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Junk journaling, scrapbooking, memory keeping—this fun hobby goes by many names!
Experiencing a renaissance online, younger generations are coming into the hobby, putting their own spin on it, and sharing why collecting and crafting with ephemera can be so enjoyable.
There is a wide array of approaches to this creative practice, and it depends more on the creator than the technique. You could be looking to start binding your own junk journals covered in trinkets, fabric, and other ephemera, or you could be longing for ideas on how to get started filling up those pages.
Whatever the need, these five books are good resources for getting into the mindset of playing with a junk journal, for both the novice and the expert.
Wreck This Journal
Creator Keri Smith has a collection of different guided journaling books that inspire out-of-the-box creativity in readers—but Wreck This Journal is certainly the most well-known, and the best choice to get acquainted with junk journaling.
The prompts will challenge you creatively while also encouraging play. Smith invites the journaler to glue hair, pocket lint, magazine pages, photos, and other random items directly into the book.
If you are a newbie to junk journaling, this is a great way to warm up. If you aren’t a newbie, it could, in fact, help you loosen up a bit. Smith really encourages folks not to be too precious about what they’re making. It’s a good mindset to have.
The prompts range from medium to style to activity (for example, Smith actually challenges the user to find a way to wear the journal). Creative, low-stress prompts such as this are a great introduction to this fun hobby.
The Art of Memory Collecting
Author and creator Martina Calvi has been sharing her journals on social media for a while now, and it has brought a lot of buzz back into junk journaling. In The Art of Memory Collecting, Calvi shares tips about colors, patterns, texture, and stickers that a new junk journaler might want to consider.
Just the pictures make this book a treat for the eyes! The book also shares 15 scrapbooking and craft projects to honor our memories and the ephemera we collect from them.
Two wonderful examples are the scrapbook journal and the holiday journal. Both of these projects are the epitome of junk journaling, as Calvi encourages us to seek out the ephemera of daily life. It could be train tickets, movie or concert stubs, receipts, tags from shops, really anything.
If you’re sentimental and are looking to romanticize your life (who isn’t?), these projects are sure to light you up. This is a great introduction to creative journaling as a whole, and really gets the reader excited for craft time!
Junk Journal Joy
Junk Journal Joy will help journalers dip their toes in further. Author Francesca Radice invites us into the process of making our own journals and shares some of her journey with this hobby.
The author also includes instructions for various bookbinding techniques, challenging the reader to create their own junk journals using vintage and found materials. The reflection prompts and insights will help the reader understand their creative why.
Radice emphasizes the importance of creativity as a form of self-care, and the soft, elegant journals she creates provide an ideal environment for it.
Known for her YouTube channel, Radice gives readers both project walk-throughs and tips for using their junk journals once they’re made. Definitely don’t sleep on this book if you want to up your junk journaling game!
A Year of Junk Journaling
Martina Calvi gives readers a thorough introduction to memory collecting in the book, then provides a year’s worth of creative exercises! In A Year of Junk Journaling, Calvi offers 52 prompts to the readers so that they may embark on their own junk journaling journeys.
Each prompt is broken into three parts: collect, reflect, and create. The guide will explain to the reader what they might like to collect for the journal spread, then suggest questions to reflect on our relationship to what we’re collecting, and why.
Finally, Calvi shares tips and project jumping-off points to get everyone excited to create! Each prompt includes examples of Calvi’s work for creative inspiration. It’s a fun book to flip through for the pictures, but you’ll be staying after your creativity gets sparked!
Creative Junk Journaling
Creative Junk Journaling, scheduled to release on May 26, 2026, is another wonderful deep dive into junk journaling and the creativity it helps to unlock. Author and creator Natasha Ahmed shares the beauty of imperfect journaling by collecting the ephemera of daily life and using it to craft.
Ahmed provides prompts and project ideas to help the reader get started. She also covers digital journaling for those who don’t want to go completely analog.
The book includes sticker pages, collage-image pages, and pages with backing paper. This is a great way to start off the paper and ephemera collection for those who want to make junk-journal spreads that look like what you see on Pinterest.
This book is another creator’s approach to this beloved hobby, and is one you’ll want to snag as soon as it’s released!
Featured image: Canva
