Free French Perfume Labels Printables + Why Your Junk Journal Doesn’t Need to Look “Perfect”
Free Vintage French Perfume Labels Giveaway + Why Your Junk Journal Doesn’t Need to Look “Perfect” to Be Beautiful
If you’ve ever found yourself hesitating to glue down a scrap of paper, second-guessing a color choice, or comparing your junk journal to picture-perfect spreads online, you’re not alone. Junk journaling is meant to be a freeform, creative expression, but the pressure to make something “perfect” can sneak in and stifle the joy of the process.
The truth? Your junk journal doesn’t need to look perfect to be absolutely beautiful.
In fact, it’s often the messy, the wrinkled, the off-center, and the spontaneous pages that feel the most alive. Today, I want to explore why embracing imperfection is essential to creativity, and to celebrate that spirit, I’m sharing a free printable giveaway of two beautiful collage sheets featuring vintage French perfume labels from the early 1900s. Scroll down to download them and add some timeless charm to your next journal page.
Free Printable Giveaway: Vintage French Perfume Labels
To help you embrace imperfection with style, I’m sharing two free printable collage sheets full of French perfume labels.
These antique labels are full of rich colors, flowing typography, and ornamental design that lend themselves perfectly to junk journaling, art journaling, or scrapbooking.
These labels are perfect for:
Layering in your junk journals
Creating vintage-themed tags
Adding old-world flair to scrapbook pages
Making your own faux perfume bottles for mixed media projects
The Beauty of Imperfection
There’s a Japanese concept called wabi-sabi, which celebrates the beauty in imperfection and impermanence. It’s about finding grace in the cracks, the worn edges, the faded colors. Junk journaling is, in many ways, a wabi-sabi practice.
Think about it: we intentionally use torn paper, weathered book pages, old receipts, faded photographs, and aged fabric scraps. These materials carry stories. Their flaws aren’t flaws, they’re character.
When you collage with vintage ephemera or antique labels (like the French perfume ones I’m giving away below), you’re embracing the charm of a timeworn aesthetic. Nothing is symmetrical. Nothing is factory-perfect. And that’s what makes it beautiful.
Creative prompt: Create a spread using only scraps from your desk (or floor) with no planning, no trimming, and no color-matching. Just arrange, glue, and embrace the result.
Let Go of the Rules (They Were Never Real Anyway)
One of the most freeing things about junk journaling is that there are no rules, but it’s easy to forget that when you're deep in the world of tutorials and how-to videos.
Here’s your permission slip to break away.
You don’t need a theme. You don’t need a color palette. You don’t even need to use expensive materials. Use what you have. Tear your pages instead of cutting. Layer crookedly on purpose. Stick down that scrap you’ve been holding onto “just in case.”
Want to get started today? Try this mini Imperfection Challenge:
Create a page in 10 minutes without planning anything ahead.
Glue down at least one piece sideways or upside down.
Use your non-dominant hand to draw or write a word.
Crumple a paper before gluing it down.
This kind of loose, intuitive play is what junk journaling is really about.
Reframing the Way You See Your Journal Pages
It’s easy to be overly critical of our own work. But what if we looked at our journal pages the way we look at a friend’s art, with kindness and appreciation?
Here are a few ways to start:
Revisit your spreads with fresh eyes. Instead of focusing on what didn’t turn out the way you wanted, try to find one thing you love about the page.
Add a journaling section where you write about how you felt while creating. Did you feel calm? Curious? Stressed? That emotional record is just as important as the visual layout.
Celebrate growth. The more you create, the more your style will evolve, and that evolution deserves to be documented.
How to Use the Vintage French Perfume Labels in Your Junk Journal
Here are a few fun and imperfectly perfect ways to use the French perfume labels:
Layer with torn kraft paper or vintage book pages for contrast.
Use as faux product labels on handmade pockets or envelopes.
Add to a French-themed page with tea-stained lace, this French postcard ephemera, and these Louis XVI Period Hairstyle images.
Cut out imperfectly on purpose. Let a bit of the brown background show for a vintage feel.
Create a collage cluster with one label, a scrap of fabric, a pressed flower, and a wax seal.
Remember: you don’t need to place them neatly or match colors exactly. Let your eye guide you, and enjoy the process.
Final Thoughts: There’s No Wrong Way to Junk Journal
If there’s one message I want you to take from this post, it’s this:
Your journal is not a test. It’s a reflection of you.
Every glue mark, every uneven fold, every page where the colors didn’t turn out how you imagined—they’re all part of your creative fingerprint. That’s what makes your journal beautiful.
So use those scraps. Stick down that wrinkled label. Embrace the smudges, the asymmetry, and the joy that comes from making something that’s purely your own.
And if you ever feel stuck, come back here, grab a free printable, and start again.
Love These Printables? Support The Art Scavenger!
I love sharing free vintage printables, and if you enjoy them, there are easy ways to support my work so I can continue creating and offering more free designs:
You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: art journals, scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
