DIY Autumn Journal Tags

Hello Graphics Fairy friends! I’m Diana from Dreams Factory and I’m happy to be here again to share another Craft project with you! Today, I will show you how to make these beautiful DIY Autumn Journal Tags with warm, earthy tones and a lovely vintage vibe. These would make the perfect accompaniment for seasonal junk journals but can be easily included in all sorts of other creative projects, too. And you could also use them as Gift Tags of course.

I’m simply in love with the earthy tones fall usually provides and I couldn’t miss the opportunity of creating something inspired by them. My idea for this project actually came a little bit differently this time. What do I mean by that? I started envisioning this project after I purchased a super chic set of crinkled ribbons in earthy tones. So I had the ribbons first and I searched the archives for fall vintage images that would work with them. A little bit odd, I know, since I usually do it the other way around, but when I saw these landscape images, I simply knew. These would be the perfect match for these ribbons! Of course, it would be ideal to use something similar to embellish your tags, but if you don’t have any on hand, I would say coffee-dyed ribbons would be the next best thing. You could also use distress ink to dye your ribbons, which would give you a more versatile color range to choose from.

I created five rectangular tags using vintage backgrounds and different fall landscape images, one more beautiful than the other. I also included a lovely selection of fall wishes or sentiments, so you can pick your favorites to decorate your tags. And lastly, you’ll also find some stunning fall leaves that will help you further decorate your tags and create a super chic 3D element to add more character and dimension to the final pieces.

Free Printable DIY Autumn Journal Tags:

—-> Click HERE to Download the Full Size Printable PDF  <—-

Supply List:

• white cardstock paper
• home printer
• regular scissors and manicure scissors (to cut the smaller details of the leaves) OR a cutting machineshape
• mini distress inks
• blending tool with foams
• Glossy Accents, paper glue or any other craft glue
• crinkle ribbons in earthy tones or choose something different if you prefer
• gauze or cheesecloth dyed with coffee
• one-hole paper punch
• gold cardstock and a circle paper punch (optional, to make reinforcers)

STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL:

Start by printing your printable on cardstock paper.
Use regular scissors to cut each tag and sentiment and a smaller one to cut the leaves. Cutting the leaves will be the most challenging part of this project. Try to cut them as close to their original shape as possible and remove as much of the white paper as you can. Make rounded cuts rather than blunt ones, we want our leaves to look organic.

I usually use manicure scissors to cut the smaller details, but this time I’ve decided to use my Silhouette cutting machine. I have recently gifted myself a Silhouette Cameo 5 and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use it. It’s pretty amazing! If you have one and want to use it here, you can right-click to save the printable image that I shared – it’s a .png version with no background that allows you to add it to your cutting machine. Use the specific software to add the .png to a new file and resize it so it fits inside the Registration Marks. Print it and adhere it to your cutting mat, then load it into your machine and watch the magic happen.

If you want to cut off the top right and left corners to create that specific shape tags usually have, you can. I liked them as they were, so I moved on to distressing them. I used the Walnut stain from Ranger to lightly distress their edges, but of course, you can use your favorite browns to distress these beauties.
Use a Q-tip to gently distress the smaller details of the leaves.

If you want, you can use whatever gold cardstock you have on hand and a circle paper punch to make some reinforcers for your tags. My cardstock of choice was actually some gold sewing paper (from Clairefontaine) that has a lot of body and looks like faux leather. I then used a one-hole punch to punch the reinforcers before adding them to the tags.

Use paper glue to adhere the pre-punched reinforcers to your tags, let them dry and then punch the tags, too.

At this stage, I’ve decided it was time to add my crinkle ribbons! I went with these two absolutely gorgeous colors, which instantly reminded me of my Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna watercolors. I cut a few small pieces and placed them on each tag to see how they would look first.
I then used small gourd pins to add the ribbons to the tags and moved on to the next step.

My initial idea was to use the paper leaves with the sentiments on the lower side of the tags, but I didn’t necessarily like how they looked. At some point, I even thought about skipping the leaves altogether and not using them at all. But then I placed one of the leaves near the tree on one of the tags and I simply LOVED how they looked together! It was a match made in heaven, so I’ve decided to find different ways to glue the leaves on each of our tags.

I really encourage you to do the same and find those perfect spots for your beautiful leaves! The final results will be absolutely stunning. Each piece will have so much character and will be truly unique!

The leaves add so much depth to these beauties, don’t you think? The fact that I used a cutting machine definitely helped, but if you don’t have one, please don’t let that discourage you. Cutting these by hand might take some time and patience, but you will love the final results even if they’ll have small imperfections here and there. If you want to make things easier, you can try deconstructing the leaves into smaller pieces while cutting them and then reconstructing them on your tags, when gluing them. You could cut them into two sections and have the brown and orange areas as separate pieces.

If you want, you can use the rounded end of a pencil to gently emboss the leaves in the palm of your hand before gluing them to the tags. Another idea would be to leave the edges unglued and lightly lift them afterward, as I did.

The leaves that I shared come in two different sizes, so you’ll be able to try different variations to find THE perfect match for your tags. Glue them inside the tags or leave some areas hanging on the outside to add even more interest and dimension.

You can choose to add the leaves exactly as they are, but you can also cut them into smaller pieces and only glue some sections. Experiment and see where your inspiration takes you.
I thought the tag with the house had the least autumn-y vibe, but that totally changed after gluing the leaves and adding the earthy ribbons.

Add coffee-dyed gauze or cheesecloth before gluing the fall sentiments to create another layer of awesomeness and dimension.
Make sure you distress the edges of the leaves really well before adding them to your tags to make them look more realistic and blend even better with the surroundings.

Make as many of these tags as you want and have them ready for when in need! Add them to your junk journals, they will instantly bring a touch of whimsy to your pages. You can also use the additional leaves for decorating, they are quite charming on their own!

I think fall is somehow underrated because we sometimes have the tendency to overlook its beauty when it comes to crafting and skip directly to Christmas projects. So maybe this would be a great opportunity to take your time and soak this season in. Have a cup of pumpkin spice latte while working on this project and warm into the coziness this time of year usually brings!

And if you want to really turn this into a sensorial experience, you can try adding some fall-inspired essential oil blends to your earthy-toned ribbons. Think of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger, but try not to add too much, we don’t want to accidentally stain the paper in the process. You can include these essential oil scented tags in your projects or simply hang or display them in your home to bring that cozy vibe in. You can also turn them into unique seasonal gifts for friends and family, so I really hope you will love this project and decide to give it a try!

You might also like my Fall Coaster Project HERE. 

Happy crafting,
Diana | Dreams Factory