Moleskine's Second Chance

I love the Moles (That’s what the “in” crowd calls the Moleskines.) They are handy, durable, ubiquitous, if not expensive.

When I used up all the pages in my Moleskine Reporter Plain I decided to rebind it with my own paper. Besides I can't get them where I live here in China.

It took just about an hour and now my Mole has a second life. In a nutshell, I just folded A4 paper in half lengthwise, sliced it in two, punched some sewing holes, and stitched 10 signatures together and voila, I had a book block.

Next, I tore out the existing book block from my used up Mole, inserted and glued my new one and now I have another few months of use out of the same cover.

Now I know, to most people, this may seem like a lot of bother for a Mole but I assure you that it’s worth it.

I hope the picture helps demonstrate that it’s a simple process that anyone can do. So go ahead and try it with your choice of paper.  You’ll be glad you did and your Mole will thank you too because he gets another life before he's shelved.

...dave
If I had my life to live over again, I'd be a plumber. -Albert Einstein

Moleskine Pen Holder Hack

Here's an easy and cheap Mole pen holder for your sketchbook.  In fact I use this on all my journals and notebooks.  Whenever I get a new book, I put this pen holder in it.

(Quite a few people have been interested in this hack so I thought I'd add a few more details that might be helpful.)

I always place the pen holder on the first page of the journal/sketchbook/notebook because this first page is always the strongest part of the book block. (It's called the "endsheet" in the publishing business.)

Another reason I use the first page is that, when the book is closed, the pen will hang over the pages of the book, sort of tucked away. The hard cover book edges usually extend past the pages a bit to protect them.  This pen holder allows the pen to be wedged tightly between the hard cover edges.  So the pen doesn't hang up on stuff as you pull it from your backpack or purse.  It stays tucked out of the way when you are not using it.  When you remove the pen to write, the clean plastic tape folds flat and stays out of the way.

In a nutshell


Here is the simple process:

1. Cut a strip of 10" packing tape.
2. Place the tape sticky side up.
3. Fold 3 inches of the tape over on itself 
4. Wrap your pen inside about 2.5 inches of the folded over tape and place about a half an inch onto the sticky part (which is still facing up).
5. Cut the excess tail of the tape to the width of first page of your book.
6. Attach the sticky part to the "endsheet" of your Moleskine (or other hard cover book)

I use clear packing tape for the following reasons:

• It's nearly invisible even with the pen in the holder.
• It's cheap.
• It's easy to find at almost any store.
• It's strong and holds well.

You don't have to use clear tape of course.  At Walmart I saw an entire rack of wide tape in a rainbow of colors.  (It was in the paint section of the store.)  So if you are looking for something that matches your sketchbook, look no further.  Or if you want to add a little "funk" to your sketchbook, choose an accent color.  Your choice.

The hardest part of this hack is dealing with the sticky side of the tape facing up while you fold over the tape on itself and wrap your pen inside.

Just follow the sequence and you'll be fine.

It's the best way to guarantee that the right pen will always be with your sketchbook!

 …dave
I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent. - Ashleigh Brilliant

Custom Moleskine datebook

Moleskine custom datebook (month view)
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Don't like any of the preprinted datebooks? Make your own. I did. Here's why:

1) I like the blank creamy pages of the Moleskine

2) I want my week to start on a Monday

3) I want lots of blank pages in the back for notes

4) I like the size of the Moleskine small plain notebook. It can fit in a suit jacket pocket or in a shirt pocket (if you must). They also fit perfectly in a Land's End Square Rigger external side pocket.

5) I like the DIY (do it yourself) hand drawn look.

But that's just me. Your mileage may vary.

Moleskine custom datebook (week view)
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

In the first 24 pages of a plain pocket Moleskine I drew all the months on a two page spread. I used a light gray pen so that it wouldn't bleed through.

On the next 104 pages I drew the week views. Note that I just drew the dates, no days of the week. Monday always starts at the upper left and Sunday ends on the second to the last box on the page. This format leaves an empty box for overflow of any one day. If a day overflows because the box is too small, I use an arrow to point to the extra box in the lower right.

A small 0.5 or 0.38 pen works fine for the limited page real estate. I use my Pilot Vanishing Point with fine nib, Uniball Vision Micro, or Uniball RT .038.

Stiff bookmark post-it tabs are used for the current month and week.

After the full month views (24 pages) and the week views (104 pages) I still have about 80 blank pages left for notes at the end of the Moleskine. (There are 196 pages in a plain Moleskine.)

There you have it. A customized datebook in your pocket.

...dave
A diet joke is humor without the punchline.

Theoretically Related Posts

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• Moleskine Business Card hack
  

moleskine business card hack

moleskine business moo card hack
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Whenever I meet someone, I want to give them a business card. But putting them in the wallet makes them dog eared. So I put a few slices into the stiff first page of my Moleskine and then slip in two corners of my moo cards (business cards from flickr.com) and voila.

...dave
Life is like a grammar lesson. You find the past perfect and the present tense.

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• Drawing with Imagination
  

Moleskine Tabs Hack

I'm big on Moleskines. They are fantastic. I carry a Blackberry but there is a unique appeal to the pen and paper. I carry it everywhere.

I used to put Post-it book mark tabs in them as place markers. Then it dawned on me to create my own tabs. Using an Xacto knife, label maker and patience I created custom tabs. This is my little Moleskine hack.

Counting about 12 pages for each tab works out to about 8 tabs. Each tab is three lines wide with the last two tabs using up two lines. (You can create your own number of tabs if you make your label text short.) If you use plastic label material, your labeled tabs will not become discolored with wear.

Too lazy to make your own tabbed book? Write me and I'll make one for you. Include the text for your 8 tabs. I'll mail the finished customized book anywhere in the U.S.

A Zebra F-301 clipped to the cover completes the always-available little writing package.

See the following sites for other hacks:
pigpog.com
43folders.com

...dave
"If you depend on the opinion of others, you will forever be their prisoner." -Unknown

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