- Shells and Sand Dollars
- Fossils and Bones
- Glass Domes and Tools
- Insects and Butterflies
- Sky and Stars
- Bottles and Keys
- Treasures and Shells
- Birds and Feathers
- Mushrooms and Pods
- Frequently Asked Questions
Vintage stickers printables built around a cabinet of curiosities give your journal pages the hush of a museum drawer: shells, crystals, fossils, bird eggs and glass domes, all drawn like specimens someone catalogued a hundred years ago. This set runs to nineteen sheets, grouped into little collections so you can pull exactly the drawer you need, from coastal shells to pinned moths to brass scientific tools.
Print on printable sticker paper for a true peel-and-stick sheet, or use plain paper and a glue stick if that is what you have on hand. Either way, print at actual size with no page scaling, then cut around each piece leaving a thin white edge so the ink line stays intact.
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.
Shells and Sand Dollars
Tucked into the corner of a beach-themed spread or along the edge of a travel journal, this sheet carries a nautilus cut in cross section, a ridged conch, a fan-shaped scallop, a spotted cowrie, a spiny murex and a sand dollar.
Each shell sits as its own separate sticker, so you can scatter them across a page rather than keeping them together as a set. For a coastal mood board alongside these, the watercolor seashells collection pairs well on the facing page.
Print this sheet on sticker paper for a smooth peel, or on plain paper if you plan to glue each stone down flat against a darker journal page where the colour shows better.
Fossils and Bones
Leave a thin white border when you cut the spiral ammonite and the trilobite, since their curved edges tear easily if you trim too close to the ink line.
A craft knife handles the tighter inner curves of the fern fossil and the fossil leaf better than scissors, giving each piece a cleaner silhouette once it sits on the page.
Speckled and smooth in turn, this sheet holds a robin egg, a heavily speckled egg, a small nest cradling eggs, a quail egg, a goose egg and a single downy feather, each sized to sit comfortably in a planner week box.
Glass Domes and Tools
These domes make quiet, old-fashioned focal points for a page about collecting or curiosity: a cloche sheltering a fern, a dome with a small bird inside, a dome with a shell, a dome over a mushroom, a plain bell jar and a miniature terrarium.
Save one dome for the center of a card and group the rest along a journal margin like a shelf, so the page reads like a row of specimen jars rather than scattered stickers.
Pair this sheet with the glass dome stickers above for a full naturalist’s desk across one spread, tools on one side and specimens under glass on the other.
The sheet holds a brass microscope, a magnifying glass, a brass scale, a glass beaker, a test tube rack and a labelled specimen jar, each drawn as a standalone piece rather than part of a crowded desk scene.
Insects and Butterflies
Six pinned specimens fill this sheet, a stag beetle, a moth with open wings, a dragonfly, a scarab beetle, a cicada and a bee, each drawn flat and centred the way a real specimen board displays them.
For a page that leans further into specimen collecting, the vintage butterfly stickers and junk journal butterflies sets both pair naturally with this sheet of framed and boxed wings.
It holds a framed swallowtail, a framed blue morpho, a framed moth, a butterfly displayed in a shadow box, one set inside a locket and one mounted on a pin card, each its own small frame rather than a crowded case.
Sky and Stars
These six pieces, an armillary sphere, a brass telescope, a plain star chart circle, an orrery, a moon globe and a sundial, suit the top of a night-sky journal page or the border of a dream log.
Five minutes is enough to cut just two or three of these pressed pieces, a fern, a maple leaf or a poppy, and tuck them into the margin of a letter rather than filling the whole sheet into one journal spread.
Bottles and Keys
Sticker paper gives these glass bottles a clean peel-and-stick finish on a glossy planner cover, while plain paper and a glue stick suit a more textured, handmade journal page better.
The sheet holds an apothecary bottle, a cobalt blue bottle, a medicine bottle, a stoppered glass vial, an ink bottle and a small perfume flask, each a separate glass shape to arrange however the page needs.
An iron key, a carved curio box, a puzzle box, a small lock box, a velvet jewellery case and a key chain fill this sheet, useful for a page about secrets kept or things tucked away.
Treasures and Shells
Scatter one or two of these across the corner of an envelope before mailing a handmade card, since a coin or a brass button reads like a small wax seal once it is stuck down.
The sheet holds a blank old coin, a medal on a ribbon, a blank token, a pendant, a small coin purse and a brass button, none of them carrying any text or date so they suit any occasion.
Six ocean pieces sit on this sheet, a branch of red coral, a sea fan, a natural sponge, a starfish, a sea horse and a sea urchin, each drawn as its own clean cutout for a beach or ocean-themed spread.
Birds and Feathers
Cut the peacock feather and the hummingbird with small detail scissors first, since their narrow tips are the easiest shapes on this sheet to accidentally clip too short.
The remaining four, a parrot on a perch, a raven, a kingfisher and a hoopoe, are broader and more forgiving to trim, so save those for last if you are still getting a feel for the scissors.
Long and narrow feathers fill this sheet, a pheasant feather, a jay feather, an owl feather, a goose quill, a swan feather and a guinea fowl feather, each one suited to running along the spine of a journal page.
Mushrooms and Pods
These dry, textured pods work especially well on an autumn page: a lotus seed pod, a poppy pod, a milkweed pod, a pinecone, an acorn cap and a chestnut, each drawn with its natural ridges and dimples kept sharp.
For a fuller woodland gathering, this sheet pairs easily with the mushroom specimens below, since both read as things picked up on the same walk.
A chanterelle, a morel, a puffball, a bracket fungus, an inkcap and a fly agaric sit on this sheet as six separate foraged specimens, ready to tuck along the bottom edge of a nature journal page.
These six old toys and figures, a porcelain doll head, a wooden figure, a tin soldier, a marionette, a nutcracker and a music box dancer, suit a nostalgic page about childhood or an old attic find.
Steampunk and vintage journal fans may also like the brass instruments in the steampunk junk journal pages, which sit comfortably alongside this sheet’s tin soldier and music box dancer.
What to Do Next
Pick two or three sheets that suit the journal or card you have open right now, print them at actual size, and start cutting: the rest of the cabinet will still be here next time you need another drawer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for these vintage stickers printables?
Printable sticker paper gives a true peel-and-stick finish, matte or glossy either works well. Plain paper with a glue stick is a fine substitute if sticker paper is not on hand, especially for heavier pieces like the glass domes.
What printer settings keep the specimens sharp?
Print at actual size or 100 percent scale, never fit to page, so the fine ink outlines stay crisp. Choose the best or photo quality setting on your printer if it is available, since this keeps thin lines like feather barbs from blurring.
How do I cut out the smaller curved pieces?
Scissors handle most outer edges fine, but a craft knife on a cutting mat gives cleaner results on tight inner curves like the ammonite spiral or the armillary sphere rings. Leave a thin white border around each piece rather than cutting exactly on the line.
Can these stickers go straight into a planner or on a card?
Yes, they suit planner weeks, card fronts, envelope corners and journal margins equally well. Mix pieces from two or three different sheets rather than using a whole sheet in one place, so the page does not look too matched.
Do I need to colour or add anything to these sheets?
No, each sheet already carries its watercolour finish and needs nothing added before cutting. Some crafters add a label or a small handwritten date on the back of a piece once it is glued down, but this is optional.