My First Cereal Box Journal- Part 1- The Cover

This is my first attempt at making a junk journal using a cereal box for the cover.  I've watched a couple YouTube videos (thanks Mom) and was immediately inspired to give it a go.  I started by collecting all my leftover papers and emptying a cereal box.

To decide the size of my journal I simply folded my papers in half, then cut them in half again giving me what you see below:

Here's the cereal box I used.  I traced the size of my paper onto the inside of the box and cut out my cover slightly larger.  Now the real fun begins.

I don't have any paper large enough to cover the front of my box in one piece so I had to piece them together.

I used double sided tape and pressed the two pieces together.

Then attached the paper to my cereal box cover using Mod Podge, making sure I added roughly an 1" extra on all sides.

Do a quick cut at a slight angle into the corners before turning the edges in.

I used double sided tape on the edge of the paper then turned them inward, attaching them to my cereal box.

Here's what the inside of the cover will look like.  Let it dry for a while then gently fold on the creases to form the shape of your book.  (I used the set width of the box for the spine of my book).

Now I need to "cute-ify" it.  Here's the papers I've chosen for the front and back cover as well as the spine.  

I really wanted to add a small "pocket" on the front and back covers with a punch.  I recently found my box of "StampIn Up" products from years ago (they've been hiding in a box in the basement for all that time, probably 12 years or so, what was I thinking).  I only have two to choose from, I'll have to do something about that won't I?

Here it is all glued down (I haven't attached the flaps yet, they'll get a dab of glue at the top and bottom only).  I used Mod Podge to attach it all to the cereal box.

Now for the front cover.  Its already covered with the bright green paper but I wanted to jazz it up. I have one pair of decorative scissors (from my StampIn Up stash) so I used some white cardstock and cut an edge trim and then glued it to my decorative cover paper.

Like so, then Mod Podged it onto the front cover of my book:

I started working on a template for my signatures and went looking for a punch.  Well, I give up, that'll have to wait till Part 2.

Here's my finished cover!

I really love the way it turned out.  Can't wait to get my signatures punched out and installed.  Looks like I'll need to run to Michael's again.  Oh no, what will I do!