How to DIY Your Own Creative Retreat Workbook

Please note, I wrote this post for the first version of my Creative Retreat workbook because it was a PDF printable. The new paperback version makes this post obsolete but it’s still a fun idea to make your own notebook, so I’m leaving it up for now! 🙂

When we were taking pictures for The Creative Retreat workbook last month, I thought it would be fun to add some extra pages to my printed copy and bind it with a fancy o-wire (not really fancy, but to me it was.) For one, it’s kind of sad to make a product and only show digital pictures, and for another, I really wanted my own copy after working on it for so long.

I happen to have a lot of random pieces of paper that range from tracing paper to watercolor paper that I thought would be fun to add to the workbook. On a side note, have you ever made your own book, whether it’s with o-wire or bound by stitching? I don’t know what it is, but seeing a book come together, even if it’s a mini book, is such a simple pleasure. 🙂

If you’ve purchased a copy of The Creative Retreat, you could easily do the same thing (with the materials you have on hand, of course.) Here are some ideas to get you started.

Tips on How to DIY Your Own Creative Retreat Workbook

The Creative Retreat Workbook looks best if you print it double-sided so it reads like a book. You probably already know that, but just in case . . .

Assemble some or all of the following papers and cut to 8.5×11 inches. They can also be smaller, just make sure you align the smaller pages for printing.

• Watercolor paper
• Scrapbook paper
• Tracing paper
• Coloring book pages (Either printed from free designs from online or carefully removed from an adult coloring book—I took pages out of my Secret Garden coloring book.)
• Pretty stationary sheets
• Construction paper
• Black paper (Use white pens on it for a fun chalkboard effect.)

I also recommend printing extras of the journal sheets so you can have more space to write or if you’d prefer no lines, just add blank copy paper for more space. We originally were going to add many more pages to the journal section when I realized that a.) not everyone is into journaling and b.) for those who are, they can simply print more of those sheets. Here’s what some additional scrapbook paper looked like in the workbook. I might tape an envelope on the orange page with washi tape as an additional pocket to store things.

As you can see below, I printed the encouragement quotes on card stock and bound them. One of these days, I’ll get inspired and cut them out to post around the house, I’m sure. For the “focus” page, I added a bunch of post-its that I’ll later transfer to my planner. I don’t know about you, but usually the second I sit down to do a retreat (i.e., take time for myself), my mind instantly fills up with 8 million ideas of what I need to do when I’m finished. So I use these notes to brain dump before I get started.

Doing this is so important because you and I really need to take this time for ourselves. This isn’t a selfish, all-about-me thing. It’s a self-care, I need this so I can help others and personally grow practice. A few months ago, a guest speaker at our church said something right before he started talking that really hit me. He said that for many of us, the hardest place to be at any given time is in that particular moment.

Maybe he could see some of us pulling out our grocery lists or others swiping through some email messages on their smart phones. Whatever the case, I had to admit that he was right. Half of the time when I’m doing a task, I’m thinking of the next thing I need to do and so on. It’s truly a discipline to learn how to quiet and still one’s soul and mind (probably a whole different post there!)

For the giveaway, we made a pocket for the workbook. “We” being my husband since he is way more precise than I am. I sketched out the design and made a miniature sample from copy paper, and he cut it out of a very large piece of card stock. I’m not sure if you would happen to have a piece of paper that you could cut to 17×22 (inches) for this project, but you could definitely DIY your own by doing one of these ideas:

• Cut a two pocket folder in half and bind it into the book (check the school supply section for colorful folders)
• As mentioned above, use washi tape to tape one or two envelopes onto a piece of paper (preferably card stock/heavy scrapbook paper)

By the way, you don’t have to bind this workbook with o-wire or at a copy center. In fact, the next time I print mine out, I think I’ll add it to a one-inch 3 ring binder so I can add and subtract pages as needed. Then I could also add a cute pencil pouch in the back to hold my favorite pens and other items. I haven’t bought one of those since the olden days when I was in school. (Does anyone else love school and office supplies as much as I do?)

What else would you add to your workbook?

Have a lovely {and creative} day!