Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Journals & Books of Shadows

I do love nice books for taking notes at pagan events and for keeping records of my spells and rituals, and journaling my magical work. Many witches call these things their personal Book of Shadows. 

People often ask my what my Book of Shadows looks like and I have to say that over the years it is a shelf-full of papers in box files and filled-up notebooks of various kinds. Some are beautiful, but many were just bought on a budget when I've been strapped for cash. Here's a way of transforming a basic notebook into something personal and witchy by upcycling a favourite birthday card.

What you need is an ordinary notebook, a birthday card of the same size with a great picture on it, some glue and possibly other embellishments if you like. I used a paper cutter to trim the card to exactly the right dimensions, but you can use scissors. I then glued the picture to the front of the notebook. I personalised it a little bit more by sticking on a scrap of white paper and using a marker pen to change "Birthday" into "Witchy Day".

It might not look as polished and professional as something you would buy in a pagan shop, but any personal effort you put into your tools will make them more magical. Ideally you would probably make your own paper and hand-bind it into a book, but for those without all the skills or with little time as well as little money, this is a step in the right direction.

The picture at the top shows the finished notebook, the picture below shows the card and original notebook.

This post continues my series called Witchcraft on a Shoestring, which I began after someone who came to one of my workshops suggested I do more for witches who are strapped for cash. Below are links to some of my earlier relevant posts:

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/01/witchcraft-on-shoestring-white-candles.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/05/witchcraft-on-shoestring-useful-jars-to.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/09/witchcraft-on-shoestring-ramekin.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2019/10/rattle-upcycled-from-crisps-tube.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/05/craft-i-upcycled-my-sofa-into-drum-bag.html