Most of what passes through your hands in a week ends up in the recycling: the receipt from the café, the envelope a card came in, the ticket from the film, the label off a jar of jam. Junk journaling keeps some of it.
You glue those scraps into a notebook, add a few words if you want to, and end up with a journal that looks like the week actually felt.
Junk journaling is making a journal out of scraps and everyday paper: receipts, tickets, envelopes, tea bags, stamps and old book pages. You glue them onto pages, add pockets and tags, and write as much or as little as you like. All you need to start is a notebook, a glue stick, scissors and a week of saved paper.
The short version
- A junk journal is part scrapbook, part diary, made mostly from things you’d throw away.
- You need a notebook, a glue stick, scissors and some saved scraps. Nothing else is required.
- Make one page at a time: a background, one thing to glue down, one small technique and a line of writing.
- Six techniques cover most pages: layers, tuck spots, pockets, tags, flip-outs and tea staining.
- There are no rules. If it’s ugly, it’s still a junk journal.
Spin a junk journal page
Stuck on where to start? Spin for a page. Each spin gives you a background, one scrap to glue down, one technique and a way to finish. Swap anything you don’t have for something you do.
Spin a junk journal page
Swap anything you don’t have for something you do. Lock the cards you like and spin the rest. Nothing here is stored or sent.
What is junk journaling?
Junk journaling is a mixed-media journal made from recycled and found paper. The “junk” is everyday ephemera, like receipts, tickets, packaging and old letters, that would otherwise be thrown away. It sits between scrapbooking and diary writing: the scraps record your days, and the writing is optional.
The word for most of that junk is ephemera. Merriam-Webster defines ephemera as items “originally meant to be discarded after use,” like posters and tickets, that people end up keeping. A junk journal is a place to keep them on purpose.
You don’t have to use literal rubbish, though. Junk journal maker Margarete Miller’s advice for beginners puts it plainly: you don’t have to use actual junk. Plenty of people mix saved scraps with printed papers, stickers and bought ephemera. What makes it a junk journal is the layered, handmade look, not where the paper came from.
What do you need to start a junk journal?
To start a junk journal you need four things: a notebook or some folded paper, a glue stick, scissors and a small pile of saved scraps. Washi tape, a pen you like and a paper clip or two are useful extras. You don’t need a sewing machine, special tools or a kit.
| Essentials | Useful extras | Can wait |
|---|---|---|
| A notebook, or a few sheets folded in half | Washi tape | Ink pads and stamps |
| A glue stick | A fine pen | Punches and die cutters |
| Scissors | Paper clips and string | Sewing and bookbinding tools |
| A week of saved scraps | An old book to take pages from | Printed ephemera packs |
A glue stick is the easiest start because it doesn’t wrinkle thin paper the way wet glue can. For the notebook, pick something thin or with plenty of spare pages. Junk journals get fat quickly once you start gluing things in.
How do you start junk journaling?
Start junk journaling by collecting a week of paper scraps in an envelope, then making one page: glue down a background, add one scrap, try one simple technique like a pocket or a tuck spot, and write a line about the day. Finish that page before planning the whole journal.
Save a week of scraps
Keep an envelope by the door or in your bag and drop in anything papery and interesting: receipts, tickets, wrappers, tags, stamps, fortune cookie slips, a pressed leaf. Don’t judge it yet. A week of saving gives you more than you need.
Choose your journal
Use a thin notebook you already have, or fold four or five sheets of paper in half and staple or tie them along the fold. If you use a bound notebook, tearing out every third page leaves room for the bulk you’re about to add. Making a fully bound journal from scratch can come later.
Make one page
Glue down a background, like a book page or a flattened envelope. Add one scrap from your envelope. Then add one small technique from the list below. One page, start to finish, teaches you more than a week of planning.
Add a few words
Write the date, one sentence about the day, or what the scrap reminds you of. You can write on the background, on a tag or on the back of the receipt itself. Some pages need no words at all.
Keep it going
Pick a rhythm that fits: a page a week, or whenever the envelope fills up. Missing weeks is fine. The journal fills at the pace of your life.
What can you put in a junk journal?
You can put almost any flat, papery thing in a junk journal: receipts, tickets, envelopes, stamps, labels, tea bags, pressed flowers, book and map pages, packaging, photos and handwritten notes. If it’s thin enough to glue down or tuck into a pocket, it counts.
A few places to look:
- From your day: receipts, tickets, parking stubs, coffee sleeves, wristbands.
- From the mail: envelopes, stamps, postmarks, the security pattern inside envelopes, postcards.
- From the kitchen: jar labels, tea bags (dried and emptied), sugar packets, wrappers, recipe cards.
- From outside: pressed leaves and flowers, maps, leaflets, a page from a free newspaper.
- From old books and papers: book pages, sheet music, old calendars, dictionary pages, sewing patterns.
- From you: doodles, lists, old notes, photos, a page of your own handwriting.
Avoid anything bulky or damp that could warp the page, and anything you’d be upset to glue down for good. If you can’t decide, put it in a pocket instead.
Junk journal techniques for beginners
Six techniques cover most junk journal pages: layering torn paper, tuck spots, pockets, tags, flip-outs and tea staining. Each one takes a few minutes with just scissors and glue, and together they give pages the layered, lived-in look junk journals are known for.
- Layering. Glue down two or three pieces of paper that overlap, with torn edges rather than cut ones. It hides mistakes and makes a plain page look finished.
- Tuck spots. Glue only three sides of a strip or scrap to the page, leaving one side open. You can slide a tag, photo or ticket into the gap.
- Pockets. Cut an envelope in half, or fold a receipt or paper bag into a sleeve, and glue it down on three sides. Pockets hold anything you don’t want to glue permanently.
- Tags. Cut a rectangle of card, snip the top corners and punch or poke a hole. Tags give you somewhere to write that tucks away.
- Flip-outs. Glue one edge of a piece of paper to the page so it opens like a flap. Put a secret line or a photo underneath.
- Tea staining. Brush strong, cooled tea over plain paper and let it dry flat under a heavy book. White paper turns an aged, warm brown that goes with almost everything.
What’s the difference between junk journaling, scrapbooking and art journaling?
Scrapbooking arranges photos and memorabilia neatly around events. Art journaling uses paint, collage and drawing to express a feeling. Junk journaling sits between them: it’s built from found and recycled paper, it’s layered and messy on purpose, and it records everyday life rather than big occasions.
| Junk journaling | Scrapbooking | Art journaling | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main material | Recycled and found paper | Photos and patterned paper | Paint, pens and collage |
| Look | Layered and worn | Neat and planned | Painterly |
| Usually records | Everyday life | Events and milestones | Feelings and ideas |
| Writing | Optional, often on tags | Captions | Words mixed into the art |
None of these lines are strict. Plenty of junk journals include photos and paint. The types of journaling guide covers 18 methods, including junk and art journaling, with a quiz to help you pick. If paint and collage appeal more than found paper, the art journaling guide covers the basics.
Junk journaling FAQs
Are there rules for junk journaling?
No. There’s no right paper, layout or amount of writing. The only habit worth keeping is finishing pages instead of saving your best scraps for a perfect page that never comes.
Do you have to write in a junk journal?
No. Some junk journals are almost all writing, some are almost all collage, and many sit in between. A date and one sentence on a tag is enough to make a page mean something later.
Is junk journaling expensive?
It doesn’t have to be. The core supplies are a glue stick, scissors and paper you already have. Costs grow with printed papers, stickers and kits, but none of those are necessary to start.
How do you stop a junk journal getting too bulky?
Use a thinner notebook, tear out some pages before you start, and keep bulky items like tea bags and ribbons to a few pages. Pockets and tags add less bulk than gluing thick items flat.
What do you do with a finished junk journal?
Keep it on a shelf, flip through it at the end of the year, or give it away. Some people make themed journals as gifts for friends who like paper as much as they do.
Try another kind of journal
If you like the making more than the writing, junk journaling may be your thing for a while. When you run out of page ideas, 60 junk journal ideas has everyday pages, whole-journal themes and spread layouts to try. If you’d rather start with words, how to start journaling covers notebooks, timing and what to write on your first page.
Mike Arnold
Mike is a first-year counselling student who has journaled on and off for most of his life. He writes the how-to guides and the occasional bit of philosophy. About our writers
