I have been junk journaling for almost a year now, and with my first junk journal almost finished, I’ve mastered a list of items and ideas that allow me to elevate my spreads even more with cohesion and decorative flair.
I know that “junk journaling” is supposed to be, well, junk. It is haphazard and messy, meaning to capture life the way that it often plays out. Maybe it’s a receipt from your favorite restaurant found at the bottom of your purse plastered beside a cupsleeve you got at a boba tea shop. Both of those tell a story about a small fraction of your life and how you spend your free time. It is endearing.
Despite all of the junk, some part of me wants there to be some semblance of a design or intention, because life can be intentional and romanticized. That often makes life better. So, here are some of my favorite junk journaling materials that allow me to capture the emotion of the junk.
Cardstock & Paper
A hill I will die on is that you can never have too much paper. Printer paper, cardstock, paper scraps—anything and everything can be used. I started my junk-journaling journey with an old pack of construction paper and a dream. It is super versatile and can be used in so many different ways.
The most common way I use it is as a background. I will often glue it as a background on the page to layer junk on top of. I also like to mix and match colors that correspond with the junk! A lot of my spreads are for concerts or k-pop comebacks, so it’s easy to have a theme!
I also save all of my paper scraps! You don’t always need the full sheet, and it doesn’t have to be tossed away as soon as you get your singular shape. You can cut it again and again to fit your needs. I love making little shapes and accents to elevate the journal spread!
Die-cuts & Cut-outs
Another one of my favorite uses of paper are die-cuts and cut-outs. Not everything that I consider a “die-cut” is a traditional die-cut, which is why I included “cut-outs”. Die-cuts are little scraps of paper that have pictures or embellishments on them. Learn more about that process here!
If I like a picture or design on something I will often cut it out. I do this a lot with newspapers and albums, cutting around the figure to create a distinct shape around it. If I want to include unique pictures of people in my spreads, I will cut around their silhouette and then layer it over a piece of paper of the same shape. It gives the page some dimension and it looks more elevated.
A lot of vintage die-cuts have very cute designs on them and you can incorporate them in many ways. If my spread is looking flat or boring I will slap a couple of die-cuts that match the theme and it automatically looks so much better!
Stickers
I love stickers. The outside of my junk-journal is COVERED in them. So many albums or brands have stickers now and there is so much you can do with them! I have collected so many that an entire shelf of my craft cart is dedicated to them.
While I do use big stickers, especially if they have album names or large designs on them, small stickers are so nice for filling in the tiny empty spaces where I have neglected to put something that corresponds with the spread. Another one of my favorite things to do is to pick a sticker that corresponds with a spread that I made and put it on the cover of my journal. It is a cute way to match the outside with what is inside the journal.
Ink & Stamps
I do have to say that I don’t use stamps that often. However, when I do, I use them to create texture in the spread. One of my favorite stamps is a block of film roll. I love to layer photos on top of the ink! Additionally, I have letter stamps, which are helpful if I want to title the page. I currently only have black ink, but I’m looking forward to investing in other colors to work with!
Cut Out Letters
The first thing I did when I started junk journaling was purge my house for old magazines and newspapers. I then cut out all of the huge letters used as titles or ads and separated them by each letter in a plastic organizer. This has been a game changer in time spent on cutting them out, and using mismatched letter styles makes the words look fun!
I also find myself using those scraps when I write letters to people. It is a special way to write someone’s name to make it stand out from the letter text!
Junk Journaling: The Benefits and How I Got Into It
Clear plastic
The amount of clear plastic sheets that I found myself throwing away was wild. Everything is covered in plastic now. I knew I needed to find a way to use some of the plastic. After doing some digging online, I found a way to incorporate them into my journals by using them as little windows into the next spread. It makes for a fun, interactive view of the journal. I definitely need to do this more!
Sprocket for Small Photos
This one is definitely nice to have. The Sprocket allows you to print small photos on sticker paper that you can peel off and stick into your spreads. This is a relatively new addition to my collection, as my girlfriend just purchased it for me.
In the past, I would put a whole bunch of photos on a Google Doc and print them all at once to paste into my spreads. It doesn’t have to be a Sprocket photo, but mini pictures of what you did is a nice personal touch to a spread!
Final Thoughts
Junk journaling has been a wonderful way for me to express myself through the things I listen to, buy, and consume on a daily basis. It has been a wonderful outlet for me to decompress and to look back on all of the fun memories I have. It is never “one-and-done” with me either. I will often look back through my spreads to remember the fun things that I did and the people I was with. You can see some of them here!
Though I talked a lot about “elevating” and “improving” your spreads, junk journaling is entirely low stakes. It can be done with just a journal, some junk, and a glue stick. It doesn’t have to be complicated or perfect! Like I said, it is meant to capture the chaos of life all in one place. Be creative. Be messy. Be you!