For years I have struggled to find the balance between loving magazines and living minimalist-ically. I don’t just read magazines, I active read them. In case your English teachers didn’t fill you in, that’s highlighting and taking notes. Or basically, I’m a magazine nerd. Why not consume the contents of fashion and life as I would literature?

While I have intentions to do something with these flagged and pages, what usually happens is the little marked up book of inspiration returns to my shelf,  unlikely to come back down. After all, a brand new glossy one will arrive in weeks’ time!

The solution: collage my diary!

I warn you – it’s not for the feint of magazine-loving heart. It does involve – eek! – ripping out pages. (I know, I know.).

Step 1: [lovingly] Rip out every page that has something that sparks interest.

Step 2: Cut out the section of the page you like. If you can’t remember, then recycle it. Keep only what is utterly inspiring.

Step 3: Tape sections into diary-planner-thing! Fill the old unused pages like this – clearly I wasn’t doing anything in the last week of December. But now AnnaSophia Robb lives on them. Not bad!

Now I carry a little book of inspiring images everywhere I go, as my Little Pink Book is my constant companion. It’s also a great way to bookmark little things to look up, tucked into future pages:

This way I’ll carry the reminder, rather than letting it sit in a “to look up eventually” pile that never gets sorted through.

Credit must be given to my friend and fab blogger Eleanor, who, like, two years ago, showed me how she decorates her planner with cut-out images. It took a while for that to process that.

Finally, a way to remember my favourite bits of magazines meaningfully and turning my life calendar into art!

What do you do with old magazines? I’d love to hear, fellow fashion nerds.

xandra ★