Keeping up with a cutesy bullet journal everyday? While aesthetic, it may not be the most practical, and it certainly can be frustrating to keep up. Junk journaling, on the other hand, is there for you even if you’re short on time and money. Luckily, it’s the type of hobby you can get the hang of quite quickly, so long as you are equipped with knowledge about the basics. So fear not! This guide has everything you need to get started.
- Obtaining your “stufftationery”
I’ll admit, sometimes shopping for stationery is an expensive hobby, however enjoyable it may be. It’s easy to stock up on the cutest crafting materials, but it’s also pricey. When it comes to junk journaling, your stationery stock requires $0—it depends on all of the “stuff” you collect daily. Hence the term “stufftatoinary” is quite fitting to describe the materials you’ll add to your junk journal.
Here’s a quick list of things you can collect to fillyour stufftationery collection!
- Receipts
- Movie tickets
- Concert wristbands
- Museum and tour pamphlets
- Snack packaging
- Used gift cards and metrocards
- Birthday and thank you cards
The objective is to collect things that spark memories and bring you joy. Feel free to get creative!
- Organizing your stufftationery
Hoarding so many different materials can get messy quickly. Luckily, using photo albums or a binder with clear page holders can be a great way to keep things organized for your next junk journaling session.
Here are a few of my favorite items to organize junk journal materials.
- Muji Polypropylene High Transparency Photo Album 2 Rows – Great for flat materials
- Muji Non-Bulky Pocket Holder – Great for thicker materials
- Muji PP Soft Film Clear Folder A4 – Great for pieces larger than a photo size (3.7 x 5.1in)
- Muji A5 Polypropylene Binder – Pair with clear pocket sleeves for easy organizing
You can view how to approach organizing your materials here.
- Planning your junk journal spreads
There are a couple of ways to curate the materials you want on each page. To coordinate the theme of each page, I find it helpful to use the below categories as guides for the types of materials to group together and display on your spread. Be sure to check out the examples linked for more inspiration!
- Color
- Event (concert, vacation)
- Type of material (bag tags or airplane tickets, receipts)
- Source of material (using all of the same pieces from a package)
For the last example, it might be helpful to see this example of how a single box of Pocky can be used as an entire junk journal spread.
- Supplementary materials and tools
Of course, junk journaling can be made easier when you are properly equipped to maximize your spread’s potential. Here are a few recommended items that I can attest to making the junk journaling experience even more fun:
- X-Acto knife
- Great for getting a more precise cut than scissors!
- Glue tape
- A no-mess solution to get everything neatly stuck on to the page.
- Can find them in bulk packs online.
- Glue pen
- A more precise tool for smaller pieces you want to glue.
- Origami paper
- Stickers
- Add a little extra life to the empty corners of your spread.
- Plain stickers are great for keeping color patterns throughout a piece.
- Patterned and unique stickers add fun to more simple spreads.
- Washi tape
- Great way to add extra color and finishing touches.
- Choosing the vessel for your creativity
Once you’ve accumulated everything, all that’s left to do is to find the perfect place to make your spreads! Try not to overthink it—all you really need is a journal with thick-enough pages to hold your materials. You can always customize your journal exterior later!
There are two main ways to go about this.
Method 1: The traditional journal
Most tend to use a traditionally bound journal as their designated junk journal. Typically bullet journals or blank paged journals are best to give you the best blank canvas to work with. You can view some journal flip throughs here and here.
Method 2: The flexible A5 binder
For those who want a little more flexibility in how they arrange their journal, using an A5 binder where you can remove the pages is a good option. This also makes it easier to take out pages and work on a flat surface. You view examples here and here.
While there are many tips out there to make junk journaling more approachable, these are certainly rules that should be broken should your creativity lead elsewhere. The best part about junk journaling is that perfection is far from expected, but having fun is certainly required!