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This christmas cottage junk journal kit brings the whole feel of a small stone cottage at the festive season onto paper: the hearth, the baking table, the window seat and the wreathed front door, all ready to glue into a journal or give as a set on their own. You get twenty scene pages, each one a different corner of the cottage or its garden, four seamless background papers for pockets and covers, and four lined writing pages with their own cottage borders for the parts of the story only you can tell.
Print the whole kit on matte cardstock heavy enough to hold ink without curling, and set your printer to its best or photo quality so the small details stay crisp. Trim close to the edge if you want the scenes to butt right up against each other on the journal page, or leave a thin white border if you prefer a frame around each one.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Hearth and Fireside Pages
Pair this one with the red quilt patch background from this set: tuck a strip of the pattern behind the mantel as a painted rug, or use it as the facing page so the hearth glows against the quilt squares.
The usual mistake with a front door page is leaving it flat and empty behind the wreath, so paint a little weather into the glass panes and a worn path of snow at the boots to give the door somewhere to stand.
A lantern glowing beside the frame and a pot of pine by the step round out the scene without crowding it.
Write a line about the view from this window, what the snow looks like falling past the glass, or who you wish was curled up here with you.
Kitchen and Baking Pages
Glue a small recipe card, a grocery list or a photo of your own baking right onto the floured table here, there is room at the corner for a scrap of paper without covering the rolling pin.
For the five minute version, paint just the tree and the rug beneath it, skip the wrapped gifts and let the rag rug carry the warmth of the corner instead.
This shelf suits a gift journal made for someone who collects teacups or loves a quiet morning ritual, give her a page where every cup is a little different, just like her own cupboard.
A stair banister wrapped in pine, ribbon bows and tiny bells climbs up one side of the page, with the landing and a strip of wallpaper painted softly behind it.
Garden and Doorstep Pages
Try this page beside the tiny cottage and pine tree row background, the little trees in the pattern echo the hedge along the garden gate and make the two pages feel like one view.
A knitted throw lies folded over the arm of this chair, slippers wait by the footstool and a basket of yarn sits close by, firelight washed softly across the wall behind.
Ask yourself a simple question before you write here: what are you waiting for this season, and let that be the line beside the frosted glass.
Jam jars with gingham lids line this shelf for forty seven words of quiet cottage storage, nuts piled in a small bowl and a tiny wreath hung from a hook finish the corner.
Use it as a page about preserving, or simply as a page that smells like sugar when you look at it.
Bedrooms and Porches
Fold a small paper note under the quilt corner here, a wish for the new year or a line about the last gift you unwrapped as a child works well on this page.
Tear the bottom edge of this page roughly before gluing it in, the uneven line reads like snow drifted against the porch step and suits the sled and mittens resting there.
This mantel carries pinecones, dried oranges, a row of candles and a pine swag strung across the front, the brick and firelight painted warmly behind the whole arrangement.
Place this hutch page next to the kitchen table scene earlier in the set, the pie on its stand and the floured table read as one long counter when the two pages sit side by side.
A thatched cottage sits low under fresh snow, smoke curling from its chimney and a holly wreath hung on the door, the whole scene wrapped in quiet winter light.
Craft and Letter Corners
Glue a scrap of real ribbon or a swatch of fabric right onto this page where the ribbon spools sit, it turns the painted basket of red felt into something you can actually touch.
A milk crate sits on the cottage doorstep with a pine bough laid across it, and a tabby cat dozes nearby in a scene that fits any journal about quiet winter mornings, including a baking themed companion kit if you want the kitchen pages to match.
Leave a flap on this page so a small folded letter can tuck behind the desk, right where the sealed envelopes already sit beside the quill and candle.
A sparrow perches on a clothesline strung with a knitted scarf and a pair of wool stockings, snow gathered along the cord and a quiet garden painted behind the whole line, closing the set the way it began, with something soft hung out to dry by the fire later.
Background Papers
This small check pattern scattered with holly sprigs works well as a pocket lining behind a kitchen page, a wrapper for a bundle of tags, or a soft cover for the whole journal.
Rows of tiny cottages and pine trees repeat across this sheet, perfect under a photo of your own front door, as a pocket for garden pages, or wrapped around a gift journal’s cover.
Patchwork quilt blocks in warm red repeat across this page, ready to sit behind the hearth scene, line an envelope pocket, or back a cover for the finished cottage journal.
Small florals in cream and sage drift evenly across this sheet, a gentle choice behind a window seat photo, inside a pocket, or as the inside cover of the whole kit.
Lined Writing Pages
Small panes and a sill of frost edge this page, leaving room in the middle for a gift list, a letter to next year, or notes on the view from your own window this season.
A row of small stockings hangs along the top border here, leaving the middle open for a menu, a list of who gets which gift, or a short note tucked by the fire.
A narrow band of thatched rooftops and chimney smoke runs along the top of this page, good for a weather diary, a packing list for cottage weekends, or a short daily note.
A small cottage gate wrapped in garland sits in one corner, leaving the rest of the page open for a guest list, a recipe you want to remember, or a letter to someone far away this year, and it pairs well as a closing page if you are also building a kit from a wider Christmas junk journal collection.
What to Do Next
Print the set, trim what needs trimming, and start with the hearth page, it tends to set the tone for the whole cottage journal from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for printing this kit?
Matte cardstock around 90 to 110 lb holds the ink cleanly without curling or letting colour bleed through. Thinner paper works for lined pages you plan to glue onto a sturdier backing, but the scene pages look best on something with a little weight.
What printer settings give the clearest detail?
Set the printer to its best or photo quality and choose matte or cardstock as the paper type if your printer offers it. This slows the print slightly but keeps the fine ink outlines sharp instead of soft or grainy.
Can I resize the pages for a smaller journal?
Yes, scale the pages down in your print dialog to fit a smaller journal size such as A6 or a travelers notebook insert. Just check the preview first so no border or motif gets cut off at the trimmed edge.
What should I use to glue the pages in?
An acid free glue stick works well for flat pages and keeps the paper from wrinkling or wavy edges. For pockets or layered bits like the pantry jars page, a little craft glue along the edges holds better over time.
Do I need to colour anything myself?
No, every page already comes fully coloured and ready to print, so there is nothing left to paint or shade in. You only add your own writing, photos or small glued on bits like ribbon or fabric scraps.
Have any thoughts?
Share your reaction or leave a quick response — we’d love to hear what you think!
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