Table of Contents
A picnic junk journal gathers every warm-weather outing onto pages that already feel like spring: wicker baskets, gingham blankets, cold lemonade and the little dramas of ducks and ants that show up at every meadow lunch. This kit has 23 scene pages full of picnic moments, 5 seamless background papers for linings and covers, and 5 lined writing pages for menus, guest lists and notes from the blanket.
Print on matte cardstock heavy enough to take glue without curling, choose the best photo setting your printer offers, and trim close to the edge so the colour runs right to the border of the page before you bind or glue anything in.
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.
Classic Basket Pages
Open wicker picnic basket on a red and white gingham blanket, sandwiches stacked on a cloth napkin and a small bowl of berries beside it, spread over a sunny meadow background.
Tuck a pressed leaf or a real lemon sticker from your outing next to the pitcher drawn here, since this page is made for small souvenirs rather than long writing.
Leave a line underneath for the date and the name of the park or garden where the lemonade was poured, so the page becomes a record as well as a picture.
Pair this one with the lemonade glasses and daisies background from this set: use it as the facing page so the whole spread reads as a single afternoon by the water.
A cake on a stand sits between two place settings in an open meadow, with a small posy of wildflowers and a folded blanket completing the quiet scene.
Playful Picnic Moments
Beginners can trace the dog’s outline lightly before adding colour, while a steadier hand can shade the fur in two tones for a bit more movement in the scene.
Place this page next to a lined writing page so the family names and the date can sit right beside the kite and the blossom branches above them.
A wicker basket strapped to a bicycle rack waits beside an empty park bench, with a lamppost and a border of low hedges filling the space behind it.
Tea And Sweets Spreads
The usual mistake here is crowding every cup and saucer together: leave a little air between the china and the scones so the lace cloth still shows through underneath.
Slices of watermelon and a small pile of cherries sit on a red checkered cloth, perfect for a quick five minute colour session on a lunch break.
Write a short answer right on this page: what did the two of you talk about by the stream, and what was in the jug besides iced tea.
Tea-stain the edges of this page lightly before gluing it in, so the wooden picnic table and the lattice pie both sit under a soft aged border that suits the theme.
A cheese board and a loose bunch of grapes rest on a rug spread between rows of a vineyard, with a small knife and a few crackers finishing the still life.
Visitors And Wildlife
This spread works well for younger readers of the journal too: a steadier colourist can add a second duck and a few crumbs mid-air for more motion.
Fold down one corner of this page to make a small pocket for a train ticket or trail map from the day of the hike, then glue only the folded edge.
A striped parasol shades a bowl of strawberries set on the seat of a rowboat, with calm water and a few drifting lily pads painted around the hull.
A platter of deviled eggs sits beside a stack of lemon bars on a garden table, with a small vase of daisies and a folded napkin rounding out the still life.
The usual mistake with this page is making the ants too large to read as tiny: keep the line of ants thin and let the slice of cake stay the bigger shape on the blanket.
Shoreline And Outdoor Spreads
Pair this page with the blue gingham watermelon background from this set, using it as a lining behind a pocket for seashells or sand dollar photos.
Children sit on a hay bale eating sandwiches at the edge of a farm field, with a basket, a sun hat and a few scattered wildflowers around the base of the bale.
List everything packed in the basket right on this page: the plates, the napkins, the baguette and whatever else made the final cut before you left the house.
A tree swing hangs above a blanket set with a small tray of cupcakes, framed by a garden fence and a border of climbing roses painted behind.
Tiny teacups and cookies sit on a quilt for a teddy bear picnic, the kind of page a gift journal for a young niece or goddaughter would open on.
Finish the set on a picnic parked beside a vintage car at the edge of a wildflower meadow, basket and blanket spread out in the grass nearby, a soft hazy sky painted over the whole scene behind the car and flowers.
Background Papers
Line the inside cover with this one, or use it behind a photo pocket for a summer picnic snapshot. It also makes a tidy wrap for a small recipe booklet tucked into the journal.
Use this behind the title page, as a pocket lining for ticket stubs, or cut into strips for a woven border along the edge of a scene page.
Good under a photo of the spread itself, as a cover wrap for the whole journal, or as the lining inside a fold-out pocket holding napkins or a pressed flower.
Pairs naturally with the beach picnic scene earlier in this set, and works well as a pocket lining for shells, ticket stubs or a folded beach photo.
Use this behind the lakeside rowboat scene as a facing page, as a cover wrap, or as a pocket lining for a recipe card and a photo from the outing.
Lined Writing Pages
Good for a packing list before the next outing, a short menu of what to bring, or a letter to next year about the picnic spots still worth trying.
Useful for a short weather note, a list of who came along, or a recipe for whatever cake or sandwich filling made the trip memorable.
Try a lemonade recipe here, a tally of glasses poured on a hot afternoon, or a short list of other drinks worth packing next time.
Good for a funny mishap from the day, a note about what got left behind, or a quick gift list for the next picnic companion.
Write a guest list, a short menu for the spread, or a note to whoever finds this journal years from now about the best picnic of the season.
What to Do Next
Print the set, trim the edges and start with the wicker basket page as your opening spread, then let the backgrounds and lined pages fill in around it as your spring outings add up. For more seasonal pages to mix in, see the summer junk journal kit or the easy landscape painting lessons for backgrounds of your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for a picnic junk journal?
Matte cardstock around 65 to 90 lb holds the colours well without curling under glue. Plain printer paper works for a first try, but cardstock takes gluing, folding and pocket-making much better over time.
What printer settings give the best colour?
Choose the highest quality or photo setting your printer offers and select matte or plain photo paper in the printer menu. This keeps the greens and yellows clear instead of washed out or streaky.
What size should I print the pages?
Standard US Letter or A4 suits most home printers and most journal covers. Trim a little off each edge after printing so the colour runs right to the border before gluing the page in.
Do I need to colour anything myself?
No, every page already prints in full colour and is ready to cut and glue. You only add your own writing on the lined pages and on the open areas of some scene pages.
What glue works best for layering these pages?
A acid free glue stick gives a clean hold without wrinkling thin paper, and works well for layering backgrounds, pockets and scene pages without bleeding through.
Have any thoughts?
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