I make a covered planner for my girlfriend and this year found a 2 year planner at the Dollar Tree.

I take the plastic cover off and then went through my stash of Wizard of Oz papers I bought a few years ago from Graphic 45 (now retired.) I found a page that has 1″ tall stamp-style pictures of all of the Wizard of Oz characters.

The planner is 7 1/2″ wide and 6 1/4″ tall. I cut 2″ off the height so it ends up being 10″ tall by 12″ wide. I scored it on the 12″ width at 2 1/4″ and turned the paper all the way around to the other side and scored it at 2 1/4″, but if you are right handed, you can score at 2 1/4″ and 9 3/4″. On the 10″ side, I scored at 1 3/4″ and 8 1/4″. I folded and burnished my scores, folding the top and bottom first, then folded in the sides so I could slide the front page of the planner into the left pocket and when I tried to insert the back of the book, I realized I needed more paper behind the book, so I changed that score to 10″ to give me another 1/4″ of paper for the back of the planner, so it would close without buckling.

I used another sheet of the Graphic 45 paper that has “there’s no place like home” at the top and bottom of the page for the planner closure cut both out to 1″ wide and then lined them with tear tape link: https://tinyurl.com/5rxszxp7. After adhering the two pieces back to back, I found they had a white line on the top and bottom, so I took a green marker and covered the white with it. If I had been in my craft room, I would’ve used an alcohol marker with a bullet tip, but used an Arteza brush marker that I had beside me. The closure paper is 1″ tall by 12″ long and I wrapped it around the planner so the end of the left side of the paper almost covers the front of my planner.

Once wrapped around the planner, the right side of the paper needs to almost cover the front of the book with a little bit of extra at the opening, so the book can grow with time. I put Velcro circles link: https://tinyurl.com/54y45ur6 , one close to the right end of the paper strip and a second Velcro circle about an inch to the right of the first circle. This is so you can move the velcro opening as the book grows. I added a third fuzzy side between the original circles on the strip with the other two fuzzy pieces so the first circle will always be attached to something. To attach it to the planner, I added tear tape to the underneath of the left side of the strip, all the way to the second fold (remember when we folded it around the planner, you should be able to see the two folds). Remove the backing from the tear tape and carefully place the strip in the center of the planner, making sure you lay the strip so the first fold is at the spine of the planner and the tear tape ends at the back right edge of the planner.

I took a sticker from the Graphic 45 set and adhered it to black heavy weight cardstock (Recollections Heavy Weight cardstock from Michaels) then cut the black cardstock to match the outline of the sticker with about a 1/8″ border. Then I added tear tape to the center of the sticker and attached it near the end of the paper strip on the front of the planner. To make sure the cover stays put on the planner, I added a small drop of glue to the inside under the top and bottom of the Wizard of Oz paper and then pressed on it to make sure it stayed in place.

Covered Post It Notes: I used small label post it notes that were about 2″ long and 1/2″ tall. I cut my paper to 4 1/2″ long and 1″ tall then put tear tape on the back of the post it note pads (I tore one pad in half so it wasn’t too thick for the planner) then laid the pads on the inside of the paper on the right edge, then wrapped the paper around them. My paper was only 4″ long, so wasn’t long enough, but I didn’t have more of that paper, and just went with it.

To make covered paperclips: I used small paper clips that are 1 1/4″ long. I cut paper to 3″ by 1 1/2″ wide and scored the 3″ length at 1 1/2″ then fold them in half making sure they are straight. Butt two pieces of cardstock together open and put two paper clips on the short end far enough away from each other you can put tear tape over them and the tear tape has to cover the edges and between and inside both clips. Do this to the front and back of the paper clips then fold the papers closed. You’ll need one more piece of paper that is cut to 3 1/4″ by 1 1/2″ scoring on the 3 1/4″ length at 1 5/8″ folded in half then put tear tape on the back of it (or wet glue.) You’ll place the folded part of this paper over the tops of the paper clips you can still see. If this paper is a little too long, snip off the bottom edge. I used stickers on the front and back of my paperclips and then I slid them onto the January page of my planner.