If you've got a stash of old book pages sitting around — rescued from a library discard pile, pulled from a damaged book, or just waiting for a purpose — this tutorial is for you. I'll show you how to fold, ink, and layer those pages into embellishments you can use across junk journals, cards, tags, envelopes, and more. The whole idea is built around one simple move: a folded book page becomes the star, and everything else just frames it.
What we cover
This is a roundup tutorial walking through the complete process — from ripping and folding book pages to inking edges and layering with scrap paper and focal points. Along the way I show how to build belly bands, tags, cards, pocket pages, paper bag embellishments, and single embellishments ready to grab from a box. Watercolored pages, chipboard accents, die cuts, faux wax seals, twine, stickers — everything comes from scraps and materials you likely already have.
What you'll learn
How to rip and fold book pages to create an organic base shape, including:
- Tearing for irregular, spiked edges rather than straight cuts — because straight edges work against you once you start folding
- Single folds (one side over the other) for a clean, scroll-like shape
- Triple folds for a narrower, more compressed silhouette
- Folding watercolored pages so both the colored and uncolored sides show — giving you two different tones in one piece
How to ink only the edges that need it — the ripped edges get inked, the straight folded edges do not. The goal is to draw attention away from the fold lines, and inking them would do the opposite. You only ink the side that will face outward; the back is going to be glued down anyway.
How to read your fold and decide how to dress it, including:
- When your page has a natural "waist" — a narrowing in the middle — accentuate it with a piece of string or twine tied at that point, then place your focal point right there
- When your fold is straight up and down with no curve to speak of, cover the whole piece with layered scrapbook paper and set your focal point over the top — no need to fight a shape that isn't there
How to glue for a 3D effect rather than a flat one — only glue the very bottom section of the fold to whatever it's sitting on. A tiny dab in the middle to hold the fold closed, and then glue along the bottom edge only. Leave the upper layers free so the whole piece lifts slightly and has that scroll or diploma look.
How to build layered embellishments from scrap paper, including:
- Starting with a base layer of scrapbook paper, then offsetting a smaller piece at an angle before adding the book page
- Adding a thin strip cut from the bottom of a scrapbook paper sheet as a mid-layer accent
- Layering three or four geometric pieces — rectangles, squares — so the irregular book page shape on top disrupts the uniformity in just the right way
How to make belly bands for journal pages — glue the embellishment across a journal page, fixing only the top and bottom edges, so it bands across and creates a rich decorative strip. Works especially well on pages where you wouldn't write anyway — book pages, coloring pages, or decorative inserts.
How to turn the same embellishment into other formats, including:
- Tags (using a plastic card as a tag template to cut the shape, then layering on top)
- Cards and mini journals (fold a piece of cardstock, add your layered embellishment, bind in a few pages)
- Pocket pages (glue three edges of a belly band down to turn it into a pocket — the fourth edge stays open)
- Envelope flaps (glue onto the flap only, leaving the envelope functional)
- Paper bags (layer two together for more body, or use a single bag with a focal point on the front)
How to use chipboard pieces as focal points — thin chipboard painted gold and black adds a rich accent without much effort. Small die cuts, butterflies, faux wax seals, and stickers all work too. The book page does the heavy lifting; the focal point just lands on top.
Why batch-making these in advance changes how you journal — fold a stack, ink the edges, glue down the folds, and store them in a box. When you're mid-project and need an embellishment, you just reach in and grab one rather than stopping to build from scratch.
Tips & gotchas
Only ink the ripped edges, not the straight folded ones. This comes up in almost every step and it's easy to forget: the inked edge draws the eye, so you want the eye going to the organic torn lines, not the clean fold. Leave the straight edges alone and they'll recede.
When you glue the fold closed, use only a tiny amount of glue right in the middle — just enough to hold the shape so you can see what you're working with. Then when you glue the whole piece onto your project, fix only the very bottom section. Everything above that should stay free. The moment you press the whole thing flat, you lose the 3D quality that makes these look rich rather than just stuck-on.
If your fold is wide and straight — no waist, no curve — don't try to create one. Cover the piece fully with scrapbook paper or a focal point rather than adding string to an area that has nothing to accentuate. The string trick only works when there's actually a narrowing to draw attention to.
For damaged or cut scrap pieces you're reluctant to throw away, use a focal point to cover the problem area deliberately. A butterfly, a die cut, or a bow placed over a rip or an unwanted cut line makes it invisible — and usually looks intentional.
Frail, older book pages are genuinely easier to manipulate into shape. They fold more softly and tear with more character than stiffer pages. That said, stiffer pages work too — they just hold their shape more rigidly, which isn't always a bad thing.
Making a whole batch at once — fold, ink, hold with a glue dab — means you always have something ready. These are the kind of embellishments that work on almost anything, so having a box of them to pull from is more useful than making them one at a time as needed.
The same basic shape reads completely differently depending on what you layer beneath it and where you put the focal point, which means a single afternoon of folding and inking can produce embellishments that don't look anything like each other. Pair these with handmade faux wax seals or paper flowers and you have most of what you need to embellish a whole journal without buying a thing.
