This junk journal spread was SO fun to make! It came together quickly with inexpensive (free) supplies that most people already have. The secret is making it in a master board format, so every square gets decorated quickly and easily.
I used the decorated squares to list my favorite books That took some time. But you could use the decorated squares as is and they still look great. Want proof? If you look closely at the spread above, there are 12 squares without any book titles. I just used them as is after the decorating. (I know I'm going to think of books I forgot about - so I left some blanks.)
Follow the steps below if you want to give it a try.
If you'd rather watch a video showing how to do it, click here: Decorated Squares Journal Page Video
Step One: Find Pretty Magazine Pages
The first step is to rip out some magazine pages. That's right, this whole glorious burst of color is almost entirely made from old magazines.
Grab some pages with colors you like. (If you don't have magazines, check out your library. Our library has a basket of old magazines that they give away for free.)
Step Two: Cut the Magazine Pages Into Equal Sized Squares
Mine were a little less than an inch and a half. That was a great size for my purpose and they fit nicely into my journal when lined up.
Step Three: Attach Squares to Scrap Paper With Double Sided Tape and Begin Decorating
Using double sided tape, attach the squares in a close grid. It doesn't matter how sloppy you do it.
Then begin to treat it like a master board. Add stamps, old book pages, etc. In the photo above, I added stamps with black ink and some old book page scraps. I used a glue stick throughout the project.
Step Four: Add Some Paint For Texture and to Calm Down the Text
Since I planned to add my own text to the finished squares, I wanted to calm the book page text distraction down. I also liked the texture the paint added. You can use this idea if you like it.
Step Five: Continue Decorating
Add any stickers and random cut outs you have. You can add images from magazines and any images you have, even if you aren't very fond of them. They mostly become background. Look at the girl sticker above. Check out the next photo to see what that turns out to be.
Step Six: Cut the Squares Apart and Use as You Like
Use these squares any way you like. Experiment with rotating them and playing with different colors and positions. It's a super fun way to get really creative quickly and inexpensively.
Here are some close ups of my "Favorite Book" squares. You'll notice that not one of them is perfect or beautiful or inspirational. But putting them together is a great look.
I hope you got some inspiration to try something new. Let me know in the comments if you have any comments or suggestions.