I’ve always been a creative person, but never a neat one. I would see those girls with their cute bullet journals, or even people who said journaling changed their lives. The truth was that I was not talented enough to write a bullet journal and journal about my life; it just stressed me out.
Throughout the years, I have tried out different hobbies to try and find one that I love and would allow my creativity to flourish. Since becoming a freshman in college, the adjustment has been pretty big, and time management was to work out at first. I realized that I needed something to do that I really enjoyed but wasn’t related to social media. That’s when I found junk journaling (ironically on TikTok).
Junk journaling is basically how it sounds. You collect junk from your life including receipts, bags, wrappers, and anything that reminds you of something or can make a cute spread. Then you take that junk, cut it up, accurate it, and there you go. It is a great way to take the memorable things that you want to keep but don’t know what to do with.
The best part about junk journaling is that it can be anything you want. Other than a journal and junk, there is nothing specific you need and can be made up of anything you want. When I got started, I just grabbed an old notebook, some junk, scissors, and tape. Then I began, just letting my imagination do anything it wanted. Then, as I got more into it, I bought gems, washi-tape, and some small flower stickers to help add to my spreads.
Some suggestions that I would offer for anyone looking to start is to collect anything and everything; you don’t know what you might use. For my first spread, I just used a free newspaper that I grabbed in my hall and cut things up that I liked. Then I added some scraps, stickers, and pictures that I had left over from Sparticipation, set up my corkboard, and threw those on there. Once I get going on a design, I may use everything I collect or just a few things. Another thing I would suggest as you get more into it is using double-sided tape. It’s a game-changer. It allows your pieces to go on much smoother (less puffy) and is way easier to use. Then, as you continue to get more into it, I think it is really fun to add gems, stickers, washi-tape, or whatever extras to compliment your junk.
The best part about junk journaling is there are no rules. It is a place for you to be creative and use things that you collect in your life to create a spread. It is a great way to look back at things without having to write a bunch or make your pages look super clean and fancy (unless you want it to of course). Junk journaling has been one of the only hobbies that has truly allowed me to escape and just be creative. It has helped me with my anxiety and given me something to look forward to, and it’s even better when playing a show or music in the background.
Anyone can junk journal, and it’s easy to give it a try. All it takes is some junk!