WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS JUNK JOURNAL

Inside: how to make a Christmas junk journal from all your paper scraps

Every year I teach the 12 Cards of Christmas series (see recent 2020 series) and I'm left with a lot of Christmas papers that are too small for making cards but can still be used for something. I hate throwing away paper scraps and actually I almost never do so I'm left with lots of leftovers. I challenge myself to use them in different ways and one of these ways is to collect a pile of papers and turn them into a junk journal.

WHAT IS A JUNK JOURNAL

Junk journals can vary from person to person, but it generally most of them do share one primary characteristic: The journal is made with mostly a mix of found and recycled materials mostly papers.

HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS JUNK JOURNAL

Making a junk jornal is easy if you follow three steps:

• Choose a theme for your junk journal
• Gather papers
• Bind the journal

To find out more about making junk journals check out how to easily make a junk journal and what to do with it.

To make the Christmas junk journal I followed the three steps:

• I chose to make my journal with a Christmas theme so that meant using all papers that fit the holiday theme.
• Then I gathered all my Christmas paper scraps no matter their size. The great hing about a junk journal is that you can make the pages in any shape or size.
• Finally I arranged all my papers and binded them with wire. If you don't have a wire like this you can bind the pages with scrapbooking rings instead.

Here are some binding options for you to try:

Check out the video tutorial to see how I arranged all my papers and prepared them for binding so I'll get a really fun and easy to make Christmas junk journal.

CHRISTMAS JUNK JOURNAL PAGE IDEAS

• If you have pieces of fabric or felt add them as pages. They'll add a soft fuzzy feeling to the album and a feeling of warm stockings or winter blankets.
• Cut the papers to different sizes.
• Make the pages in different shapes like a circle or hearts. Christmas shapes like a stocking, triangle for a tree or even a star will be a great addition too.
• Use different tpes of paper: currugated cardboard, wrapping papers, transparencies and every other paper scraps you have.
• If you want to use a certain paper and it doesn't fit the theme or color change it by painting it or adding a holiday pattern with stamping or stenciling.
• Use papers with numbers on them they'll look like an advent calendar or a countdown for Christmas eve.
• Use old holiday cards or gift tags as mini pages.

WHAT TO DO WITH A CHRISTMAS JUNK JOURNAL

The idea of using all your paper leftovers is to make something useful out of them so here are a few ideas how to use your Christmas junk journal:

• Fill it with holiday photos, inspirational quotes or family memorabilia.
• Keep it for yourself as a holiday journal for notes.
• Give it as a gift to a crafty friend or an artist.
• Make it into an advent calendar counting towards the 24th.
• Use it as a brag book for your holiday photos.

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Have fun creating!