Wallpaper makes a surprisingly beautiful journal cover — stiff enough to protect the pages, with a surface texture and pattern that no cardstock or fabric quite replicates. These four journals were all cut from the same sample book, each one built around a different wallpaper, and they're the ones I'm putting into my Etsy shop. If you've ever wondered what to do with wallpaper samples, or you're looking for inspiration for a simple, elegant junk journal style, this flip-through shows exactly what these can become.
What we cover
A flip-through of four handmade wallpaper journals — a black fabric-lined one, a brown-gold one, a white and gold one, and a lilac-silver one — all sharing the same internal structure but each with its own cover and colour story. I walk through the construction details, the closure styles, and what's inside each journal.
What you'll learn
How to use wallpaper samples as journal covers — sourced from a sample book, each cover is thick, durable, and already has a finished look on both sides. The ones here range from a warm brown-gold to a crisp white with a metallic sheen, and one piece that's actually wrapping paper rather than wallpaper but has the same satisfying weight.
How to line a wallpaper cover with fabric on the inside, including:
- Using calico (or muslin) glued and sewn to the inside face — this is what three of the four journals use
- Using a fabric off-cut for a different texture, as on the black journal
How to make a wraparound closure with beads — the cord wraps around the closed journal and loops over beads at the end to hold it shut. Two journals use this style; a third uses a white-and-gold ribbon closure instead, and the fourth has silver thread with silver beads.
How to build a three-signature journal with torn page edges — all four journals have three signatures, approximately 72 pages front and back, with no straight-cut edges. The tearing keeps the aesthetic soft and informal without needing any extra embellishment.
A repeating interior layout that works across different papers, including:
- A front pocket that matches the cover material, with a coordinating tag
- A fold-out page early in the first signature
- Tracing paper, vellum, and scrapbook paper mixed through the signatures
- A shorter page tucked into the centre signature
- Tuck spots at the end of signatures
- Journaling cards and pockets for writing and storing ephemera
- A tea-dyed paper booklet inside an envelope glued to the back cover
Why minimal embellishment suits this style — these are designed to have lots of writing space, which means I held back on stickers and stamping deliberately. A few stamped edges, a date-time-and-place stamp on the fold-out, some photo corners — that's about it. The wallpaper does the decorative work.
How to include a little booklet as a separate insert — each journal has a small booklet with tea-dyed paper and decorative corners, tucked inside the envelope on the back cover. It's a self-contained extra that can come out and be used on its own.
Tips & gotchas
Wallpaper covers feel quite stiff when you first handle them — that's normal, and it's actually part of what makes them so protective. They soften with use as you open and close the journal. You can see it happening in real time during the flip-through: the more I manipulate the cover, the more it relaxes. So don't be put off by the stiffness when you first make one.
For the lining, gluing the calico or muslin to the inside of the cover isn't quite enough on its own — I sew it on as well. The combination of gluing and sewing means the lining stays put even with heavy use, and the edge doesn't lift over time. It's a small extra step but worth doing.
If you're sitting on a stack of wallpaper samples and not sure what to make with them, I hope this gives you a starting point.
