Junk Journal Pocket Ideas & Tutorial

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One of the easiest ways to add more interest to your junk journal as well as plenty of extra storage and tuck space is to incorporate pockets into your journal.  You can fill them with ephemera, journaling cards, tags and so much more. Plus they can be a gorgeous decoration all on their own.

There’s a million different ways to add pockets to your journals, but I’ve gathered a few of my favorite junk journal pocket ideas together and included some tutorials to help make it easier to get started.  

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Junk Journal Pocket Ideas

Square Pocket with Thumb Punch

The first way is to create a simple squared pocket like this one. These are pretty popular in junk journal kits (and are included in the Secret Ledger Junk Journal Kit) but you can also make one on your own.  Trace out a square on to paper, add tabs to three sides, use a hole punch (like this one) to create a tab at the top to easily pull ephemera and tags out of the pocket. Then glue the three tabs down to the paper and you have a pocket!

Envelope Pocket

Another super easy way to create a pocket is to use an envelope. You can just glue the front side of the envelope down and leave the flap open on the back side to create a super cute pocket.  Or if you want o get more creative you can fold the envelope in half and insert it into a signature to create a double sided pocket (see the video below for more details!)

Floating Pocket

You can use a coin envelope the same way to create a pocket. I also love using coin envelopes to create a “floating pocket”. To make a floating pocket, take your coin envelope and attach it to a page using a paperclip (here’s the mini one pictured) or binder clip. It creates a moveable pocket you can fill with ephemera or a journaling card, and it creates a really cute tuck spot on the other side. 

Corner Pocket

Corner pockets are another super easy way to create more tuck space in your journal. You can make them as simple or as fancy as you like. For a simple one like the one pictured above, just rip off the corner of another page, fold the bottom and one side under. Place glue on the reverse edge and press the pocket on to any page in your journal that you’d like.  

There are lots of fancier versions of this pocket – you can use double folds or just double up the pockets on top of each other to create a layered corner effect. You can also glue a pocket on each opposing corner for a double pocket to add even more tuck space.  

You can also decorate your pockets by using some Vintage Photo ink to age the edges, or using a bit of ribbon to line the top side for extra decoration. 

Glassine Bag Pocket

Glassine bag pockets are probably one of the simplest ways to add pocket space into your journal. Since they come pre-assembled they’re easily glued in wherever you like. You can also cut one end of the pocket and sew it into the center of a signature if you want to create a double pocket on each side in between your pages. 

(If you don’t have glassine bags, you can get them here.)

They’re also fun to decorate – glue some scrap paper or collage pieces to jazz them up, or add a bit of trim or some distress spray ink to make them stand out from the page. 

Side or Bottom Pocket

Like the corner pocket, the bottom pocket or a side pocket are one of the most common types of pockets you’ll see in junk journals. You can just glue them directly to the page, or create tabs on three sides to create a large gusseted pocket with more room it in it – depending on how much you want to include. 

Junk Journal Pocket Ideas & Tutorial Video

 

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