How To Make Vintage Collage Paper Backgrounds

Super easy way to make collage paper backgrounds which are great for art journals, junk journals or mixed media art pieces!

How To Make Vintage Book Page Backgrounds

The steps to do this process are super simple!

Walkthrough Video Of Making The Backgrounds

Types of Paper To Use

For this project you can use any kind of old papers and vintage ephemera… maps, book pages, old magazines, or any other kind of paper you like!

I also used vintage patterns cut up to add some graphic flair (I LOVE the arrows and notes about how to make the garment!)

These can add a vintage sepia in different colors if you have different toned patterns.

How To Make Vintage and Collage Paper Backgrounds

Tear Different Papers Into Various Shapes

Take all of the different kinds of papers you have collected and tear them into pieces. I tend to like squares and rectangles, if you are more organic you can tear them into different shapes!

Use Mod Podge To Stick The Papers Down

I like to put Mod Podge on the base paper, and then put the torn papers down one at a time, adding more Mod Podge as needed to stick down each collage layer!

I tend to pick a color scheme, all dark papers or all light papers because I don't want too much contrast in my background pages.

Overlap the torn papers to cover the entire base paper, that is the best way to make sure you don't have to fill in blanks later on.

Batch The Backgrounds!

This is definitely the kind of project that you will want to do a bunch of at one time!

As you are glue and sticking you will get LOTS of glue on your hands and no kidding, that is kind of fun to peel off when you are done!

Also to note, some of the papers might “bleed” some color onto your paintbrush and color the Mod Podge. I like that effect, but to avoid that have a variety of brushes on hand to use as the color starts to bleed.

Last but not least, please remember that you are not trying to make a work of art! This collage work is simply to have the right materials ready when you are going to make a junk journal, mixed media piece or other kind of art.

Additional tips for making collage paper backgrounds:

Use a variety of papers to create interesting textures and patterns.
Don't be afraid to experiment with different colors and shapes.
Let your collage papers dry completely before using them in your art projects.
You can use all kinds of paper for the backgrounds, I used mixed media paper but you could use watercolor paper or even a stiff construction paper.
If you don't have Mod Podge, you could probably use a glue stick instead of wet glue.

With a little creativity, you can create beautiful and unique collage paper backgrounds that will add personality to your art projects.

Vintage Papers Backgrounds Wrapup

I hope you enjoyed this post! I had a blast making these papers and they are just so darn cool to use as the backgrounds for a future paper collage piece or art journal pages.

Having a stash of these at the ready is a great way to be able to jump right in the next time you have a super creative idea!