If you've been hoarding baby wipe flip tops and wondering what on earth to do with them, this short tutorial is for you. I'd been collecting them for a while myself — a full bag of them sitting around — before I finally worked out a reliable way to paint shiny plastic and turn these little lids into proper journal embellishments with a hidden compartment inside. This video walks through the whole process: stripping and prepping the plastic, decoupaging with napkins, building up layers of paint and embellishment, and attaching the finished lid to a junk journal cover.
What we cover
Painting and decorating baby wipe flip tops for use as journal cover embellishments — including how to get paint to stick to shiny plastic, how to apply a decoupage napkin layer, how to shade and embellish with acrylics and found materials, and how the finished lid works as a secret compartment on a journal cover.
What you'll learn
How to get paint to stick to shiny plastic — the challenge I kept running into before I landed on this method. Sanding and gesso both disappointed me; what actually worked was spray paint as a first layer, followed by decoupage glue to lock everything down.
How to remove stickers from plastic lids without over-cleaning, including:
- Soaking the lid in water to loosen stubborn stickers
- Why you don't need to remove every trace of adhesive — the glue residue that stays behind actually helps subsequent layers bond
How to apply a decoupage napkin to plastic, including:
- Separating the napkin into a single ply before you start
- Laying it over the spray-painted surface and painting decoupage glue (Mod Podge, PVA, or collage glue all work) over the top
- Trimming excess napkin while the glue is still wet — much cleaner than trying to cut it after it dries
Why gold spray paint makes a strong base layer — it covers the shiny surface thoroughly and gives the napkin something to grip. I used what I had in the house rather than buying specialist plastic paint, and it held well once the decoupage layer went on top.
How to add shading with black acrylic paint — dabbing it around the edges and into the recesses to tone down the brightness of the gold and give the lid more depth. This is the experimental stage where you're just playing and seeing what looks right.
How to embellish the lid with found and stash materials, including:
- Book pages (I used a German-language page for the journal I'm showing here)
- Butterfly and bow embellishments attached with a hot glue gun
- Small flat embellishments glued down with decoupage or PVA
- Sticker quotes and word pieces
How to use the finished lid as a secret compartment on a journal cover — the flip top opens to reveal a small interior space that fits a short pencil and a folded mini booklet. I show how I attached the lid to a Reader's Digest hardcover journal (already covered in book-page strips with a front closure) and what I tucked inside.
How to make a simple mini booklet to store inside the compartment — just a quick prototype here, not a finished piece, but enough to show the idea: fold a few pages, clip them with a bow clip, and it tucks right in.
Tips & gotchas
Soaking the lid in water for a few minutes before peeling makes sticker removal much easier — try to peel dry first, and if it resists, give it a soak. Once the paper is off, don't stress about the adhesive residue underneath. It's tempting to scrub it clean, but those sticky remnants actually help the next layers grip the plastic rather than sliding around.
Do your spray painting outside. Gold spray paint fills the shiny surface well, but the fumes are real and it needs air to dry properly.
When it comes to the napkin, the key step is separating it into a single ply before it goes anywhere near the lid. Napkins are usually two or three layers pressed together — peel carefully and you'll have a tissue-thin sheet that conforms to curves and edges beautifully. Apply your decoupage glue under and over it, and trim the excess while everything is still wet. Once dry, trimming becomes much harder and you risk tearing.
The black acrylic shading step is genuinely just play — dabbing, stepping back, seeing what looks right. One of my lids in the video ended up with more black than I wanted, and that's fine. That's how you learn what you like.
For embellishing, hot glue holds the bigger, heavier pieces (bows, butterflies) far more securely than decoupage glue or PVA alone. Save the lighter adhesives for flat paper pieces and small embellishments.
The interior of the flip top stays white unless you choose to paint it. I didn't bother — what's inside is what matters — but painting it is a perfectly valid extra step if the white bothers you.
I'm planning a full series of journals built around these lids — each one different — and that's really where this technique opens up.
