How To Make A Junk Journal Cover With Sweet Wrappers & Lace

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Making junk journal covers is one of my favourite parts of this highly addictive craft. But have you ever thought about using sweet wrappers to make one? Feeling intrigued? Read on to find out how to make a junk journal cover with sweet wrappers and lace.

Here’s a sneak peek of what your journal cover could end up looking like:

How to make a junk journal cover using sweet wrappers

But first… here’s why I wanted to try making a cover in this way.

Every Christmas, my husband and I eat tub after tub of Quality Street. For those of you outside of the UK, this is a brand of chocolate/sweet that’s very popular over here. But there’s one problem! Each of the chocolates and sweets come wrapped in individual foil and plastic wrappers. Not so great for the environment.

Every year, I’ve wanted to find a good way of using them for something or upcycling them in some way. Of course, there are lots of things you can do. But you’re here to find out how to make a journal cover using them, right?

Okay, let’s get to it…

How To Make A Junk Journal Cover With Sweet Wrappers & Lace

Supplies you’ll need:

Sweet or chocolate foil wrappers
Sturdy base fabric e.g. muslin, canvas or cotton
Sparkly tulle or organza fabric
Lace (and lots of it!)
Ribbon (for the closure)
Scrapbook paper or cardstock (for lining the inside of the cover)
Book corners
Glue stick (good quality such as the Uhu or Scotch brands)
Fabric glue such as Fabri-Tac or Beacon 3-in-1
Sewing machine – you could handstitch if absolutely necessary but I personally wouldn’t recommend it
(Optional) Bookplate and brads
(Optional) Snowflake die cuts for a winter theme

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare your base.

Choose a relatively sturdy fabric to serve as your base layer. This could be muslin, canvas or cotton, for example.

Cut your fabric down to size. This will need to be a good size for your journal cover but make sure you leave some extra fabric the whole way around (about half an inch on all sides).

Step 2: Add your sweet wrappers.

Start glueing your sweet wrappers onto your base fabric and overlap each wrapper slightly with the ones next to them. A glue stick will work fine for this, but don’t go the whole way to the edge of your fabric. Leave about half an inch on all sides.

OPTIONAL: Glue some snowflake die cuts onto the foil if you’re going for a winter theme. This is just for decoration.

Step 3: Add your tulle or organza.

Cut a piece of tulle or organza, which will cover the whole piece of fabric with a little extra (just in case the fabric slips while you’re stitching). Glue or tack this in place onto your cover.

Step 4: It’s quilting time!

You’ll want to stitch all over the tulle or organza to trap all the layers. When I made mine, I stitched vertically and then horizontally with wavy lines.

Step 5: Add your lace.

Let’s pretty it up a bit by adding some lace. Start by glueing the lace onto the cover. You can just wrap the cover with the lace and use glue on the inside cover so you can’t see it through the lace. Then just stitch around the outside of your cover to keep it all in place.

OPTIONAL: Add a bookplate to the front cover if you’re after a simple and elegant design on the cover.

Step 6: Add your closure and lining.

If you want to add a ribbon closure then you’ll need to cut a strip that’s long enough to run the full length of your cover and still tie in a bow once you’ve added your pages and ephemera. For my one-signature journal, I used about a metre of ribbon. This was probably too much but it’s best to have too much than not enough as it’ll be very difficult to redo this step.

Glue your ribbon onto the inside of your cover using fabric glue. Try to ensure you’ve glued it in the middle so you have an even amount of ribbon on each side.

Next, it’s time to sort your lining.

Whether you’re lining your cover with fabric, scrapbook paper or cardstock, you’ll need to cut it down to size. Ideally, leave about half a centimetre the whole way around so it doesn’t peep out when the journal’s closed. Glue the whole thing down or stitch it around the edges to keep it in place.