Journaling & Field Notes
What Is a Junk Journal? A Starter Guide for the Philippines
A junk journal is a notebook filled with everyday paper scraps: receipts, tickets, wrappers. Here is how to start one with things already in your bag.
A junk journal is a notebook you fill with paper that would otherwise be thrown away. Receipts, bus tickets, sugar packets, clothing tags, bits of wrapping paper. You glue them in, write around them, and end up with a record of an ordinary week that looks surprisingly good.
What counts as "junk"
- Café receipts and order numbers
- Jeep, bus, train and cinema tickets
- Paper bags and bakery wrappers
- Stamps, envelopes and delivery labels
- Fruit stickers, tea tags, sugar sachets
- Pages from old magazines and calendars
In the Philippines you already collect half of this without trying. Empty your bag onto a table and you have a first spread.
What you need
A notebook with sturdy paper, a glue stick, scissors and a pen. Tape is nice. That is all. You do not need to buy "junk journal kits." The whole idea is that the material is free.
How to make a spread
- Lay out five or six scraps before gluing anything.
- Put the biggest piece down first, slightly off-centre.
- Overlap the smaller pieces so no edge is lonely.
- Write the date and one line about where each scrap came from.
- Leave some empty space. It makes the rest look intentional.
A local idea
Make a junk journal of one month in Marikina. Keep every café receipt, every bakery bag, every flyer handed to you on the street. Glue them into a Marikina Field Notes or any notebook. Our studio table always has paper, pens and paint out if you would like company while you do it.
Quick answers
What is a junk journal?
A journal made from found and recycled paper such as receipts, tickets, wrappers and labels, glued into a notebook with notes written around them.
Is junk journaling expensive?
No. The materials are things you would normally throw away. You only need a notebook, glue and scissors.