Summer Garden Journal Cover Tutorial

Ah summer! The warm breezes, the smell of green growing things, the lazy buzz of insects. Capture your own little slice of summer in this Summer Garden Journal Kit!

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make the cover of this journal.

You will need:

• Cardboard Box
• Scissors, Glue, Paintbrush
• Lace if desired
• Summer Garden Journal Kit from My Porch Prints on Etsy
• Summer Garden Mini Books, if desired
• Green Leaf Ribbon, if desired

Cut Your Box

The journal pages in this kit are 5x7 inches. So I cut my box slightly larger than the pages and added a 2-inch spine as shown.

Print Papers
To cover the outside of the journal, you'll need to print 2 sheets (8.5x11) of the printable papers that come in this journal kit. You could also use your own paper if you like. Cut off the white edges and overlap the papers slightly, then adhere them together with glue, using a brush to smooth the glue before attaching.

Glue the paper to the outside of your journal cover using glue & a paintbrush to smooth it.

Smooth the paper, working from the center of your spine to the outside edges of your cover, pushing the air bubbles out. Don't worry if it's a little wrinkly. These will usually work themselves out as it dries.

Flip your cover over and cut off excess paper and the corners as shown. Leave a border of 1/2 to 1 inch as shown.

Also, cut triangular notches on either side of your spine.

Apply glue, using a brush to smooth, and fold the flaps over as shown.

Once all the flaps are folded, print 2 more sheets of printable papers and glue them together like before.

Place the seam in the center of your journal inside the spine. This will help to hide it.

Fold the paper at the edges of your journal and then cut where the folds are.

Again, smooth your glue with a brush on the inside of your journal cover and then place your paper over the glue, smoothing from the spine outward toward the journal edges.

When glue is dry, gently fold up the sides of your journal, working slowly to stretch the papers and create creases.

Your Journal Cover
Next, cut out your journal covers & spine. Attach them as before, using a brush to smooth out the glue and then gluing the papers to the front & back covers and spine as shown.

If desired, use lace to cover the spine. Attach with glue.

And that's it! You have a completed journal cover. Now you can add your pages & embellishments.

Get this Garden Mini Book in my Etsy shop. 

Want to make a tassel like this one? Here is a video tutorial to show you how.
And here is a video tutorial for how to make this garden journal.

French Rose Junk Journal Tutorial - Part 2: Adding Pages

French Rose Journal Tutorial *Contains affiliate links
Part 2: Adding Pages

In Part 1 of this tutorial, I showed you how to create a journal cover using a cardboard box and the French Roses Journal Pages from My Porch Prints on Etsy.

In Part 2, I will show you a quick & easy way to add the pages to your journal.

Making Pages
First, you'll need pages. These can be anything really: old scraps of papers, receipts, envelopes. These are part of the "junk" for your journal. But to make it simple, I'm using the French Roses Journal Pages and coffee-dyed paper cut to 7x10 inches (which makes 5x7 when folded). To coffee dye the pages, I filled a cookie pan with coffee, dipped regular copy paper and then put them on cookie sheets to bake for a few minutes at 275 F degrees.

TIP: After they're baked, splash a little coffee randomly on the pages and put them back in to bake for a few more minutes. This will give give them more interesting stains.

How many pages you want depends entirely on you and how big your journal spine is.

Create Signatures
Once you have all your pages ready, you can fold them to create signatures (a collection of folded pages). My journal has 4 signatures made up of about 6 folded pages each.

Easy Twine Binding
Now it's time to bind the signatures into your journal. There are lots of ways to bind a junk journal. Some are complex or require special tools. This method, sometimes called "Easy Twine Binding", is simple and also works in a way that leaves the pages loose & removable if desired.

Begin by using a piece of twine or other sturdy string.

Wrap your twine around your journal spine. Begin on the outside as shown. Then wrap as many times as you have signatures. I have 4 signatures, so I wrapped four times. End with both ends of your string on the outside of your journal spine and tie them off as shown in the photos. Space out the strings. You can also look up video tutorials for "easy twine binding".

Once you have tied off your twine binding, leave the loose ends (don't cut them). We will use them later to attach embellishments to the spine.

Adding Your Pages
Open your journal. Starting with your first signature of pages, slide one corner under the first string, then ease the rest of the pages under it. This takes some care so as not to rip your pages.

After your first pages are in, flip them over and add the next signature to the next string. Continue until all your signatures are inside your journal.

And there you go! You've added pages to your junk journal!
In Part 3, I will show you how to create a tassel and embellish your journal.

"French Rose" Junk Journal Tutorial : Part 1

*Contains Affiliate Links
French Rose Junk Journal Tutorial
Part 1: Making A Cover
Hello Crafters! Today we're making a journal from a cardboard box and the French Roses Journal Pages from My Porch Prints on Etsy. In this first part, I'll show you how to make the cover. The pages & assembly will come in Part 2.

Find A Box
Start by finding a box. A really easy solution is to use a cereal or cracker box. They tend to already have a journal shape. I used a leftover Christmas box. It was already close the size I wanted and was just begging to be transformed into a junk journal. I opened my box and cut it to the dimensions that would work best with my journal pages: 5x7 inches. I actually cut the box just a smidge larger so that my cover would extend over my pages a bit.

Cut Your Box
Next, I opened up my box and cut it to the size I wanted using a craft knife.

Paint Box 
I decided to paint my box white. This is not necessary. There are LOTS of options here. You could cover your box with paper or fabric. Or leave it plain brown if it has no printing or stickers on it. But I opted to paint mine white.

Round The Corners
Another optional choice is to cut your corners and round them off. I like the way this looks, but again totally optional. If you want consistent corners, make a template from a piece of paper or cardstock and trace.

Front Cover
I decided to use one of my printable journal pages as a cover: plain with some coffee stain markings and script around the edges. I liked the simple look and it leaves me lots of room for decorating options. I cut the corner in a curve to match my cover.

Spine & Back Cover
I also cut pieces of journal pages to fit my spine & back cover, leaving a bit of border around the edges. This left the spine with an unfinished look, so I inked the edges with Distress Ink and a make-up sponge to give the paper a more finished look.

Glue The Cover
To attach the paper to my cover, I applied glue on the journal cover and spread it using a paint brush. This helps keep the paper from bubbling too much.

TIP: If your craft glue is running low, use a cup to hold it upside down. This will keep the glue ready at the tip!

Ink Journal Edges 
Once my papers were applied to the outside cover, I opted to ink the white edges. I thought it gave it more of an antique feel. I also applied ink to the edges of the INSIDE cover.

Inside Cover Pocket
Now it was time to do the inside cover. I wasn't sure exactly what to do for this. Finally, I decided just to use more journal pages and create pockets for holding tags, etc. I rounded the corners to match. After gluing a page inside the cover, I cut a second piece to cut and form a pocket.

Gluing Pockets
I only applied glue to three sides of my pocket, leaving the top open. Then I spread it with a brush.

Cover & Bookplate
For the cover, I decided to use a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate and the word "Create". The words come from a free printable. I started by cutting out my word & gluing it with a craft glue stick to my journal.

Next, I placed the book plate over the word and marked the holes with an awl from a bookbinding kit. This requires a light hand. Be careful not to damage your pages on the other side.

Finally, I added the fasteners. They show on the opposite side, but I'm planning to use some embellishments to cover them later.

In Part 2, I will talk about adding pages & binding to your journal.