The History of Junk Journaling

Curious about where junk journaling came from? In this post, I’m sharing the history of junk journaling — from its historic roots to today.

I’ve always been fascinated by the history behind art and craft traditions – the ways people have crafted, collected, and documented their lives. And if you’re here reading this, I’m guessing you might feel the same.

Junk journaling is a beautiful hobby, but there’s surprisingly little written about where it actually came from. There isn’t even a Wikipedia page dedicated to it. For a craft that’s filled with so much heart and storytelling, I thought it deserved its own story too.

So I’ve gathered everything I could find – blog posts, scrapbooking timelines, historical archives, and podcasts – to piece together a picture of how junk journaling came to be.

It’s not a complete history (and I’d love to hear what you know too), but I hope this post helps bring a little more clarity, context, and appreciation for this wonderful craft.

🕰️ Naming the Craft

When Was the Term “Junk Journal” First Used?

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment someone coined the term “junk journal,” but like many things in crafting, it likely started with a whisper and grew into a movement.

The term began showing up on blogs and forums in the early 2000s, used by crafters who were making handmade journals from envelopes, packaging, old books, and scraps. Some early mentions appear in LiveJournal and Blogspot posts, but it was platforms like YouTube (launched in 2005) and Etsy (founded the same year) that helped the phrase take root and spread.

By the time Pinterest took off in the 2010s, “junk journal” had evolved from a niche phrase into a thriving category of its own, with entire communities forming around the idea of turning everyday paper (and digital ephemera) into something creative, meaningful, and totally unique.

No one can claim the invention of the phrase. It wasn’t trademarked or launched as a product – it was simply a term made by and for the creative people using what they had to make something beautiful. And that feels kind of perfect, amirite?

🌍 Junk Journal Origins

Where Did Junk Journals Come From?

Junk journaling didn’t start in one single place – it evolved in lots of little corners of the world, often without fanfare.

Some of the earliest junk journalers were scrapbookers who began experimenting with vintage papers, envelopes, and found materials. Others came from the world of altered books, where artists transformed old novels or discarded volumes into works of mixed-media art. And some simply followed their instincts – collecting ticket stubs, doodling in margins, slipping handwritten notes into folded pages.

It wasn’t an art form launched by a company or a craft store. It was a community-built craft, shaped by people who loved paper, texture, stories, and imperfection.

Thanks to platforms like Etsy, Pinterest, and especially YouTube, junk journaling started showing up everywhere – as crafters shared flip-throughs, tutorials, and “junk haul” videos filled with old receipts, packaging, and digital kits.

I think junk journaling comes from a love of paper and the desire to make something beautiful out of the bits and pieces of everyday life.

📚 Historic Roots

The Roots of Junk Journaling in Scrapbooking

Before we had junk journals, we had scrapbooks — and their history goes back much further than you might expect.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, people created personal memory books filled with letters, pressed flowers, calling cards, ticket stubs, programs, and news clippings. These early scrapbooks were often messy, layered, and deeply personal – not all that different from what we now call junk journals. In fact, many of them weren’t created for an audience at all. They were simply a place to keep life’s little fragments – reminders of who someone was, what they loved, where they’d been.

Fast forward to the late 20th century, and scrapbooking had taken on a more structured, polished look. In the 1980s and early 2000s, companies like Creative Memories and Stampin’ Up! helped bring scrapbooking into the mainstream. The goal was often to preserve family photos using themed paper packs, die cuts, journaling blocks, and coordinated embellishments.

As digital photography became more common and printing photos got easier, scrapbookers began to experiment. Some started to include ephemera – vintage labels, receipts, ledgers, even junk mail – alongside their photos. Others let go of the photo requirement altogether and began creating story-based books, decorated with the paper they loved for its own sake.

That’s where junk journaling started to find its voice.

Rather than being “less than” scrapbooking, I believe junk journaling is really a side branch — a format that invites creative freedom, storytelling, and imperfection. Where traditional scrapbooks were often created for posterity, junk journals feel more personal – less about capturing the perfect moment and more about honoring the messy, beautiful everyday.

It’s not one or the other. It’s a continuation. Scrapbooking laid the groundwork and junk journaling just opened the doors a little wider.

🕰️ Memory Keeping In The Past

Early Scrapbooks, Diaries & Collage

Long before the term “junk journaling” ever existed, people were already doing something very similar. They just didn’t have a name for it.

In the 1700s and 1800s, commonplace books and diaries often included more than just words. People glued in newspaper clippings, theater programs, pressed flowers, bits of ribbon, and handwritten poems. These books were both practical and emotional — a way to keep track of information and preserve meaningful moments.

Later came friendship albums, where classmates or companions added notes, drawings, or decorative snippets. Victorian women collected calling cards, decorative scraps, ticket stubs, and other printed ephemera, often pasting them into ledgers and memory books alongside reflections and personal mementos.

These were not “projects” in the modern crafting sense. They were personal archives, part diary, part scrapbook, part time capsule.

The rise of mass printing in the 19th century – with lithographs, trade cards, and advertisements – made these items more common and more disposable. But instead of throwing them away, people saved them. They became the building blocks of paper memory-keeping, long before the internet told us it had a name.

Even in fine art, collage and assemblage practices reflect this same desire – to gather, layer, and preserve. From early Surrealists to post-war artists working with scrap paper, there’s a long tradition of using the humble and the discarded to tell stories.

So when we talk about junk journaling, we’re not talking about something entirely new. I would say we’re talking about a modern continuation of something deeply human — the wish to remember, to reflect, and to give the everyday a place to live on paper.

What do you think?

♻️ The Evolution of Junk Journaling

From “Junk” to Vintage — How the Meaning Has Shifted

When the term “junk journal” first began circulating online, it referred quite literally to journals made with junk – cereal boxes, junk mail, packaging, paper bags, receipts, old book pages, leftover scrapbook supplies, and just about anything else headed for the recycling bin.

It was upcycling at its finest – messy, spontaneous, and often incredibly personal.

But as the community grew, so did the possibilities. Artists and crafters began creating printable versions of the things they loved – vintage seed packets, aged handwriting, faux ephemera, antique maps, and distressed ledger paper – not to replace the “junk,” but to add more texture and variety to their journals.

Enter: junk journal printables.

Some purists might argue that if you’re using printables, it’s no longer a “true” junk journal. But here’s how I see it:

Junk journaling has always been about storytelling through scraps – and printables are just another way to tell that story. They make the look and feel of vintage paper more accessible. They allow us to blend old and new, to recreate the charm of age without needing a flea market nearby. They also give beginner journalers the confidence to begin, without feeling like they have to dig through a thrift store or antique shop to find “the right pieces.”

So whether you’re using digitals, literal junk, or a little of both, it all counts. If you’re creating something that feels meaningful to you, it’s a junk journal. No gatekeeping required.

✨ Want to explore the creative possibilities?
👉 Browse junk journal printables in my Etsy shop
👉 Grab free printables by joining the Free Resource Library
👉 Explore junk journal tutorials on the blog

There’s no one “right way” to junk journal — just your way. And that’s exactly what makes it beautiful.

💛 Why It Still Matters

Why Junk Journaling Is Still So Relevant (and Always Will Be)

Junk journaling isn’t just a trend. It’s a creative tradition that has quietly existed – in one form or another – for centuries. And the reason it keeps showing up, generation after generation, is simple:

We all want to remember things.
We all want to express ourselves.
And we all want to make meaning out of the bits and pieces of our lives.

In a world that’s moving faster than ever, junk journaling gives you the opportunity to slow down. It gives you something to hold, something to make, something to feel. You’re not just crafting – you’re collecting. Preserving. Reflecting. Playing.

Whether you’re using vintage paper or printable kits, thrifted book pages or digital ephemera – the desire is the same. You’re telling your story. You’re making something beautiful out of what’s around you.

That’s why junk journaling isn’t going away. It’s flexible. It’s personal. And it’s needed. If anything, it’s more relevant now than ever – especially in a world that needs more creativity, more slowness, and more hands-on joy.

💛 Want to Create Your Own Junk Journal?

If this post has you feeling inspired, I’ve got something special to help you begin. My Junk Journal Beginner Guide walks you through your first journal step-by-step — no pressure, no perfectionism required.

You’ll also get a free printable kit to help you get started right away. It’s beginner-friendly, cozy, and full of encouragement.

👉 Grab your free beginner guide

Next Steps

Want to keep exploring junk journaling? These posts will help you dive deeper into the craft:

• What Is a Junk Journal?
• What Is the Purpose of a Junk Journal?
• 23 Inspiring Junk Journal Styles
• 21 Types of Junk Journals and Folios
• Junk Journal Glossary
• Who Is Junk Journaling For? (Hint: Probably You)

📚 References & Further Reading

Here are some of the resources I used to piece together the history of junk journaling — each one is worth exploring in its own right:

• House of Mahalo – Justine does a fantastic job describing the shift from traditional scrapbooking to junk journaling, and how the craft grew online.
• Scrapbooking – Wikipedia – A comprehensive timeline of scrapbooking history, from Victorian memory books to the Creative Memories boom in the 1980s and 2000s.
• Scrapbook.com History Timeline – A useful timeline of scrapbooking trends, tools, and influences.
• The Scrapbook History Podcast – Episode 1 – A lovely look at early scrapbooks, friendship albums, and Victorian ephemera practices.
• Collage Research Network – A thoughtful collection of essays exploring the artistic and cultural roots of collage, assemblage, and memory-keeping through paper.

Whether you’re just discovering junk journaling or deep in your journaling journey, I hope this little history made you feel even more connected to the craft - and to your own stories.

Happy crafting,
Cyna xx