If you've ever finished cutting journal pages and found yourself staring at a pile of strips, off-cuts, and lace snippets you can't quite bring yourself to throw away, this tutorial is for you. I share seven quick embellishments and additions you can make for junk journals — a lace snippet notepad, a pen barrel closure, a mini folio, a mini clipboard, a fold-open tag, a paper off-cuts notepad, and a mini matchbook notebook — nearly all of them built from scraps, off-cuts, and things that would otherwise go in the bin.
What we cover
Seven standalone ideas, each demonstrated on camera from scratch. Every one of them is a scrap-buster by design — the materials are cardstock, paper off-cuts, empty pen barrels, lace scraps, cardboard from notebook backs, and leftover 12×12 scrapbook paper. I show how each embellishment works as a journal addition, and for several of them I show more than one way to finish or vary the result.
What you'll learn
How to make a lace snippet notepad, including:
- Layering lace scraps and a paper doily over a cardstock base so the edges of each piece stay visible
- Using a scrap paper buffer under the bulldog clip so it doesn't dig into the lace
- Removing and reattaching the clips so all the lace pieces stay loose and usable throughout a journal
How to repurpose empty pen barrels as journal closures, including:
- Rolling a scrap paper insert to fill the barrel body
- Fitting the original end caps back on after threading elastic — something I didn't do in my earlier binding video and should have
- Threading elastic or thin stretchy lace through the cap hole and knotting it so it wraps cleanly around a journal
- Finishing with beads and washi tape before or after the cap goes on
How to construct a mini folio pocket, including:
- Cutting a curved opening from any scrap paper to create the folio shape
- Gluing three sides shut to make a pocket (or running it through the sewing machine if you want a more finished edge)
- Inking the edges before assembly so the folio reads as complete even without embellishment
How to make a mini clipboard from recycled cardboard, including:
- Covering both sides of thick notebook-back cardboard with scrapbook paper and trimming flush with a metal ruler and X-Acto knife
- Inking the exposed cardboard edges for a finished look without wrapping
- Cutting notepad pages slightly smaller than the board so the board outline stays visible when clipped
How to make a fold-open tag from 12×12 scrapbook paper off-cuts, including:
- Shaping the tag ends and keeping at least one interior face plain enough to write on
- Making your own hole reinforcers by punching small circles, inking them, then punching the center hole before gluing — so the hole stays centered rather than ending up off to one side
How to assemble a paper off-cuts notepad, including:
- Folding longer strips in half and layering shorter ones so the pages cascade slightly
- Wrapping a leftover 12×12 strip over the top as a cover
- Binding with two holes and waxed twine tied in a bow — no sewing machine required
- Varying the look with a single sticker rather than heavy embellishment
How to make a mini matchbook notebook from off-cuts, including:
- Scoring and folding the cover piece to create a pointed flap closure
- Making the slit opening the exact right length — no longer than your pencil marks, or the flap will slide right through instead of holding
- Inking the slit opening using a scrap paper guide when the piece is too small to ink flat
- Sewing in a signature with a three-hole pamphlet stitch, or stapling it shut for a faster result
- Running topstitching around the whole matchbook — and why it's much easier to do that before sewing in the signature, not after
Tips & gotchas
Always slip a small piece of scrap paper under the bulldog clip jaw before attaching it to lace or layered paper — the metal will dig in and mark everything without it.
For the pen barrel closure, fit the end caps on before you start adding beads or knotting the elastic. Trying to slide a cap over a finished embellishment is an unnecessary headache. Also worth checking: some pen caps have holes too small to thread elastic through. If that's the case, just skip the cap and knot the elastic directly — it still works fine.
When making your own hole reinforcers (the small punched circles for the fold-open tags), punch the center hole in each circle first, then glue them down. If you glue first and punch second, it's very easy to end up with the hole off-center.
For the mini clipboard, cut the notepad pages a few millimeters smaller than the board on all sides. It's a small thing, but seeing the board's edge framing the pages makes the whole piece look intentional rather than improvised.
The matchbook slit is the trickiest moment in that whole project. Mark both sides of the opening, align your ruler exactly to those marks, and make a single clean cut — stop at the marks. Any longer and the flap has nothing to catch on; it'll slide straight out every time.
If you want topstitching around the matchbook opening, do it before you sew the signature in. I know from experience that doing it afterward is genuinely difficult — the bulk of the signature gets in the way and the stitching line suffers for it.
For inking the matchbook slit once the piece is already folded and closed: lay a strip of scrap paper along each edge of the slit opening and ink against it. It's the cleanest way to accentuate that cut line when you can't open the piece flat to ink it properly.
When you're staring at a list of fifty ideas, it's easy to feel paralyzed rather than inspired. Seven is a number you can sit down with on a slow afternoon, pick one, and actually finish it. That's the point of this whole video — not to overwhelm, but to give you something concrete to reach for when you've lost your momentum. Make one lace notepad. Make a small stack of matchbooks. See where that takes you. The off-cuts will keep coming as long as you keep making journals, and so will the ideas.
