If you've been looking for a proper flip through of the journal I'm always pulling out to show specific examples — this is finally it. In this video I take you through two handmade junk journals I made years before I started YouTube, both built from cereal box covers, packed with interactive elements: pockets, flip-up pockets, envelopes, belly bands, tuck spots, tags, stickers, and pages in every material from acetate to muslin to good-quality wrapping paper. The flip through is pure ideas — a look at how all these elements come together in a real, finished journal.
What we cover
Two full journal flip throughs, one covered in muslin and one in cheesecloth and texture paste, both made from cereal box board. Together they show how a five-signature junk journal is built — from cover closures and bookplates through to the final pages — with something different on every spread.
What you'll learn
How a cereal box becomes a journal cover, including:
- Covering the board with muslin, then layering paper on top for a finished surface
- Using ribbon end crimps to create a simple ribbon closure on the front cover
- Adding a removable brooch as a cover embellishment (glued flat so it can come off but designed to stay on)
- Layering a leather sample with blingy mesh underneath as an interior belly band detail
How to build interactive pages that stay flat for writing, including:
- Spacing bulky decorated pages with enough plain writing pages in between so the journal lies flat without a hard surface underneath
- Keeping spine embellishments minimal — anything too thick on the spine makes the journal wobble while you write
- Choosing pockets, tags, and flip-up elements that add interest without stacking too much bulk
How to make a large folded pocket from a single sheet of paper, including:
- Folding a large sheet in two directions to create a main pocket with smaller side pockets
- Weaving ribbon through punched holes along the edge to finish the pocket and add texture
How to use an acetate page as a dashboard Placing a clear acetate leaf at the front of a signature gives you a working surface — somewhere to layer a note, a tag, or a quote — while letting the page behind it show through.
How the "note from the bookmaker" works as a journal element A short handwritten or printed note tucked into the first pages introduces the journal and sets the tone for whoever will write in it — whether that's you or someone you've made it for.
How to make DIY sticker quotes from a printed PDF, including:
- Printing a sheet of quotes directly onto sticker paper
- Cutting them out for instant adhesive embellishments with no extra gluing
How a cheesecloth cover creates texture Pressing cheesecloth onto a journal cover before applying texture paste leaves a layered, tactile surface that looks and feels completely different from any other covering material.
Why building for writing changes how you make pages The pretty things are there to inspire the writing — not to replace it. That's the underlying idea behind every page in both journals: something to catch the eye and spark a thought, but enough open space to actually put words down.
Tips & gotchas
Keep the spine clear of bulky embellishments. Anything that adds real thickness to the spine will tilt the journal when it's lying flat — and if you're trying to write, a tilted journal is genuinely annoying. Small, flat additions are fine; anything that raises the spine more than a millimetre or two is worth moving elsewhere.
The same logic applies to the interior pages. I like rich, layered spreads, but I always make sure there are enough plain or lightly decorated pages in between the chunky ones that writing on any given page doesn't mean fighting a wobble. The test I use: if you can write on the page without pressing down on something hard underneath, the balance is right.
A brooch from a jewellery shop or a second-hand find can go straight onto a journal cover. Take it apart if you need to, glue it flat, and it sits there like it was always meant to be a journal embellishment. Just know that if it does come off, the cover will probably look unfinished — so design the cover around the brooch being there.
Ribbon end crimps (the small metal findings you crimp onto the end of a ribbon length) make a neat, clean closure on a soft journal cover. You don't need a clasp or a magnetic snap — just crimp them onto the ribbon ends, attach to the cover board, and tie.
For quote stickers: print on proper sticker paper sheets, not regular paper. You get a clean cut, instant adhesive backing, and they sit flush on the page rather than wrinkling at the edges the way glued paper sometimes does.
The cheesecloth cover and the large folded pocket with woven ribbon are two elements I hadn't used in a while when I pulled these journals out, and both of them are worth revisiting. The tutorial on the cheesecloth journal is still to come, and when it does it'll go into the texture paste layer and the bookplate in more detail.
