I've updated this and added quite a few new fairy resources! Fairies have long been a popular subject for illustration, advertising and ephemera -- and they make lovely subjects for a junk journal, too. Whether you use vintage fairy images at the base for an entire journal or you just incorporate them occasionally, you'll love the free fairy ephemera and images on this list.
Where to Find Vintage Fairy Graphics
Need vintage fairy graphics or photos for your junk journal, but don't want to pay for stock photos? You're in luck! I have a huge list and collection of free vintage cat graphics and am sharing the list here -- all you have to do is choose the ones you want and download or save them. I used some freebies to make the fairy kit below -- this is a flipthrough of a completed junk journal made with the yellow fairies kit.
How can Vintage Fairy Images be Used?
Each of these images is public domain or original art -- or a combination of the two. You may use them for items for sale. Any items restored or created by me in the list below can also be used in your projects for sale -- just don't sell the files themselves.
Use these free vintage fairy images in your junk journal, on pages, and as embellishments. A few of the ones I made are already turned into pockets and tags, making them super easy to add to your journal. Many of these fun vintage images are from my own collection of vintage fairy ephemera -- most date from before 1900, all are copyright free or public domain (or created by me ;)
30+ Free Vintage Fairy Images for your Junk Journal
Old English Garden Fairy Book Plates
From 1899, there are 40+ book plates in this lovely but fragile piece. I've shared them several times, here is the first set. Each flower is reimagined as a fairy -- most are human, but there are some animals as well, Find the first set free here:
Note: these fairies are hosted here on the blog -- just click through to find a high resolution PDF download of the set.
Note Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Vintage Fairy Engraving
This public domain image is the perfect shape for faux stamps, book plates or as a quick accent pretty much anywhere! Find it over on Raw Pixel, its a free download, but you'll need to create an account.
Vintage Fairy Photo
I'm a big fan of the Graphics Fairy thanks to their generous commercial licensing and nice range of high quality images. Head on over there to grab a high resolution version of the lovely vintage fairy below: It's free and part of a set, make sure you scroll down to see the rest!
1800s Fairy from Goble Book of Fairies
This sweet fairy image features a butterfly winged fairy and a slipper -- find this public domain fairy image free on Wikimedia Commons.
Find out more about using Wikimedia Commons to find images to use in your own commercial junk journal printables and kits.
12 Vintage Dancing Fairy Images Set
Each of these lovely dancing fairies is from a French book from the late 1800s, I have cleaned and digitized them, there are 12 in all, plus a few that seemed to go with the theme and are also in the public domain. This huge full size fairy image set is in my free digital library -- find it here. If you are a member, just log in and download. If you still need to join, you can do so free here, then just click for a high resolution download.
Vintage Halloween Fairy
You usually see witches, imps and other spooky things, but this unusual Halloween postcard features a fairy -- it is from 1891 and in the public domain, I have cleaned it up a bit, to make it more printer friendly. You can just right click to save a copy for your own junk journal projects.
Realistic Fairy Photo
Head over to Pexels to grab a high resolution copy of this free to use image, it can be used commercially with or without attribution. Find it here.
A Wee Fairy or Hobbit House Photo
This freebie is from Unsplash, and is free for use. It is a hobbit house but has a distinctly fairy home vibe to me! click through to get your own high resolution copy
Photo by Jeff Finley on Unsplash
Flower Fairy Images Set
I have a set of flower fairies from the old english garden (out of copyright) book listed in the free library. Just click on through and scroll down to grab this and other free image sets, This one features 7 lovely vintage fairy images, all optimized for your home printer. Here is one of my favorites from this batch:
Find a full set of these images in the free library, found here. If you are not yet a member, you can sign up free here, for immediate access to over 50 free downloads and projects, including these fairies.
Premium Subscriber Fairy Freebies
Premium subscribers have access to immediate free downloads for all of the below fairy projects -- just log into your member area and download the ones you like, Free. Not a member yet? Here's how to join.
Fairy Papers Freebie from Creative Fabrica
Im a huge fan of CreativeFabrica for their subscription plan -- but they also offer regular freebies. This set of fairy themed paper is free (at least for now, download sooner rather than later!) and offers a lovely nature/forest look.
The photo below is just for display purposes, hop over to CreativeFabrica to download the free 9 page set.
Printing Tips for Vintage Fairy Images
I love the charming vintage look of these, but hate having a plain white page back. Printing on parchment or colorful paper doesn't help, because then you lose the whites and light colors. I ordered the paper below and put it through the machine so that the image you want prints on the back. This gives you a two sided piece with a distressed back and the chosen image on the front.
Amazon paper -- 6 vintage shades to use as backing for 2 sided vintage images:
Illustrated Fairy Book
Take a trip to the Library of Congress -- it's a treasure trove of public domain materials! I found this book of fairies there, the cover is a little rough but the inside pages are lovely. You can download the whole book in PDF form and it is free to use without restriction, according to the rights page for it. Here's the cover:
What I really like are the interior pages -- some of them seem perfect for journaling, like this one:
Vintage Fairy Illustration
This pretty vintage fairy is from a trade card from 1890, part of my own collection. I do not believe it is elsewhere online. I digitized it and optimized it for your home printer -- just click the button below to download in multiple sizes.
Free Vintage Fairy and Mushroom Image
This pretty image is from RawPixel, you can download a high resolution version free right here.
Free Fairy Silhouette
I thought this was a lovely silhouette -- and one that is easily converted if you do not like the galaxy pattern. Find it free on Pixabay, here.
Free Fairy Queen Vintage Ephemera
This has long been one of my favorite vintage fairy images -- the Fairy Queen and her chariot, Find a nice, high resolution version on Rawpixel, for free.
Vintage Fairy Postcard
This lovely piece is the work of illustrator Agnes Richardson, one of my favorite postcard artists. This is a scan of the original postcard, featuring a child with fairy companions. Don't right click to save, the resolution won't be good enough -- instead, scroll below the image to find a free instant download of the file.
Waterlily Fairy Lily Pond Fairy
Here is another from my own collection, again, I have never seen this one online, here it is in 3 sizes, optimized for your home printer. Click the button below for an instant high resolution download with multiple sizes included.
Free Fairy Queen Image
The useful and aptly named Free Public Domain Images site has this lovely free fairy queen image, click here to go to download a high resolution copy for yourself:
Fairy Mushroom Graphic Photo
I am not much of a photographer but managed to snap this pretty thing and have used it in several kits, here are copies in several sizes for your journal. It looks like a fairy or two should be lurking nearby.
French Fairy Graphics Freebie -- Jasmine
This is a free sample from the larger set rof 1886 French fairies-- find the full set here. You'll need the freebie even if you pick up the french flower fairies, it is not included in the set, but offered here to complete it. Jasmin is included in 3 sizes, ready for your home printer.
Fairy House -- Free Class
I realize this is not a printable -- but it is fairies and free -- and adorable! This is a free class from Creative Fabrica,taught via video. I know junk journalers tend to be multitalented and when I saw this today I couldn't resist signing up or sharing it! You do not need to be a subsciber to take the class, but you will need to register and sign in to get the freebie.
GET Free Graphics Every Day!
More fairies are coming, but did you know you can have immediate access to every junk journal kit and file in the store - -including hundreds of kits and countless pieces of new, vintage and original art, like the latest releases, shown below. It's all covered for one low monthly fee! Learn more here and get your printer ready, most folks download over 150 pages the first day they sign up!
Vintage Fairy PNG Isolated Graphic Freebie
THis piece from RawPixel goes perfectly with the fairy queen images above, and as an added bonus, is a PNG with a transparent background, so you can digitally place it anywhere. Head over to RawPixel to download this free image.
Fairy Queen and King 1910 Public Domain Image
I love this stunning and colorful image of a fairy king and queen -- its actually for sale on several stock photo sites, but since it is public domain you can download and use it free, find a large copy for yourself at Wikimedia Commons.
I love these fairies images, thank you so much for your generosity