If you've been saving paper offcuts in a box — the trimmings from other journal projects, folded scraps that seem too good to throw away, bits of painted paper and old book pages — this tutorial is exactly what that box has been waiting for. I make two full journals from start to finish here, entirely from leftover paper, with no separate cover and no binding into a cover. The result lays completely flat wherever you open it.
What we cover
This is a full walkthrough of how to build a junk journal by folding and assembling paper scraps into signatures, embellishing each signature individually, then binding them — using a three-hole pamphlet stitch, a sewing machine straight stitch, or both — and finally gluing the signatures together into one journal. We also cover how to decorate the cover (which is simply the first page) and how to scale the whole idea up or down for mini journals.
What you'll learn
How to sort and assemble signatures from mixed paper scraps — including how to handle pages of varying heights, where to place shorter pages within a signature, and how to think about which signature becomes your front cover before you start embellishing.
How to decide on signature count and page count — not as a fixed rule but as a practical decision based on how chunky you want the finished journal. I go with eight signatures of roughly seven pages each in the main journal, but the approach works just as well with three signatures or twenty.
How to number signatures before you embellish them — a small step that saves a lot of confusion if you put the project down and come back to it later. Once the signatures are apart and covered in ruffles, it's surprisingly easy to lose track of the order.
How to embellish each signature independently before binding, including:
- Sewing fabric ruffles, lace, and ribbon onto individual pages and returning them to the signature as you go
- Adding pockets by sewing pages partially shut
- Stamping and stenciling on pages that don't already have sewing on them, and letting stamped images dry before closing the signature
- Adding stickers, die cuts, and paper collage elements — using a torn and inked book page to give an otherwise plain sticker something to sit on
Why you must leave the first and last page of each signature untouched — those pages get glued together when you assemble the journal. Ruffles or pockets on those pages would end up trapped or visible in a way you don't want.
How to bind each signature individually, including:
- Three-hole pamphlet stitch with embroidery floss or thread — quick, requires no template, and hole placement can vary across signatures
- Straight stitch on the sewing machine — faster for smaller pages, though it takes care to keep everything aligned before and during stitching
- A combination of both across the same journal, for variety
How to center shorter middle pages within a signature before binding so they don't sit awkwardly off to one side when the journal is assembled.
How to glue the signatures together into one journal, including:
- Working back to front, gluing the last page of one signature to the first page of the next
- Identifying which of the two pages being joined is smaller — glue always goes onto the smaller page
- Leaving a finger's width gap from the spine so the journal retains movement and opens flat
- Centering shorter signatures against taller ones so there's a small reveal on both edges rather than an overhang on one side
- Using a book page as a protective layer under the glue so it doesn't reach ruffles or embellishments on pages below
How to decorate the cover — which is just the exposed first page of your first signature. A cluster, a sticker, a die-cut shape with a brad, a torn book page as a base: whatever you have. The video shows a few different approaches across the journals made here.
How to scale the project — two signatures glued together make a sweet little booklet; a stack of twenty make a chunky art journal. The method is the same either way.
Tips & gotchas
The first and last page of each signature get glued to the adjacent signatures, so don't add ruffles, pockets, or embellishments there — they'll end up buried or cause the glue joint to fail. This is the one rule that trips people up most often, and it's easy to forget mid-embellishing session if your signatures aren't numbered.
When you glue two signatures together, always apply the glue to the smaller of the two pages, not the larger. That way you avoid glue creeping past the edge of the smaller page onto embellishments below. And stay back from the spine by about a finger's width — roughly a centimetre — all the way through the stack. That gap is what gives the journal its flat-open quality. Glue the spines and the whole thing locks up stiff.
Slide a book page underneath the signature you're gluing before you start. It takes two seconds and means that if your glue strays further than you intended, it lands on the book page rather than on your ruffles or lace on the pages beneath.
When the page you're gluing onto a taller signature is noticeably shorter, center it so there's a small amount of the larger signature peeking out top and bottom, rather than aligning everything to one edge. It looks intentional, and it is.
Don't place very small pages as the first page or the middle page of a signature. The first page gets glued, and the middle page is the one your binding stitch runs through — a tiny page in either spot causes problems. Somewhere in between is fine.
If you're using a sewing machine to bind signatures, hold the spine firmly and consider a paper clip to keep everything aligned before it goes under the presser foot. Pages shift more than you expect on the way through, especially with larger sheets.
Keep your tiniest scraps separate as you sort. They're perfect for a smaller journal but tend to get lost or look awkward in a larger one.
Let stamped images dry completely before you close a signature back up. Fresh ink transfers readily, and you will not notice until you open the journal later.
If your back cover page is very thin and floppy, a piece of cardstock glued behind it gives it just enough body to feel like a proper cover. Not essential, but worth doing if it bothers you.
It works as a glue book, an art journal, a writing journal, or something you make a stack of for markets and gifts. Once you've done it once with scraps, the box of offcuts stops feeling like a problem to solve and starts feeling like a resource.
