How I Got Started with Junk Journaling
Have you heard about the new trend “junk journaling”? I had no idea that I’m a trend-setter because evidently, I’ve been doing this for years.
I’ve been keeping a memory album since I was in high school. Recently, my husband and I cleaned out our attic while putting away Christmas decorations. He brought down boxes that we had stored for almost 25 years and never touched.
To my amazement, I rediscovered journals from my high school days. These journals were nothing fancy and in fact, one journal that has torn apart was a large tablet of colored construction paper. They were filled with ticket stubs, school programs, movie tickets, photos, receipts, ribbons, and even spoons (I still can’t explain my obsession with spoons)!
I keep asking myself “why spoons”? I guess in my mind, not many people used spoons so I thought that the restaurant would never miss them. I apologize to all the restaurants for taking their spoons. No harm or foul was intended…just a young girl trying to keep a few memories!!!
Look at the price of breakfast in 1978! These are the fun things to record and look back over.
After my husband and I got married almost 45 years ago, life got in the way. Though I continued collecting items, I stopped putting them into journals.
From Scrapbooking to Junk Journaling
Then came the scrapbooking craze. With young kids and lots of photos, I embraced scrapbooking as a creative outlet to record our memories. I loved planning layouts, choosing color schemes, and crafting beautiful pages. However, scrapbooking was time-consuming, and over time, it became overwhelming.
Don’t get me wrong—I cherish my scrapbooks. But I now have over 20 bulky 12” x 12” albums that take up a lot of space, and no one ever looks at them. They feel like the boxes I found in the attic—untouched and forgotten.
What’s the Difference Between a Scrapbook and a Junk Journal?
Scrapbooking is photo-focused, with structured layouts and special tools. Each page often starts with a clear design and focal point. Scrapbooks typically require specific albums, decorative papers, and tools.
Junk journaling, on the other hand, is more freeform and spontaneous. According to a Google search, a junk journal is "a handmade book made from recycled materials and personal items. The pages are filled with items that would normally be thrown away, such as old magazines, newspapers, or fabric scraps."
Junk journaling is an easy, quick, and flexible way to record memories. It’s not about perfection or structure. You can create a junk journal from almost anything—even a cereal box covered in fabric or paper.
My Junk Journaling Journey
In 2014, I discovered the “Documented Life Project” created by a group of talented ladies. I was immediately hooked. I started by following their weekly prompts and ideas but soon branched out to do my own thing. Their suggestion was to use a 5 1/2” x 8” moleskin that had about a 1/2” spine. In just a couple of months, that journal filled up to overflowing and I had to administer surgery to create a new spine that’s 3”. I’ve used moleskin notebooks, traveler’s notebooks, and eventually began creating my own journals from used books.
Junk journaling has become my favorite way to document everyday life. It’s a creative and meaningful way to preserve memories of family, friends, and especially my grandkids. They love flipping through my journals, seeing pictures of themselves, and reminiscing about activities we’ve shared.
One of my favorite moments happens during family gatherings when someone asks, “When did we do this or that?” I pull out my journals, and we recount the memory together. I’ve kept receipts, tickets, and other memorabilia—though I’ve moved past keeping spoons!
Am I a Junk Journaler?
For years, I struggled to label what I was doing. Was it documented life planning, art journaling, or memory keeping? None of those terms felt quite right. Now, I finally have a name for it: it’s a junk journal of my life!
Junk journaling combines everything I love: creativity, storytelling, and memory keeping. It’s less about perfection and more about capturing the essence of life in all its messy, beautiful glory. If you’ve ever kept mementos, jotted down memories, or created something just for the joy of it, you might already be a junk journaler too!