Junk journaling has become one of my favorite relaxing past times over the past year for so many reasons:
- It's creative but unstructured. You don't have to be "artistic" or "crafty" to partake in it.
- The materials are relatively accessible and very inexpensive to start
- It's adaptable to any age group and occupation
- It can help decrease patterns of overthinking and perfectionism
- It does not require a regular schedule of time the way a bullet journal used as a planner would.
What is junk journaling?
Junk journaling is a style of journaling that involves using trash, scrap papers, junk mail, ephemera, stickers, washi tape, and other paper products to create collage-like spreads in a notebook.
There are many variations to this kind of creative journaling (e.g. scrapbooks, smash journals, junk journals). Some people like to leave space for writing, while others like to place all paper/junk into unique art collages. Some may prefer to use all free supplies and junk that they have collected from their experiences while others choose to add purchased embellishments such as stickers.
As an artist and sticker designer, junk journaling has been a really liberating way for me to express my creativity without feeling a lot of pressure to make something perfect. You can also use junk journals for themed art spreads and planning. You can use any notebook to start and there is no time/schedule commitment involved.
What supplies should I start with?
The only thing you truly need to start any form of junk journaling is a notebook, trash, and glue. As you develop your journaling style, you may start to get stickers, washi tape, and other products to make your spreads more colorful.
I prefer smaller notebooks with slightly thicker pages that are more standard to journals. Since I cover the pages, I don't mind them being blank, lined, or gridded.
For some ideas and inspiration, here are some of my junk journal videos:
My favorite junk/trash to use:
- receipts
- food packaging and bags with letters and logos
- tickets
- maps and brochures
- tea bags
- ads and magazine images/letters from junk mail
- used stamps from mail
If you're interested in filler stickers for your spreads, here are all of my sticker sheets from Jem and Cozy. I drew all of these designs and journal with them regularly for that extra pop of color!
If you get to try out junk journaling, I hope you have fun and enjoy!