Welcome!
Do you have endless little keepsakes from special memories? A saved ticket stub from that memorable movie night? A dried flower from a special event? You have come to the right place because we are going to show you a beautiful way to keep those memories.
Let's make those memories even more special by making them into a junk journal.
A junk journal is a beautiful way to preserve all of your memories and special moments in time in a creative and fun way. Think of junk journaling like scrapbooking for memories. Glue in saved notes, papers, tickets, menus and more, and embellish them with lace, inserts, flowers, jewelry, ribbon, twine and more.
You can make a junk journal out of any book, and we are going to talk about all of the junk journal supplies and mention some junk journal ideas and tutorials for you along the way.
Let's make a junk journal! Here are the junk journal items you will need for your supplies:
Now, let's start with the base of your junk journal: a book.
There are many books you can choose from, it really doesn't matter since by the time you are into it, the book will no longer be recognizable as the book you originally bought. You will make this book your own.
What you will want to look for are thick old vintage books that are destined for the trash, or smaller vintage books for miniatures. Visit your local book store because they might even have a pile of old books that they are getting rid of.
These are a junk journal designer's dream! Or you can head over to Etsy because there are a ton of vintage booksellers there that you can purchase in bulk.
You can even turn a planner into a junk journal by customizing it! The thicker and more bulky the book is, the better!
You are going to be gluing in extra pages, inserts, and chunky layouts. You can even tear out all of the pages out of the book and then can bind or insert your own signatures, which are sections of the junk journal.
This is the whole point, to totally customize the book and make it perfect for you.
Here are our recommendations for your junk journal book base:
There are tons of Etsy sellers who gather together vintage books and book covers for junk journal customizers. You can even get junk journal blanks, where a seller will bind the main signatures in and then stop there so that you can finish it off how you like.
This Etsy shop has a ton of junk journal supplies including vintage covers and old books like these ones.
We made our five-year planner into a junk journal, and it turned out to be a seriously gorgeous one. It has a lot of pages since it is a five-year planner, and holds all of our lace, jewels and gems, dried flowers and so many other embellishments perfectly.
You can read our review of the five-year planner (before it became our junk journal) right here.
We also did a video unboxing and review of the five-year planner that we turned into a junk journal. Watch it below on our YouTube. We'll post the video of what it looks like as a junk journal so keep this page bookmarked and we will insert that video right here when we are finished!
Here is a peek inside one of our junk journal pages. We love how it's turning out!
Visit Etsy To Find Junk Journal Blanks
You can find stores that offer junk journals that are not completely customized yet, but beware, they sell very fast so as soon as you find a store that offers these, make sure you bookmark them or send them a message to get on their list.
These 'almost ready' junk journals are for those who are just getting into making junk journals, but are not quite ready or do not quite know how to start from scratch.
This is the one that we purchased from a store called Moonside Parlour, and we've already been adding lots of our own memories, ephemera, and extra signatures to make it perfect! Junk journals are always a work in progress :)
Now, is the time to decide on the theme of your junk journal. Do you want to have a steampunk junk journal? A romantic junk journal? I would classify the one we did above as romantic, but you have to make your junk journal to reflect who you are and what makes you happy.
There are so many papers you can choose from.
The photo above of our junk journal page was made using butterflies and other pieces cut out from the Mariposa Matstack.
You can find that on Amazon here.
You can get a really good look at the Mariposa Paper Stack in our Junk Journal Tutorial video below, showing how we made DIY picture frame mats as gorgeous window inserts for our junk journal out of a thrift store find!
We also have a huge selection of free printable paper on our own store which you can check out here. Simply download the paper, and print from your own printer.
Bookmark our page so you can come back anytime for these FREE downloadable papers, found right here.
We love to use lace ribbon on the edge of some of our pages. The way it peeks out when the journal is sitting closed is just a way for that memory to come peeking through.
There is a package of 18 rolls of lace ribbon on Amazon, each one is different, and what a great price. This way, if you decide to use lace on your pages, you will have a similar theme with all of the laces, yet each one can look totally different upon closer inspection!
Check price of lace ribbon rolls on Amazon here
Another embellishment you may have noticed in our junk journal is the gemstone ribbon on page edges. We love a little bling, and there are many options for doing this on Amazon!
If you are looking for something unique with some more color, you are going to fall in love with this gemstone colorful ribbon. It is literally made of artificial gemstones!
If you would like crystal or rhinestone ribbon similar to what we used, here is something like it from Amazon.
We highly recommend that you learn what Mod Podge is, if you don't already know. A step above glue, many artists use Mod Podge for their crafts and always keep it in their craft supply as it goes on easily and dries absolutely clear.
Be sure to check out our Mod Podge Matte Ultimate Guide here to learn more!
Mod Podge can be used to add the embellishments to your junk journals, and can also be used to transfer images decoupage-style on to your pages!
If you are planning on using Mod Podge to decoupage images on to your junk journal, the easiest medium to do this with is napkins. Buy some beautiful napkins, and Mod Podge them to your pages, or even around the edges of pages creating a beautiful border. The possibilities are endless in the decoupage world.
Be sure to check out our article, Paper Napkin Ideas For Decoupage Crafts!
Check price of Mod Podge Matte on Amazon here
We are going to talk a bit about tools to highlight your junk journal. For gold accents, we swear by our Krylon Gold Leafing pen. It leaves the perfect color of gold (not too yellow with just the right amount of sheen).
Check price of Krylon Gold Leafing Pen on Amazon here
We have done an unboxing and review of the Krylon Gold Leafing Pen, you can watch that below.
Distress crayons are a really great tool, and are absolutely perfect for junk journaling. They are smooth, highly pigmented crayons that lay down a lot of color in a very soft, smooth way. The can almost act as watercolors as they are water-soluble and will blend beautifully if transitioning from one distress crayon color to another.
You can read all about distress crayons in our article, What Distress Crayons Are & How To Use Them.
In the article about Distress Crayons, we link to some really great YouTube videos showing some different ways to use them! If you are interested in learning about a really cool medium, I highly suggest you have a read (and bookmark the page!).
Another one of our favorites is the Wink Of Stella Shimmer Pen. This little pen adds a beautiful, soft glitter to wherever you want to add it.
Glitter comes out of the brush tip and paints beautifully onto paper. Add some fine glitter to a paper cut-out, or trace around a note that you have put into your junk journal.
You can get a really good look at the Wink Of Stella Shimmer Pen in one of our Simple Floral Doodle videos, How To Draw Roses 3 Ways. You may also get some good junk journal inspo from this video!
Also, have you subscribed to our YouTube page yet? Click here to check out all of our YouTube videos and be sure to subscribe!
You can also learn how to get every last sparkle out of your Wink Of Stella Shimmer Pens from our tutorial below. This will also show you just what the shimmer pen is all about.
Check price of Wink Of Stella Shimmer Pen here
Washi tape is one of those must haves for junk journals.
What junk journal is complete without a few really beautiful, antique-looking pieces of jewelry?
This really beautiful set from Amazon comes with everything you need to complete any look! It comes with 50 pieces of antique-looking charms for under $10. Now that's a score!
Check price of this set of junk journal jewelry here
We hope you found some good supplies to start off your junk journal, or to add to your existing junk journal masterpiece!
We would love to see your junk journal, be sure to bookmark our page so you can drop us a line or a photo in the comments section!
Also, be sure to Pin this idea to your junk journal Pinterest board. We would appreciate that!
Have a lovely day.
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