If you’re looking for a way to relax, be playful and make some art for yourself without any pressure, you might love junk journaling. After a busy and exhausting school year, junk journaling is a fun way to reconnect with your own creativity. Summer is the perfect time for self-care and to start a new artistic habit. Junk journaling (or art journaling) is one of my favorite ways to squeeze in a little bit of art.
At a Glance
You could also use these ideas in mixed media art projects or journals with students. Whether used during art class or in an art club, journaling can encourage self-expression, reflection, mindfulness, and personal storytelling while helping students build confidence. Many students find collage and journaling less intimidating than facing a blank sketchbook page, making it a great way to encourage creative risk-taking.
For over 20 years, my favorite form of art-making has been art journaling, though my journals have always been more like little collage books. When I first heard about junk journaling, I realized my art journals had a lot in common with junk journals, even if they didn’t fit the definition exactly. My own journals are somewhere between a junk journal, an art journal, and a collage journal.
But the beauty of junk journaling and art journaling is that there are no strict rules. I love combining found treasures with painted papers, magazine images, stickers, and other creative materials to create layered pages full of color and texture. Some of the items I use are free and others are items I bought. I’ve even collected scraps I’ve found on the floor at school to use in my journal!
What is Junk Journaling?
A junk journal is a handmade book that is filled with collected bits and pieces, things that might normally get thrown away or forgotten. The pages are decorated with things like collected treasures, papers, stickers, junk mail, collage, writing and drawing to create a personalized expressive book.
Some people use junk journaling like a scrapbook or diary, and others use it just as a form of creative expression. Pages can be layered, colorful, simple, nostalgic, expressive, thoughtful, messy or random!
Junk journaling is a way to collect bits and pieces and give new life to things that might have been thrown away. You can collect items from your daily life to glue to your book.
What are the Benefits of Junk Journaling?
- Just like most creative activities, junk journaling can reduce stress! It’s a calming creative time.
- It encourages you to see things in new ways.
- You can express yourself without fear of whether or not it’s “good enough”. No mistakes! Messiness is part of the charm.
- Junk journaling lets you use up scraps and items from your art supply stash. Budget-friendly!
- This analog activity is a great alternative to spending time scrolling online.
- It helps you slow down mentally.
- It’s a great hobby to share with friends! You can swap materials and share ideas.
You can sit down for 10 minutes, glue down random scraps, write a few thoughts, add color, and walk away feeling calmer than when you started.
What Kind of Book Should I Use for My Junk Journal?
For this journal, I used an old hardcover book, removed the pages and sewed in some new signatures with a variety of papers. I took a local class on this and reconfirmed that sewing is not my forte, so after this, I’ve been buying them off of Etsy.
You can also create an altered book by applying gesso to the book pages first. You might purchase a sketchbook, a children’s board book, a composition notebook or make a journal with binder rings. I’ve even seen people use old planners!
What Materials Can I Use in My Junk Journal?
So what should you start collecting for your junk journals? I’ve put together a list of my favorite junk journaling supplies, some free and some paid.
(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.)
Free Items: There are so many free items you can collect for your junk journal: receipts, packaging from toys and food, junk mail, business cards, flyers, patterns from the insides of security envelopes, paint chip samples, cancelled stamps and greeting cards.
Things in Your Daily Life: As you go throughout your day, keep an eye out for anything that might be fun to glue in your junk journal. Catalogs, postcards, handwritten notes, collectible cards and paper scraps are great to add to your journal.
Vintage Ephemera: Other items I love to use in my junk journals are children’s book illustrations, postcards, vintage magazine pictures, game cards and vintage ephemera (like handwritten letters and postcards.) I love going to garage sales, antique stores and used book stores to find fun books to cut up for my journals.
Words & Quotes: Start cutting out words and collecting text that you can stick on your pages. You can find quote books, print out typed quotes and words or cut words from magazines!
Decorative Papers: Patterned and painted papers are something I collect as well. My absolute favorite books for background papers are these Paper Play books by Amy Tangerine! They are so colorful and gorgeous.
You can paint your own papers, purchase scrapbook papers or make colorful doodles on paper to use in your pages. One fun thing I’ve been trying lately is photocopying fabric and ribbons on my scanner printer for a textured look (see the photo below.)
Stickers: Stickers are one of my favorite things to add on my junk journal pages! Here are some of my favorite sticker books. Another thing I LOVE doing is printing my own stickers on the Liene Pixcut S1 sticker printer. In these stickers below, I used images I found on Canva to print out for my own personal journals. I’ve had this sticker printer for over a year and the stickers print so beautifully. Note: if you look at the reviews on the listing, there are some low reviews due to the stickiness of the paper. Those are old reviews and this issue has been resolved. Other companies I recommend for stickers are Five Below, Pipsticks, Moonbow and Scribble Prints.
Where to Find Free or Low Cost Things for Your Junk Journal
Free: I’ve been collecting all kinds of things from my daily life to use in my journal: greeting cards, paper scraps, junk mail, product packaging, wrapping paper scraps, random things I find on the ground, fortunes from fortune cookies, notes and catalogs. Join Buy Nothing or free Facebook groups in your area, because people are always giving out free things. Tell people in your life that you are interested in random leftover art supplies – when people know you are looking, they might keep an eye out for things you can use.
Low-Cost: I’ve found all kinds of things at garage sales, thrift stores, antique shops and used book stores (the Half-Price Books in my area has a vintage section.) I also find things on Facebook marketplace or Facebook sales groups.
Paid Supplies: You don’t need to buy anything for junk journals, but if you love collecting art supplies as much as I do, my favorite sticker books, papers and junk journal supplies are in this list of recommended art supplies.
Free Checklist of 100+ Things to Save for Junk Journaling
I created a printable list of 100+ items you can collect and save for your junk journal. Enter your email and I’ll send it over to you. You’ll also be subscribed to my newsletter, but you can unsubscribe any time.
Easy Junk Journal Page Ideas
Sticker Bomb!
Now that you have all of your junk journal supplies, creating the pages is the fun part. Here’s a super easy way to get started. Choose a color scheme, such as rainbow or all one color (monochromatic) and then simply fill a page with stickers, overlapping or creating a design.
Layered Collages
Use some of the items you collected from the list and layer pieces that you think are interesting. They can be all in one theme, or they can be random and messy. In the image on the left, I used decorative papers in the background. I added cardboard packaging from the Funko Pop! toy I got as a present. (Hello Kitty is my favorite.) I also cut out pieces from a magazine and children’s book.
On the right side, is another collage I made using a large floral sticker sheet as the background, a used postage stamp, stickers, ribbon and a vintage photograph. This was a page I made in February around Valentine’s Day.
Pages Filled with Words
Type words or cut them out of magazines. You could also use one of my printable sheets of words or quotes! Another thing I like doing is to take a word with an interesting font and cut it across the middle, so you can’t tell what the word is. Then, combine different types of typography to make an abstract collage.
A Junk Journal Page with Magazine Snippets
Another one of my favorite ways to make journal pages is to cut out snippets of colors and textures from magazines. You don’t need to cut out whole images, you can just cut out parts of them and piece them together like patchwork. This can be your background to add more images on top or you can leave it just how it is. This was an idea I tried in a workshop by Daisy Yellow, although she uses layers of paint – which is another option to add texture.
Shape Punches Junk Journal Page
I am in love with these scraps that I punched into stamp shapes. It can be addictive to just punch more and more shapes. Here are links to the stamp shape punchers I tried: Small, Medium (this one embosses it so part of it is slightly raised) and Large.
More Ideas for Junk Journal Pages
- interactive elements such as flaps, envelopes, tags, fold-outs
- color-themed spreads
- travel memories
- nature collections
- mood pages
- song lyrics
- “currently loving” lists
- affirmations
- artist-inspired pages
- seasonal themes
- found word poetry
- gratitude pages
- a page of all your “ugly” scraps
Ready to Start Junk Journaling?
If you’re ready to start junk journaling, don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect journal – just begin!
- Messy pages are okay!
- Don’t wait for the perfect supplies, use what you have.
- Experimentation is the point – there are no mistakes.
- Work in layers. Whenever you have a few minutes you can add some pieces.
- Keep a stash of junk journal treasures to pull from.
- Not every page has to be finished.
- Try not to compare your pages with others.
- Celebrate imperfection as you create meaningful art from recycled materials! Have fun!
FAQs about Junk Journaling
A junk journal is a handmade journal filled with collected papers, found objects, keepsakes, and creative materials. It often combines elements of collage, scrapbooking, art journaling, and memory keeping.
People include items such as book pages, postcards, stickers, receipts, tickets, photographs, packaging, magazine images, pressed flowers, handwritten notes, and other collected treasures. Check out my list of 100+ Things to Save for Junk Journaling.
While there is a lot of overlap, junk journals often emphasize found materials and collected ephemera, while art journals typically focus more on painting, drawing, and artistic expression. Many journals combine elements of both.
You can use almost any type of journal, including sketchbooks, composition notebooks, altered books, handmade journals, or ring-bound albums.
Ephemera refers to paper items that were originally intended for temporary use, such as tickets, receipts, postcards, labels, tags, and vintage advertisements.
Junk journaling can be a great ongoing classroom project. Students can collect papers, drawings, images, and small keepsakes over time and use them to create personalized collage pages. It’s an excellent way to encourage creativity while helping students see artistic possibilities in everyday materials. Adding pockets and fold-outs can make the pages more interactive and fun!
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