I have always appreciated the journaling process. It is a huge stress reliever. In fact, there are countless journaling benefits for mental health including boosting your IQ, achieving goals, and boosting your memory. On the other hand, I have always loved the process of scrapbooking. I love taking photos and putting them together to remember my favorite memories. However, both processes are time-consuming and tedious. So, I’ve come up with an alternative that gives me the best of both worlds!

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Update!

When I originally wrote this post, I was knee deep into junk journaling. This is a mixed-media art journaling process that allows you to add photos, movie tickets, and other memorabilia directly into your journal. However, over the last year or so, I’ve officially switched over to Project Life and love it sooooo much more! So, I’ve decided to update this post to cover my new Project Life process because I truly enjoy and believe in it. However, if you’re interested in learning more about junk journaling, never fear! I’ve kept my original post at the bottom of this update.

My Solution: How to Combine a Journal with a Scrapbook

My answer is quite simple (and soooo easy to use)… Project Life! But, you might be wondering… “what the heck is Project Life?!” Great question!

What is Project Life?

Project Life is a simplified scrapbooking system. It includes a scrapbook binder, plastic scrapbook sleeves with pockets, and cute journaling cards. The cards are sized perfectly to fit inside of the plastic sleeves and are all you need to decorate you pages. In addition, as the name suggests, the journaling cards are great to journal down your thoughts for the day.

Why did I switch to Project Life?

As you can probably tell, there are a ton of benefits to using Project Life. Each of these benefits are reasons as to why I switched, which include the fact that Project Life:

• Saves you COUNTLESS hours by allowing you to write up shortened journaling excerpts and easily help you to decorate your pages
• Simplifies your memory keeping system into one, cohesive and easy process
• Saves you money: the project life system is much cheaper than purchasing any complex junk journal and once you have the bundle, it lasts FOREVER
• Gives you flexibility in your journaling process, if you feel like writing a lot, there is room for it! If you don’t, that is totally fine too!
• Is much more aesthetically pleasing than any other process I’ve found so far

What do you Need to Start Project Life?

As I’ve mentioned, you really only need three main things to begin this process (which is why it is so much cheaper than many other memory-keeping systems!). Without further ado, here are the basics:

• Project Life Binder: You’ll first need a Project Life binder. This is a simple, three-ringed binder. The standard size is 12” by 12” but they have numerous options. They also have a ton of different color options as well.
• Project Life Plastic Sleeves: These are the basic photo-pocket pages that you use to hold your photos and journaling cards.
• Journaling Cards: Finally, the journaling cards are the core of this system! These cards are my current favorite, but they have hundreds to choose from. They offer core kits (which I recommend, they last forever), but they also have smaller packs if you want to get started with something more small-scale (I love this small pack!).

How do you Create a Project Life Album?

Well, creating a Project Life album is really straight forward and quite simple. But let me break it down for you.

1. Collect Your Supplies

First, you’ll need to collect your supplies. Grab yourself the three basics that I’ve listed above. If you’re hesitant, you can sometimes find them on a great deal on Amazon, and can find smaller sizes if you want to just test it out. For example, you could just grab yourself a smaller album (like this cute 6” by 8” one!) and fill it with smaller plastic sleeves (like these).

2. Take Your Photos and Collect Your Memorabilia

Next, during all your great adventures, don’t forget to take some great photos! Also, when you get a chance, try to collect any memorabilia you can. Some things I try to collect when I can include:

• Movie tickets
• Park maps
• Information pamphlets
• Post cards
• Stickers
• Flyers

3. Write your Thoughts on Journaling Cards

Instead of keeping a journal (or in addition to…) write down your thoughts on the Project Life journaling cards. Because these cards have a variety of sizes, you could simply jot down your thoughts, or go into detail. This system is so flexible it works either way! Also, if you really love journaling, Project Life is so low maintenance that you can easily keep a journal at the same time.

4. Put Together Your Pages

The last step (and most fun!) is to put together your Project Life scrapbook pages. This is when you simply slip your photos into the plastic protectors along with your journaling cards. It really is THAT SIMPLE!

And that is it! That is all you need to know in order to start Project Life, easy… right? Exactly why I switched! If you want to learn more about Project Life, check out the creator Becky Higgins’ website. It has everything you need to know. And now, onto my original post about junk journaling (another great option for combing your journal and scrapbook).

Original Post:

In the beginning, my junk journal served as a combination of my journal and scrapbook. After some time, I have grown to love this process and have created a second journal to keep as an educational reference. In this journal, I write down at least one thing that I have learned every day. This helps me retain information I learn and is a great (and beautiful looking) resource to look up information in the future.

So, with my recent junk journaling obsession, I have learned many different techniques and ideas to creating junk journals and hope I can enlighten you to how amazing these journals are, how beneficial they can be, and why you should start one!

Okay, so what exactly is a junk journal?

Junk journaling is the process of keeping a journal in a carefree way. Most people describe it as the combination of mixed media art and journaling. The great thing about keeping a junk journal? There are no rules! In fact, I like my junk journals messy and disorganized as opposed to my old scrapbooks.

For my junk journals, I love to incorporate small amounts of journaling with pictures and other pieces of memorabilia such as movie tickets, brochures, etc. The process of putting these pieces together is a great way for me to recap my weeks and be able to look back on great memories in a way that doesn’t carve out days to complete!

Related: 24 Amazing Stress Management Techniques to Try Right Now!

So, how do you start a junk journal?

Junk journaling can be a complex or a simple as you want it to be! You can start with just a plain notebook and begin decorating pages with photos, words, and paper, or you can start with a pre-made junk journal (like this gorgeous one or this beautiful black leather journal), a nice leather journal or a Smash Journal! Again, there are no rules! You can write whatever you want, put whatever you want in it, and create your own personal masterpiece!

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But, what if I don’t want a Junk Journal?

If you don’t want to start junk journaling but still want to combine your journal with a scrapbook (in a quick and easy way) then I HIGHLY recommend you look into Project Life Scrapbooking! This is a very simple and easy-to-use scrapbooking system that combines journaling with the scrapbooking process by allowing you to skip the whole “putting together a page” process and simply fill out colorful, included cards and slip them, along with your photos, into plastic sleeves. It is a great system!

What you need for project life:

• A Project Life Album (either a 12″x12″ or a 6″x8″ album)
• Plastic Sleeves (depending on the album you choose: either the 12″12″ sleeves or the 6″x8″ sleeves)
• A Project Life Core Kit (includes colorful journaling cards and more)

Check out this Project Life Binder Kit for More Great Scrapbooking and Journal Combination Ideas!

Make your own Junk Journal!

Back to junk journaling… again, there are multiple ways you can start journaling. Of course, there are numerous routes to take. The first route is to buy a regular journal just to start out and start pasting in some photos and memorabilia. The second route is to create your own journal!

There are countless tutorials on Youtube and many classes through Etsy. Personally, I learned how to make my Junk Journals from the fabulous Nik the Booksmith. But, to get you started and your feet a tiny bit wet, here are a few steps you can take to begin your journey!

How to Make Your Own Junk Journal:

Step One: Collect Inspiration

Before you can create your junk journal, you need to know the basic style you want, right? There are just so many amazing ideas out there! Hardbound books (what I prefer), softcover, ringed, travelers notebooks, spiral bound books, junk journals made from vintage books… the list goes on and on!

Now, I won’t lie. Junk journaling is a very recent hobby of mine. I am still learning the ins and outs, but there are some amazing women who are much more experienced than I am! Below, I have listed some amazing references for you to check out!

• Amity Bloom
• Nik the Booksmith
• I’m A Cool Mom
• Ephemeras Garden
• Tiffy Butter
• Liz Drake
• Vintage Junk Journals
• Pinterest Ideas
• Youtube Ideas

There is so many great ideas and inspiring journals out there! This is just a short list of people and resources that inspired me to take the plunge!

Step Two: Collect Supplies

The best places to find junk journal supplies? Garage sales and antique shops! Oh! And the Goodwill! The Dollar Tree, Amazon, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby are also great! Etsy is another great place to find supplies! Shop around for things you will need to both create your book and decorate your pages. Some of my favorite supplies are:

• Paper: Scrapbook, plain, graph, lined…
• Coffee (to stain your paper)
• Cheese Cloth
• Fabric
• Lace
• Fabri-Tac Glue (the most amazing glue… ever!)
• Playing Cards
• Post Cards

Step Three: The Art of Coffee Staining

In order to get that beautiful vintage vibe to your paper, you must coffee (or tea) stain it. This process can be very tedious and time-consuming but is well worth the end look! I prefer to use coffee because I find that it creates a darker color (and I love the smell) but tea works incredibly well too! THIS is the coffee I like to use. It is cheap and instant!

Here is a quick breakdown of how to coffee stain:

1. Brew your coffee (or tea). I find that 1 full pot of strong coffee or 10 bags of black tea creates the color I prefer. Experiment to see what you like!
2. Pour your drink of choice into a shallow (about 2-3″ deep) baking pan larger than 8.5″x11″, and let cool so it is just cool enough to touch. TIP: The hotter your coffee/tea, the darker your pages will be!
3. Submerge your pages into the coffee. Let them sit for as long as you like. The longer they sit, the darker they will become. Personally, I stack mine and let them sit for about 1 minute.
4. Take your papers out carefully and let them dry! I dry mine under the ceiling fan on top of old towels. Some people dry theirs in the oven or use a blow dryer.

These are just the basics, but there are COUNTLESS ways to stain your paper!

Step Four: Build Your Book

Well, now that you have some stained paper and your supplies, begin crafting that amazing book of yours! Or, if you have bought a pre-made one, begin customizing it to your liking! Add your name, some extra pockets… whatever you like!

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Step Five: Begin Journaling!

This is where the fun truly begins! Start adding pictures, doodles, journal entries… anything and everything! You can add or subtract pages, add pockets, sew in fabric, add stickers, stamps, drawings, movie tickets, travel itineraries… it is all up to you!

Further Reading

Be sure to check out these great related blog posts:

• 24 Amazing Stress Management Techniques to Try Right Now!
• 21 Life-Changing Books to Add to Your Reading List
• Discover 17 Surprising New Ways To Avoid Burnout

Well, there you have it! An incredibly basic and simple beginners guide to junk journaling. I hope that I have given those who have never heard of junk journaling some ideas to start their journey and those who are junk journalers, some new inspiration. Happy journaling everyone!

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