DIY: Using A Spiral Bound Planner In A Ring Bound Planner | Giftie Etcetera: DIY: Using A Spiral Bound Planner In A Ring Bound Planner

Friday, January 31, 2014

DIY: Using A Spiral Bound Planner In A Ring Bound Planner

I tend to love the layout of spiral bound inserts. For some reason, spiral planners often have the features that I need, except that I want to flexibility of a ring bound planner. Spiral planners also tend to be cheaper. When I found this spiral bound planner on clearance at Target for less than seven dollars, I know I had to have it for my classic-sized work planner.


So I improvised.

Note: Giftie is not crafty or artistic. You can do this, too, no matter your skill level.

I simply removed the spiral binding.


I used an ink pen to pry it apart a bit.


My fingers did the rest, but you could use pliers.


I thought of just hole punching it.


But I decided it would look neater and stay together better with washi tape.


Pull the tape out in a strip longer than the paper, then place it evenly against the edge of one side of the paper, using the paper itself to line up the tape.

TIP: This sounds weird, but tape top to bottom and let the roll of washi dangle a bit at the bottom. If you tape bottom to top, the weight of the roll will mess you up.

WAVES HAND AND PRETENDS TO BE LUKE: You see no dirty laundry in this picture.


Once that is done, pull out enough tape to go around the back of the paper and continue taping the paper.


Trim any excess.


Don't worry about perfection. It will look good in your binder because the taped part is covered by the rings. I promise!


WARNING: This works best for monthly planners (12 pages or so) or weekly calendars (52 pages or so). I would not do this much work for 365 pages. As it is, I am doing this three months at a time, which takes about 30 minutes (including removal of binding, which only has to be done the first time).

BONUS TIP: Save the plastic cover. Tomorrow, I'll show you how to use it to make page markers.

Etcetera.

9 comments:

Giftie Etcetera said...

Comment from my husband:

"You misspelled Obi-Wan as Luke in your blog today."

Confession: I've never seen Star Wars and have no idea what he is talking about. Ha ha!

Running on Faith said...

Hi,
I did the same with a cute little calendar I found in the military exchange. It is a choice books calendar. I did not think to use tape to make it neater. I am happy!

yezenia said...

LOL at the SW correction!

What in particular do you like about this layout vs the ones you've been using?

Giftie Etcetera said...

I wouldn't use this layout for my personal planner. But I never plan to really work on weekends, so I can use the Sat/Sun section for notes.

But what I really like is the cut-out tabs, so all of Jan is cut and tabbed, then all of February, etc.

Anonymous said...

I love this and was just thinking of how I could use a spiral in a ring-bound binder that I have. Truly! Question, how do you hole punch through Washi? Maybe my hole puncher is just weak but it doesn't seem to want to go through one layer of Washi, much less two.

Giftie Etcetera said...

I use a FC punch for the classic pages and a Rapesco punch for the compact with no problems. Honestly, I didn't even have to use extra pressure or anything.

Anonymous said...

Actually you may tell Hubby that you did no such thing....Luke used the mind trick in Return of the Jedi on Jaba's guard. Therefore....you are correct.

Anonymous said...

Ooh this is a good idea!

Anonymous said...

This is a really great idea. I am so new to all of the crafty organizer stuff. I was a Franklin/Franklin Covey girl for years - back to the '80s working on The Hill in my shoulder-padded power suits complete with bow-tied blouses it was THE thing to have a Franklin Day planner and to take the time management courses. (Franklin became FC sometime in the '90s, after Covey wrote 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I believe.) My brother sent me my first Filofax a few years ago, the Cherry Classic, and I fell in love. But not until last fall when I decided to purchase another organizer did I become aware of the whole Filofax subculture and the incredible selection of beautiful planners. I don't even want to tell you how many I've purchased just to be able to see which one(s) I want to carry. (We don't have a great retailer here in Kansas City. Halls on the Plaza only has a very limited selection.) I will sell what I choose not to keep. Sorry this became so lengthy. It's just been very exciting to find people like me who love stationery, understand the mind through hand through pen to paper connection and enjoy the organizers as much as I do. My family has endearingly called me quirky. It's an adjective I wear proudly. I have always thought quirky people are much more interesting. ;)