Making a cover for your journal can be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be. I make or remake a lot of my covers because it's fun, and it adds another personal touch to my journals. Often I buy discounted journals with battered or tattered covers specifically for the purpose of recovering them; I not only use them but I often give them as gifts to family and friends who journal.
Here's a purchased journal from 2011 that I embellished with some interesting ephemera and a scattering of flat-backed crystals:
![](https://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/LynnViehl/2016%20pbw/Journal%20Covers_zpsmgnec0dx.jpg)
My friend Kathy Uhrig from Strange Notions made this journal, which she recycled from an antique composition book. I love how she used lace as well as paper elements for the cover:
![](https://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/LynnViehl/2016%20pbw/Journal%20Covers%201_zpsmr1buvva.jpg)
I found this quilted journal slip cover at the annual county quilt show:
![](https://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/LynnViehl/2016%20pbw/Journal%20Covers%202_zpswobsoxtu.jpg)
Earlier this year I showed you how I covered a composition book with a wallpaper remnant, which is about the easiest way to recover a journal. I've also made journals with unique covers, like this watercolor journal with a mini wool penny rug as a cover. If you sew, here's how I make quilted journal covers.
I also invest in covers made by others, especially when I want to give a journal as a gift. My favorite journal cover artist is Sonya Benson, who has a lovely variety in her Etsy shop SonyaBensonQuilts. Here's one of her beautifully crafted quilted journal covers:
![](https://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/LynnViehl/2016%20pbw/Sonya%20Benson%20Journal%20Cover_zpspxsbhet7.jpg)
The listing for this cover is here, so you can see the inside and how well-made it is. When I want to give a writer friend a special journal I usually buy one of Sonya's covers, as they're always perfectly sewn and quilted, and fit precisely. I also like the fabrics and colors she works with to make her covers.
I love your idea of upcycling a tattered journal. Definitely win-win there.
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