What The Heck is a Junk Journal?
A junk journal describes a handcrafted book filled with recycled items and personal mementos. Literally one person’s trash can become another’s treasure. Old book pages, sheet music, ticket stubs, packaging, and magazine clippings are all fair game.
Junk journals really came into their own in the early 2010’s, many say this was a response to an increasingly digital world and a need to re-use and recycle items that would just be thrown away. Personally I enjoy the creative freedom. My journals are filled with quotes, journalling and collage work. I can always go back to a page in a month or a year and add a little something more.
But back to a little more history- the roots of this genre began with families writing in the family Bible, often the only book in the household. Births, marriages and deaths were all recorded in these pages. My grandmother inherited her brother’s Bible and he used the pages to collect postage stamps! My grandmother carefully removed them and handed the stamps to me for my own collection. I still own these stamps today.
Victorian times saw the advent of calling cards, postcards, newspaper articles and ephemera. Literacy increased and printed materials were less costly. All these treasures were collected in handmade scrapbooks. I attended the Brimfield Antique Fair and found an amazing book filled with ephemera from the turn of the century. Someone painstakingly collected these beautiful images and lovingly pasted the images on each page. The book and images are very delicate but I have plans to scan some of the images and use them in my own journals.
Now here we are in 2025 and the junk journal community is thriving on you tube and Instagram. This blog post will look at very basic materials and techniques. I would encourage anyone interested in making their own journal to watch videos, find a style that you like and dive into the art of the journal.
Let’s talk about materials. Free or low cost supplies include junk mail and catalogs, old books from library sales, ticket stubs and receipts, maps, fabric and lace scraps form old clothing , wallpaper samples (still hunting for those), paint chips from hardware stores, envelopes, and old calendar pages. I used Anthropology paper bags as covers for individual sections of my journal also known as signatures.
Now you are thinking this sounds pretty intriguing- how do I make one of these things? As I said before, watching videos and experimenting is how I learned to make these journals. My first efforts were pretty atrocious but I got better at understanding collage, accordion style journals, vs. sewn in signatures etc. You can pick a theme, a color scheme or just go hog wild and paste and tear paper to your hearts content. Size is another consideration, I like 4×6, as well as 5×8, but it’s totally up to you. Cover material can be an old book cover, heavy cardstock, or cardboard. I’ve used cereal and pasta boxes covered with fabric or paper. I have even used large Amazon envelopes and gone wild with paint, they have a nice crinkly sound when you open them-
I experimented with natural materials. Pressed flowers and leaves are a beautiful addition to a garden themed junk journal. I ran leaves and flowers through my die cut machine pressed between two sheets of paper. Some results were great, others were pretty gross to be honest. (Think of a big flat splat)
Add charms and beads to safety pins and paper clips. Attach these to your binding and pages for a unique embellishment. Let’s not forget mixed media. Stamps, gel plate images, paint, stencils, distress inks can be your best friend in altering plain paper for your journals.
In other good news, we don’t have to use only vintage and recycled items. Yes my friends there is a whole world of printables. 1000’s of images are available for free or a nominal fee, perfect for themed journals. Want a garden or nature journal? There are digital downloads for that. A 50’s themed kitchen journal? Loads of images to duplicate Grandma’s kitchen and recipe book.
The three types of journals I have created are an accordion fold. a bound journal with signatures, and an envelope journal. The accordion fold is the first style I attempted and I made a lot of them. The pages are connected in continuous zig-zag pattern like an accordion. There is a front and back side which offers a lot of space to create in. The journal folds up into a compact size and when opened it unveils lots of lovely surprises. A bound journal uses signatures, a small stack of papers folded in half. The signatures are then bound to a spine with a pamphlet stitch (the easiest stitch, therefore the one I use-).
Here is a page with a pamphlet stitch securing the signature to an old book cover. I use an awl to punch holes in the signature and the binding and sewed it together with waxed thread.
An envelope journal is just that, a journal created with envelopes. They are a lot of fun. The flaps are slid into the pocket portion of the envelope, the envelopes can be painted or covered with paper and the pockets become a spot for journalling and memorabilia.
When your journal is completed, tuck spots and pockets can be added to store small keepsake and foldout pages reveal hidden content.
These journals are a chance to exercise creative freedom. They can be “grungy “, feminine using lace and florals, or mystical. I once saw a journal completely made with beautiful Tarot cards. There are so many talented creators on You Tube, make a pot of coffee, type in junk journals and be inspired to create your own work of art.
