How to Start
a Junk Journal
A calm, beginner-friendly guide to supplies, layering and your very first meaningful page.
A junk journal is not about perfection. It is a handmade place for memories, experiments and everyday fragments—built one beautiful layer at a time.
What Is a Junk Journal?
A flexible creative notebook made with mixed papers, stickers, photographs, tickets, labels and personal notes.
Keep memories
Save photographs, receipts, tickets and small pieces of everyday life.
Make art freely
Mix writing pages with collage, sketches and decorative experiments.
Use what you love
There is no required layout, palette or fixed order—your journal develops with you.
Five Essentials Are Enough
Start with a journal, decorative paper, stickers or ephemera, washi tape and a few basic tools. A coordinated selection is easier to use than dozens of unrelated supplies.
Browse our Junk Journal Supplies for vintage paper, labels, stamps and collage-ready materials.
Build It in Six Simple Steps
Choose one idea, work from large pieces to small details and stop before every space is filled.
Choose a memory or mood
A café visit, favorite song, garden walk or simple color palette is enough.
Select a background
Use one decorative sheet or two overlapping scraps to establish the palette.
Add a focal point
Place a photograph, illustration or large sticker slightly away from center.
Build supporting layers
Add labels, torn paper edges and short strips of washi tape.
Write something personal
A date, sentence or short list turns decoration into a meaningful record.
Leave breathing room
Open space makes the important pieces stand out.
Three Easy Pages to Try
The Memory Pocket: attach three sides of a paper rectangle and fill it with tickets, notes or photographs.
The Botanical Page: layer muted paper, a torn botanical illustration and a slim washi border.
The Correspondence Page: combine script paper, postage-style stickers and an envelope holding a note to your future self.
Keep the Process Light
- Repeat one color across the page.
- Use one large focal image.
- Layer from large pieces to small accents.
- Mix straight and torn paper edges.
- Write before the page feels completely full.
- Let imperfect details stay visible.
An All-in-One Starting Point
The Vintage Junk Journal Kit brings 346 coordinated paper and sticker pieces together in one $49.99 set—enough material for many pages without the pressure of sourcing everything separately.
SHOP THE 346-PIECE KIT
