Many of us keep handwritten journals, spellbooks, apothecaries, and grimoires. Some may prefer digital versions of these magical tomes, but there remains something special about inscribing them by hand. It's satisfying and provides a very real anchor to one's practices.

There's a drawback, though: the volumes we consider precious and want to keep secret are often appealing to others, but we don't want someone else picking up our craft journal and thumbing through it!

What to do…You might hide your journal or cast a spell of concealment. But how about a practical solution?

Locate a long cord that matches the color of your journal. Tie the cord around all sides of the journal, just as you'd tie a ribbon around a package. Fasten it snugly with one or two selected knots, for example, a square knot with a figure-eight knot on one end, saying:

Cord and knots, securely tied,
Keep this from outworlders' eyes.

Anyone picking up your journal will now have to untie the knots to get access and then retie them perfectly to cover their tracks. Problem solved!