Rose Garden Journal Tutorial

When a package arrived from my baby sis for my mom I had no idea it would spark my creative juices, though I'm sure why I'm surprised by that, everything I see pretty much makes me want to create.

Anyways, as mom pulled out the lovely wrapped gift I instantly fell in love with the tissue paper. It was gorgeous and I just had to have it! I knew it needed to become something else. Of course me, being me, that something else became the cover for one of my cereal box journals.

They are so much fun to create and the possibilities are limitless!

1. Gather up 10-20 paper lunch bags and an empty cereal box.

2. Cut the bottoms of all the paper bags off.

3. Cut both sides off each bag so you have 2 flat "pages". Set aside.

4. Use one of your paper bag pages to determine the size of your cover.

5. Cut your cereal box cover out, making sure to leave a 1/4"-1/2" (depending on how many pages you're using) binding area. Example: Front cover 4x8", binding 1/4x8", back cover 4x8".

6. Glue your pages inside the cover.

7. Paint the entire cover with gesso. Let dry. This helps cover up the cereal box pattern so it isn't visible under the tissue paper.

8. Lay your journal flat and paint the entire cover with a thin layer of gel medium.

9. Lay the tissue paper right on top of the gel medium and smooth out. Depending on tissue thickness or pattern you may want to add a couple layers of tissue paper. Make sure to put a layer of gel medium in between each layer.

10. Paint a protective layer of gel medium over the whole cover. Let dry.

11. Tie twine around the bound edge for added texture. I left enough to act as a tie around the journal.

12. Embellish as desired.

What you'll need:

10-20 small paper bags

Cereal box

Scissors

Paper trimmer

All purpose Glue

Gesso

Paint brush(s)

Gel medium

Twine

Tissue paper

Embellishments

Happy Crafting,

Misty

If you loved this free tutorial look into booking one of my creative workshops.