Easiest 20 Junk Journal Ideas for Beginners to Try This Weekend

Easiest 20 Junk Journal Ideas That Everyone Will Ask About

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Junk journaling is a cheap hobby built from materials other people throw out.

The author keeps ticket stubs, torn envelopes and a bakery napkin in a shoebox on her desk, a small collection that shows how everyday paper can become the start of a journal.

Friends hold craft nights every few weeks, and each person brings their own box of paper to share and sort through together.

At one craft night they voted on the prettiest spread while pizza went cold, and the winner received a gift card usually worth around fifteen dollars.

This roundup presents 20 ideas that anyone can copy this weekend, using paper already at home.

Source: junk journal ideas.

A useful starting box does not need new supplies. The paper already described in this roundup shows how varied saved paper can be, and a small box can hold several kinds of pieces ready for a weekend project.

• ticket stubs
• torn envelopes
• a bakery napkin
• plain sheets for tea staining
• envelopes from birthday cards
• pages from a water damaged atlas
• old receipts
• offcuts of sewing pattern paper

For a fresh book that still needs a first page, Cutest empty notebook ideas gives a useful place to begin.

JUNK JOURNAL IDEAS

The collection includes tea stained pages, tuck spots, found paper layouts, photocard pages, mini journals, travel pages, grid and column layouts, banner headers, themed diary pages, vintage receipts, sewing pattern paper, theme month ideas, corner clusters and a waterfall fold.

1. Tea Stained Junk Pages

Use the last inch of a morning cup of tea on a stack of plain sheets to make them look much older. Brush cold tea over the whole surface of the paper, then leave the sheets flat to dry overnight.

Darker rings near the edges sell the aged look, and the paper smells faintly of breakfast for about a week afterwards. It is a simple way to age plain paper before building a spread.

2. Tuck Spot Junk Spread

A tuck spot is a clever pocket sewn or glued along an edge of a spread. The author makes hers from envelopes that came with birthday cards because that paper already has a nice weight.

Glue only three sides so the top stays open for items added later. One spread can hide four pockets across a single page, giving small keepsakes a place to live without being glued down.

For more birthday paper projects, Sweet birthday book scrapbook ideas is a useful companion.

3. Found Paper Junk Layout

A found paper layout highlights a bus ticket tucked under a corner, the author’s favorite detail. She bought a water damaged atlas at a thrift store for a dollar specifically to tear it up, and every page has since become something else.

On old paper, torn edges look better than cut ones, so tearing keeps the layout soft and naturally aged.

4. Photocard Frame Kpop Page

Cut a window a bit smaller than the photocard so its edges remain concealed behind the paper. This is often the starting point for those seeking kpop journal ideas, since a card merits more than a binder sleeve.

The paper corners shown in the photo allow items to be attached without permanent gluing. The author keeps a shoebox of duplicate cards, each of which should eventually get its own page.

5. Album Era Kpop Spread

Choose three shades directly from the album cover and use no other colors on the page. The color palette matches the album packaging exactly, and the packaging contributes much of the design before you begin. The author’s CD shelf has effectively become a color reference library, ready whenever a new spread starts.

6. Bias Wrecker Kpop Layout

Dedicate a full page to the member who disrupted someone’s entire ranking. A small crown drawn next to the name is a nice detail. The author notes their group chat has this same argument about once a month, which makes the page feel shared as well as personal.

7. Pocket Size Mini Journal

Mini journal ideas largely exist because a full sized book never leaves the house. This one stays in a coat pocket beside the author’s keys and has survived rain twice, leaving the cover rough in a way the author has come to like.

To make it, fold four sheets in half and stitch down the middle with plain thread. Anything larger than a phone tends to stay on the desk permanently.

8. Mini Travel Journal Pages

This idea is for mini travel journal pages, which the author once filled during a six hour train ride using only a glue stick and items already in a bag.

Overlapping stubs placed across the middle give the impression that someone actually traveled, and about half of them can be receipts from a station cafe. Stubs should be added the same day, before they get lost in a coat pocket.

9. Matchbook Mini Journal

The matchbook mini journal folds shut like a matchbook from an old restaurant. Before folding, score the cover fold with a ruler so it closes flat each time. The author keeps a drawer of matchbooks from places that have since closed, and once the fold loosens, two paper clips hold the journal shut.

10. Grid Photo Layout

This journal layout uses nine squares with even spacing and nothing else required, and it reads like a contact sheet from a film lab. Leave a couple of squares empty on purpose so the page can breathe. Because photos printed at home never line up perfectly, the author trims them with a paper guillotine.

11. Column Split Layout Page

The column split layout page uses two narrow columns of text with pictures between them, resembling a page torn from a Sunday paper. Rule the divide in pencil before anything is placed permanently. The author’s version often has a recipe on one side and a grocery list on the other, and newspaper columns work well as a template.

12. Banner Header Layout

Hanging flags strung across the top of a page make a cute banner header. The author cut hers from leftover birthday bunting that had sat in a drawer since a party two summers earlier. Stringing letters along the flags creates a title without requiring any lettering skill.

13. Royale High Diary Theme

Royale High journal ideas typically use pastels with plenty of sparkle, a combination that suits paper crafting. Print screenshots small, about the size of a postage stamp, and cluster them together. The lilac and cream pairing shown is going into the author’s next spread, with glitter glue doing much of the work.

14. Royale High Outfit Log Page

One crafter turned an entire wardrobe into a catalogue with small notes beside each look. The author does the same with her real closet in a notebook, so she recognizes the impulse. Sketch the outlines in pencil and colour only the pieces actually worn; small fabric swatches beside each look would also work well.

15. Vintage Receipt Spread

The author’s grandmother kept every receipt in a biscuit tin, which seemed ridiculous until the author inherited the tin. The faded typewriter numbers shown are worth more than any sticker set. Flea markets sell bundles of old paperwork for a few dollars if a family kept nothing, and old receipts carry a date, which stickers cannot do.

16. Sewing Pattern Paper Spread

Tissue thin sewing pattern paper covered in dotted lines is described as possibly the prettiest free material available. It should be layered over a darker background so the printed markings are visible.

The author receives offcuts from every dress their aunt makes and keeps a bag of them under the desk; the dotted curves can resemble a map when viewed at a squint.

18. Theme Month Junk Inspiration

The suggested approach is to assign each month one colour plus one material and let the pages develop from there. The author’s own October was entirely brown paper, which matched the seasonal surroundings.

A pressed leaf tucked into a corner is the kind of detail that only works in season, and limiting to one material per month also keeps the shoebox from getting out of hand.

19. Cluster Corner Junk Layout

Every saved junk journal page layout collection the author has includes a corner cluster somewhere. The cluster is built like a small flower arrangement, starting with the biggest pieces down first. Three layers is usually enough before it looks crowded rather than full, and the author’s own cluster habitually ends up in the bottom right corner.

20. Waterfall Fold Page Layout

This waterfall fold page layout hides five layers behind a single tab. Pulling the bottom tab makes all the layers cascade open at once, an effect compared to an advent calendar. To achieve the look, each flap should be staggered by half an inch.

The five layers behind one tab are described as the best storage trick in the book, because so much can be tucked away without adding bulk to the spread.

Use the layers for photos, notes, tickets and other small keepsakes that belong together but do not need to be seen all at once. Opening the tab reveals them in order, so the page stays tidy while still holding a full collection in one place.