junk journal - cardboard - vintage - shabby chic - distressed - coffee dyed - lace
Blog,  Junk Journals,  Shabby chic

Gorgeous Vintage Lace Junk Journal Grocery Bag

junk journal - cardboard - vintage - shabby chic - distressed - coffee dyed - lace
Front cover of my vintage lace covered grocery bag. This little beauty has 3 signatures. Each contain 16 various papers including: coffee dyed, music, graph, craft, blank and lined. A doily here, vintage lace there, hidden pockets and envelopes. Not to mention, tags, vintage images and a mini notebook for journaling. This baby has it all! All finished off with a handmade burlap and lace scrap flower adorned with an antique earring from my stash.
Inside of front cover with doily trimmed opening holding a small lined tag for journaling.
Interior page with a 50’s postcard attached to a Whole Foods bag.
Interior page. Back side of Whole Foods bag adorned with a vintage handkerchief. Graph paper decorated with lace trim.
interior page- love to sew on paper!
interior pocket with journal tag and handmade envelope
interior page
side view

I constructed the cover by taking a large white paper bag and cutting it down to 10 inches wide (this includes two 4 inch covers and a 2 inch spine) and 8 inches high. I watched lots of you tube tutorials and adapted them to end up with this result. Next, I put together my signatures by picking out papers with a neutral color scheme (this was difficult for me as I LOVE COLOR). Each paper measured approximately 8 x 10″. I folded each in half to compose the signatures. I varied the placement, size and texture of each page for interest. I threw in various doilies, a file folder, a whole foods bag (all folded in half) and a letter sized envelope. Once each of the 3 signatures had an equal amount of pages, each was paper clipped together separately. I removed a few papers and added borders using my sewing machine. NOTE: keep the rest of the pages clipped together. Do any sewing before you attach your signatures to the spine. To attach my signatures, again I watched you tube tutorials on hidden spine 3 hole pamphlet stitch. For this journal the intervals for each hole are 1, 4 and 7 inches. Now on to my favorite part – embellishing! I used: washi tape, ribbon, vintage lace, stamps, glitter, faux flowers, gems, tulle. Funny note on the gold tulle used- this is from a child’s black and gold Halloween costume I bought from Goodwill on a 50% sale day. Cost: $2.00. I now have enough tulle for the rest of my life :). I always am thinking of using items other than what they were originally intended for. Lastly, I used fabri-tac to secure a lace placemat to the outside of my journal and the folded over edges, added vintage trim and finished with my signature glitter bling and handmade flower.

Thank you for viewing this post! I welcome any comments or questions. Glitter on friends,

I am a self proclaimed junk journal fanatic and creative crafter. If it is vintage, I am in! I recently retired from the corporate world and now have more time to devote to my love of creating one of a kind treasures. Besides junk journals my hobbies include thrifting, flea market outings, fashion, cooking, hanging with my girlfriends and daughter and golf with my husband. I currently live in the mountains of beautiful Colorado.