchen bench, at the ready when you are.

But if you’ve ever held a beautiful journal in your hands and thought, “I don’t want to ruin it” — you’re not alone. We hear this all the time.
That hesitation is real. You want to do it justice. You want the first page to feel perfect.

Here’s the truth: you don’t need a perfect plan. You just need to begin.

Here are some of our ideas (& some we've heard from customers) for using your journal & making it a part of your every day life.

1. Daily Notes or Morning Pages

No structure or pressure. Just take 5 or 10 minutes to clear space in your head.
Write what’s on your mind. What’s unfinished. What you need to let go of before the day begins.

2. Memory-Keeping for a Season of Life

One line a day about your child. A sentence from your travels.
A flower from the park, a photo from the kitchen, a train ticket home.
Use a guest book or album as a log of life unfolding.

3. Sketching or Visual Journaling

Not a writer? Try colour. Shape. Texture.
Your book could hold botanical sketches, swatches of fabric, magazine cuttings, dried petals.
It’s less about perfection — more about what catches your eye.

4. Lists, Letters & Loose Thoughts

Gratitude lists. Letters to your future self. Snippets of conversation you want to remember.
Think of it as a “catch-all” for the little things that matter.

5. A Project or Planning Journal

Keep a garden log, a meal planner, or a record of books you’ve read this year.
Track a renovation, or a new house build, a new routine, a change you’re trying to make.
Let it become a workspace that’s just for you.

The Best Way to Use It?

The best way is just to actually 'use' it. Don't let it be like the 'fancy' dinner set that only make it out once a year (if at all!) Whether you made it yourself, chose it from ours, or had it bought for you as a special gift, the book is already special. It doesn't need perfect handwriting or well thought-out pages. It just needs to be used for a purpose. 

Still searching for your favourite book? Browse our handcrafted collection