The actual process of making one
I spent about three weeks figure out how to make a junk journal that doesn't fall apart after two uses. Most templates you find online are designed for printing and cutting, not for people who actually glue things into them. Here's what I learned doing this the hard way. An Easy Junk Journal Template is basically a set of pre-measured pages with spots for pockets, pockets for pockets, and divider sections. The idea is you print it on cardstock, fold it, then fill it with whatever scrap paper, ticket stubs, and tissue paper you have lying around. You glue, stitch, or tape ephemera directly into the pages. That's it. It's not complicated, but getting the proportions right matters more than people admit. Most free templates online are A5 or A6 when folded. A5 gives you more room to work with. A6 is portable but cramped if you're dealing with larger tickets or receipts. I recommend A5 unless you have small hands or a tiny bag. I started with A6 because it looked cute in photos. Then I realized half my paper scraps wouldn't fit. Switched to A5 and stopped worrying about Instagram aesthetics.
Here's a direct template I made and use myself. It's a basic A5 accordion-style layout with five sections: front cover, three pocket pages, a writing page, and a back cover. Download it here: Easy Junk Journal Template (PDF). It's a single-page printout you fold in half. No fancy binding required.
What most templates get wrong about pocket sizing
The pockets in cheap templates are usually one inch deep. That sounds fine until you try to tuck in anything thicker than a receipt. A standard business card is about 0.01 inches thick. A folded ticket is closer to 0.06 inches. Three folded receipts and you're already pushing the pocket seam open. I learned this the hard way with a template from a popular craft blog. After two weeks, every pocket was gaping open because the gluestick I used couldn't hold the tension. The workaround was simple: I traced the pocket outlines onto heavier cardstock first, cut them out separately, and glued them onto the template pages instead of relying on the built-in pocket structure. This added about 45 minutes to the build but the pockets have held up for months. If you're using magazine paper or thin scrap paper for the journal itself, reinforce the pocket folds with a strip of washi tape on the inside before you start filling anything. Takes ten seconds per pocket. Another thing nobody mentions: the grain direction of your paper matters. If you fold along the wrong axis, the pages will want to spring open after a few days. Cut or fold your paper so the grain runs parallel to the spine. If you're buying printer paper, check the edge. The smooth cut edge runs one way, the rough edge runs the other. Fold along the smooth edge direction. This is basic paperbinding stuff that craft sites skip over entirely.
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How to actually assemble it without it falling apart
Print your template on 65 to 80 lb cardstock minimum. Standard printer paper at 20 lb will warp after you glue anything damp onto it. I use 80 lb matte cardstock because it takes ink well and doesn't buckle. If you're printing at home and your printer handles it, go heavier. If you're sending it to a print shop, ask for 100 lb text weight. It's thinner than cardstock but stiffer than regular paper, which is ideal for journal pages that need to lie flat. Fold the template along all score lines. Use a bone folder or the back of a butter knife to crease sharply. Don't skip this. Soft folds crack the paper fibers and the journal will look sloppy within a week. Score lines should be about a quarter inch from each edge for the cover sections and half an inch for the inner folds. This gives you enough material to glue without exposing raw edges. For binding, I use a simple three-hole pamphlet stitch with waxed linen thread. It takes about twelve minutes once you know what you're doing. Punch three holes along the fold, thread a needle, stitch through all layers in a figure-eight pattern, tie off, and trim. Do not use a stapler. Staples rust. They also tear through thin paper when you flip pages aggressively, which you will do.
Now for the fun part: filling it. Start with the pocket pages. Glue in your scraps using a acid-free glue stick or PVA. Position larger items first, smaller items on top. Leave the writing pages partially blank. You'll be tempted to fill every inch, but you need space to actually write in the journal later. I leave at least one page completely empty at the front and back for future use. One counter-intuitive tip: don't decorate the cover extensively before you start using the journal. The cover takes the most wear. If you glue layered paper flowers or heavy embellishments to it, they'll peel off within weeks of carrying the journal around. I cover mine with a single layer of vintage map paper using decoupage medium. It wears in nicely instead of falling apart. Leave embellishments for interior pages where they won't get handled as much.
When this approach doesn't work
Junk journals are not a good system if you need strict organization. I tried using one as my primary notebook for project planning and gave up after three weeks. There's no numbering system, no consistent layout, and finding a specific note requires flipping through every page. If you need to reference something quickly, a standard dotted notebook or a bullet journal with a proper index will save you actual time. A junk journal is for memory keeping and creative expression, not for task management. Another limitation: supply dependency. You need a steady stream of paper scraps, tickets, receipts, and other ephemera to make this worthwhile. If you're mostly digital and don't accumulate physical paper items, a junk journal will sit empty or you'll end up buying decorative paper just to fill it, which defeats the purpose. In that case, a plain sketchbook or a blank journal with a nice cover is a better investment. The template I linked above is designed for beginners who want something functional without spending hours on structural design. It's not going to produce museum-quality results. But it will hold together, it fits standard scraps, and you can have it assembled in under an hour from start to finish. I've made six copies of it now. The first two had pocket failures and binding issues. The third one is still going strong after eight months of daily use. The improvements were small: reinforced pockets, heavier paper, and proper grain alignment. Nothing dramatic, just the kind of thing you figure out after wasting material on bad first attempts.
