These butterfly shaped notebooks make the sweetest little garden or herbarium journals. I’m using them to preserve pairs of pressed flowers and botanicals from our collection. For the pages I used a drawing paper and for the binding I used a medium weight waxed cotton thread. You can also use embroidery thread as an alternative. You can download a template that I made below for the butterfly shape under the material list. The template includes two different sizes– the one that I’m showing in the photos is the smaller size. These are almost identical in process to my mini pressed flower notebooks if you’ve tried those out. After making your notebooks, make sure that you save any scraps of paper for your compost bin or to make your own paper!

Materials

– thick paper for the cover such as watercolor paper
– scrap pieces of paper
– dried pressed flowers
– cotton thread waxed with beeswax or embroidery thread
– needle
– awl or push pin
– mod podge matte or school glue (diluted with water)
– paint brush (dedicated to crafts) or glue brush
– pressed flowers – we grow and press our own (instructions to make your own flower press)

Instructions to make mini butterfly shaped notebooks

Step 1: How to create the pages

Draw a template for your butterfly or download the printable template above to use as a guide. Print at 100% scale when printing. Fold all of your papers in half and gather in a stack with the thick paper for the cover on the outside. Trace the template for half of your butterfly. Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut along your lines, cutting out all of the pages at once if possible. If your paper is too thick to do so, you can cut a couple of sheets at at time, starting from the outside and working your way inwards.

Step 2: How to bind the journal

Use your awl, push pin or large needle to create two holes along the fold in the area that will become the spine of the journal. Thread your needle through the holes and tie the ends of the thread shut on the inside of the notebook. Tie a double knot, making sure that you are pulling the thread tightly.

Step 3: How to add pressed flowers to your notebook

Use a paint brush or glue brush to paint a thin layer of glue on the front of the cover. Place pairs of pressed flowers and botanicals on top and gently press down to attach. After the first layer of glue is dry, paint a second layer of glue over the flowers. Let dry completely. Do the same for the inside pages– this is a fun way to create a garden log each season of the flowers that you’ve grown!