Step 10: Binding a 10th Step Journal

Step 10:  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

For step 10, our creative project was binding a 10th step journal.

Supplies needed:

• heavy cover stock paper for the booklet cover
• plain printer paper or pre-printed 10th steps for the inside pages
• book binding twine (or ribbon will do)
• binding needles (optional - necessary if you create small holes, but not necessary if you create large holes for binding)
• ruler
• bone folder (optional)

AND something to create holes to bind the twine through:

• awl
• hole punch < this one creates a smaller hole, but a standard-sized hole punch will do
• hammer and a nail

Optional cover decorations:

• markers
• collage supplies
• stickers
• stencils

To start, I provided a print-out, compiling 13 different formats of 10th step inventories that I've collected over the years. For one of them, I added shiny star stickers simply to make completing that inventory more fun.

For the creative aspect of this activity, our time in the group was spent binding the covers.  The members of the group then went home to fill out their 10th steps on their own.

1.  We passed around the packet of card stock, so each person could choose which color they wanted for the cover.

2. We then folded the covers and ran the flat edge of the bone folder along the fold to sharpen the crease:

3. Next we placed binder clips on the top and bottom edges of our "books."

4. We then used a ruler and the pointed edge of the bone folder to draw a line where we wanted our front covers to open.  If you are not using a bone folder, you can skip this step and simply use a pencil and lightly mark the book where you'll want the holes to be (see the next step).

5. Next we measured where we wanted our holes to go.  These holes can be marked with the awl (the awl can then be used to create the hole) or by using a pencil.  We placed one marking one inch from the top; the second marking was one inch from the bottom; and the third marking was in the middle of the book (at 4.25" mark of our 8.5" booklets).

6. Then we punched our holes.  The hole punch I purchased had a marking on it, which made it easier to define exactly where the hole would appear.

7. Next we measured out our binding thread - four lengths of the edge of the book.

8. Then we thread the binding twine through the books.

For this process, we used binding instructions by J. Munkatchy that I made just a couple of modifications to:

Our holes were large enough that with the waxed binder's twine, we did not need to use needles.  By the time the twine made it's third cycle through some of the holes, we did sometimes need to use a pen to push the thread all the way through:

9. Like in the instructions, we finished the binding off with a knot:

10. Finally, we used markers to decorate our covers.  I kept mine pretty simple.

Completed 10th step booklets, just as the one pictured above, are available in my Etsy store.  Or have fun creating your own!