What Is Junk Journaling and Why We Love “Joy Journaling”
If you’ve ever saved a movie ticket, tucked away a pretty scrap of paper, or snapped a photo because it made you smile, you already understand the instinct behind junk journaling.
At Scissors & Glue Studio, we love the recent junk journaling movement. It centers around the idea that creativity doesn’t require perfect supplies, pristine pages, or artistic credentials. It simply asks that you notice things, collect them, and make something meaningful from what you find.
But we’ve added our own gentle twist.
We call it Joy Journaling.
What Is Junk Journaling?
At its heart, junk journaling is a creative practice built from everyday material. It is called “junk” in the best possible sense.
receipts and ticket stubs
packaging and wrapping paper
handwritten notes
old photos
magazine clippings
kids’ artwork
dried flowers
fabric scraps
envelopes and labels
Instead of throwing these things away, junk journalers turn them into layered pages filled with collage, handwriting, pockets, paint, tape, and textures.
There are no rules about neatness or symmetry. Pages can be busy or minimal, messy or quiet. You can write something or write nothing at all. The beauty is in the process, not perfection.
Junk journaling invites experimentation. It gives you permission to play.
Where Joy Journaling Comes In
At Scissors & Glue, we kept noticing something when people sat down to make pages with us: they weren’t just decorating—they were remembering.
They were reaching for photos of people they love. Writing about walks they take every morning. Collaging piecesfrom a wedding invitation. Saving notes their kids wrote them. Recording favorite songs, meals, trips, tiny moments that might otherwise disappear.
So we leaned into that.
Joy Journaling keeps the flexible, anything-goes spirit of junk journaling—but gives it an even softer center:
✨ documenting what brings you joy✨
It’s part memory keeping, part collecting, part creative ritual.
You can still use anything.
You can still work imperfectly.
You can still layer and glue and experiment.
The difference is intention.
Each page asks a simple question: What makes me happy?
A Mix of Memory Keeping and Collecting
Joy Journaling lives somewhere between a junk journal, a scrapbook and a collage book.
You might include:
photos of friends, partners, or pets
snapshots from your phone printed small
a menu from a favorite dinner
a pressed leaf from a walk
the label from a candle you loved
a concert ticket
handwriting about a good day
a quote you can’t stop thinking about
a card your child made you that always makes you smile
packaging from a treat you bought yourself
Some pages might tell full stories. Others might simply collect images, colors, textures, and feelings.
It’s not about curating a highlight reel—it’s about noticing and remembering.
No Perfection Required
One of the most important parts of both junk journaling and joy journaling is releasing the idea that your pages need to be beautiful in a traditional sense.
You don’t need to know how to draw.
You don’t need perfect handwriting.
You don’t need to worry about what you are creating. Just create!
Glue can be messy. Pages can warp. Tape can wrinkle.
That’s part of the charm.
In fact, those little imperfections often become what you love most later—the fingerprints of a moment in time.
Joy Journaling is really just an offshoot of junk journaling with a focus on joy. It is slow, tactile, and human and we hope you’ll try it.
Until next time, friends. Scissors down, glue capped. ❤️ Alexis