20 Days of Christmas: Notebooks & Planners

This “20 Days of Christmas” post is by my favorite gal, Michelle at Wicked Whimsy (formerly Decline Designs!).  Stop by her site, tell her you adore her (like I do!), and show her some love for this wonderful gift post!

I know I’m not the only one who has a bit of a notebook problem. These won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you have a friend/significant other/relative that’s obsessed, they will be received with joy. It should be easy to tell if you know someone like this – just ask them if they have a daily planner. Or if they keep a journal, or an idea notebook. If their eyes glaze over and they start to explain a very specific system involving three-sectioned notebooks and where they keep them (I am totally not guilty of this, no matter what anyone or my husband says!), then these are the gifts or stocking stuffers you need to buy.

Weekdate Weekly Planner – $35

I personally think $35 is a little much to pay for a planner. But LOOK. It’s all spiral bound and opens on the left, and then there’s a part for monthly activities and weekly activities…so you don’t have to write “Bitch ‘n Stitch at 7″ on every single second Wednesday. You just write it once on the monthly section and bada-bing! You’re done. Plus it’s small enough to fit in your purse and isn’t godawful ugly. Comes in big hanging wall calendar format too.

Five Year Diary – $16 at Amazon

This would be great for those would-be journallers who always crap out after two months (I’m actually included in this group). It’s got enough space for five years, you can start any time you want, and there’s only a few lines for each day, so you don’t have to write oodles to have an entry for the day.

Moleskine Ruled Notebook, Large – $12 at Amazon

I should probably be banned from the secret society of notebook addicts, because I don’t actually like Moleskines all that much. Probably because they’re so nice looking that I feel like whatever I write has to be a Deep Important Thought ™. Which means they very rarely get written in at all. However, there are some really neat customized ones on Etsy, and a list of notebook gifts would be incomplete if it didn’t mention the Moleskine notebooks.

Piccadilly Wire-O Notebook, Medium – $9.95

Now these are more my style. Spiral notebooks are durable, they come in a huge variety of designs – from simple and clean to ornate and colorful – and you can rip pages out at will. I currently own somewhere around eight, all designated for various purposes. The Practica is for the “discerning journaler”; it only comes in four colors but has an elastic band to keep it shut and the sheets are wood and acid free.

Piccadilly has a lot of other great choices too. For the DIY’ing gifter, there’s the Everything Book – buy it and decoupage, paint, draw, or print on the cover. My daily planner is more of an unorganized to do list, but for those who have a more time-oriented planner, there’s the Sundial Agenda.

Also, I’m not sure how many people would need notebooks like this, but the excitable geek in me feels compelled to point out that if you need a waterproof notebook, you can get it!