If you've ever doodled a rainbow on a scrap of paper and thought there has to be more I can do with this — this tutorial is for you. In it I show two different ways to make whimsical rainbows, walk through all the doodling and embellishing techniques that make them really sing, and then build a complete junk journal around them from scratch: painted paper cover, spine reinforcement, signatures, closure, and a three-hole pamphlet stitch binding. I ended up making eight journals in one day following exactly this process, so I can tell you it works — and it's genuinely enjoyable.
What we cover
This is a full build, start to finish. We make whimsical rainbows two ways (painted and paper-pieced), decorate them with doodling and Zentangle-inspired details, and then construct a junk journal around them — cover preparation, lining, closure, signature assembly, and pamphlet stitch binding. At the end I do a quick flip-through of several finished journals showing variations on the same process.
What you'll learn
How to make a whimsical rainbow two ways, including:
- Painted method — draw your rainbow freehand, fill each band with acrylic paint, watercolors, or alcohol markers, and add black ink lines between the bands once dry
- Paper-piecing method — cut graduated layers from scrapbook paper or painted paper offcuts, outline each piece with a Sharpie before gluing, and layer them from smallest to largest
How to outline paper pieces with a marker for a finished, whimsical look — running a Sharpie along the edge of each layer before assembly makes the individual pieces read clearly and gives the whole rainbow that hand-crafted character. Mistakes where the marker drifts onto the piece? Those become part of the design.
How to doodle and add detail to your rainbow, including:
- Zentangle-inspired patterns — semicircles, squares, wiggly lines, dots, and small geometric fills (Google "Zentangle" for an inexhaustible supply of ideas)
- Adding white paint dots and accents for contrast
- Drawing lines between painted bands once the base color is dry
- Turning mistakes into intentional marks by extending a line or adding a detail over them
How to cut out and embellish a finished rainbow — including cutting away the inner arc if you want a traditional rainbow shape, adding paper clouds above and behind, and attaching small die cuts, hearts, birds, or paper beads to build a complete little scene.
How to prepare a painted paper journal cover, including:
- Selecting painted paper offcuts and arranging embellishments before committing to glue
- Reinforcing the spine with fabric on the inside (and optionally the outside) using glue
- Lining the inside covers with scrapbook paper, with edges inked before gluing
- Stitching all four sides on a sewing machine for extra hold and visual character
How to add a ribbon or embroidery floss closure to the cover — finding the approximate midpoint of the cover edge, gluing both closure pieces in place, and securing with masking tape before the final glue-down.
How to assemble and bind a single-signature journal with a three-hole pamphlet stitch, including:
- Folding and nestling pages into one signature
- Piercing cover and signature together in one pass with an awl — middle hole first, then top and bottom, with the needle held in the middle hole to keep everything aligned
- Working the embroidery floss through all three holes and finishing with a double or triple knot at the middle
How to attach a flimsy cover to a heavy signature separately — for journals where the cover isn't sturdy enough to bind through directly: bind the signature on its own first, then use a cropadile to set eyelets top and bottom through both cover and signature, and thread ribbon through to tie them together.
The plastic wrap texture technique for painted paper covers — applying acrylic paint to a sheet, pressing a plastic bag or cling wrap over the wet surface, smoothing it down, and lifting to reveal raised ridges and organic texture once dry.
Tips & gotchas
Wait for paint to dry completely before adding doodle details. Wet paint picks up marker and the lines bleed — and if you're adding white dots over a painted rainbow, they'll sink right in rather than sitting on top.
With paper-pieced rainbows, let the glue dry fully before cutting out the shape. I cut mine while it was still wet during filming and you can see what happens — the layers shift and you get a messy edge. A dry Sharpie pass can hide a lot, but it's easier to just wait.
Before you remove your arranged embellishments to glue them down, take a photo of the layout. I couldn't do this during filming and had to reconstruct from memory — it works, but a photo takes two seconds and saves you the guessing.
If you're not using a sewing machine on your cover, apply glue all the way to the edges — not just the center. Sewing holds the layers together right to the perimeter; glue only works if it's actually there.
Don't laminate your rainbow embellishment onto the cover if you want the colors to stay vibrant. I did this on one journal and the laminate visibly mutes everything underneath — you lose all the warmth and saturation. I won't be doing that again.
If your cover material is thin or floppy and you've loaded up the signature with a lot of pages, bind the signature on its own first rather than trying to sew through both at once. Then attach cover to signature through eyelets and ribbon afterward. It's a little more fiddly but it saves the cover from tearing.
And if you happen to have Easter egg dyed paper on hand — or want to make some — the warm, mottled colors pair beautifully with whimsical rainbows for a junk journal that feels completely of a piece. That's actually the direction I'm heading next, and the whole process starts right here.
