20 Summer Vacation Junk Journal Ideas You’ll Want to Try
Spreads you can touch, see, hear, smell, and (almost) taste to remind you of summer vacay all year long. And yes - I’m giving you full permission to steal my ideas and RUN WITH THEM!
Summer has long been the best season. Maybe it’s the way our brains are conditioned to associate it with no school, no responsibilities, and sunshine, but it’s hands-down one a fav for memory-making. It deserves to be remembered. And what better way to keep the good bits close than by turning them into pages?
Whether you're off on a grand adventure or savoring slow days at home, here are 20 summer vacation junk journal ideas to help you bottle the sunshine.
1. Save the Scraps (Literally)
Your summer starts in the little things: ticket stubs, local coffee shop receipts, candy wrappers from a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Keep them all. They tell the story just as much as the big moments do.
This has long been a favorite and go-to for junk journaling. Pictured above, I cut out little bits and pieces of everythang. I’m talking:
To-Go Menus (or regular menus if they’re disposable!)
Receipts
Flyers
Postcards
Candy Wrappers
Paper Bags from Tourist Shops
Combined with cute washi tape or on-theme stickers, your scraps will soon be swooned over.
2. Make a Road Trip Playlist Page
Here comes the part you can hear - memories have a soundtrack. This spread is all about the songs that carried you from here to there. And as a self-proclaimed Spotify playlist queen - I can’t tell you enough how valuable it is to make a new playlist every season of every year so you can go back and bask in the memories later on.
List your favorite road trip songs, past and present—bangers, singalongs, quiet night-drive tracks.
Add little doodles: music notes, cassette tapes, car windows rolled down.
Include quotes or lyrics that hit just right this summer.
Print a QR code or Spotify code linked to your actual playlist—it’s easier than you think and adds a techy twist.
Color-code songs by mood: hype, mellow, nostalgic, mysterious.
Write a note about where you were when a certain song played—sometimes music is more than just background.
This spread is basically a mixtape with paper and glue (or washi tape or whateva).
3. Collect Beach Ephemera
Personally - not a big sand girl. But to each their own. If you’re trying to remember the good times at the beach, here’s what you should do. Sand between the pages, salt on your skin. Keep the beach with you, piece by piece.
Tuck in a mini envelope (or plastic bag) with a pinch of sand from your favorite shore (label it like a specimen!).
Glue in tiny seashells, sea glass, or pebbles—a dab of strong glue or tape does the trick.
Include bits and pieces like:
Beach tags or wristbands
Sunscreen labels
A straw wrapper from that perfect beachside drink
Add a photo or sketch of the coastline or your beach towel view. If you don’t have a photo, draw your beach towel.
Write a little blurb like:
“This was the day the sky stayed pink forever.”
“We played cards in the sand until the tide came in.”
4. The “Things I Ate” Spread
Sweet treat lovers, listen up. Because sometimes the best part of the trip is the snacks.
Glue in receipt snippets, takeout menus, or stickers from restaurants and cafes.
Add food wrappers or labels: popsicles, peaches, that one candy you only eat in the summer.
Print tiny photos of favorite meals—or better yet, draw them if you're feeling playful.
Make a food diary list, like:
“Tuesday: watermelon for breakfast, grilled corn for dinner.”
“Accidentally had ice cream three days in a row. Not sorry.”
Use color to theme it: warm tones for BBQ, pastels for desserts, sea tones for seafood nights.
Would it hurt to wipe them clean before gluing them in? Probably not.
5. Map It Out
Add a real map or draw your own. Circle places you visited. Connect them with dotted lines. Add little stickers or symbols—tiny treasure maps of your travels. Summer isn’t just a season—it’s a route. Let’s chart yours.
Use a real map page from an atlas, brochure, or printout.
Or draw your own, with cute little line-art roads and made-up landmarks.
Circle places you visited, and connect them with a dotted line or twine. If you have cute ribbon, you’re better than me and you win.
Use icons or stickers to mark:
Ice cream stops
Swimming holes
Gas station karaoke moments
Label towns or parks with little flags or labels like: “Best thrift store,” “gorg. view,” “Got lost here.”
Add a legend or key, just for fun.
The journey matters just as much as the destination—this spread proves it.
6. Press a Petal
Summer means blooms in so many places. Flowers are fleeting, but they don’t have to be.
Press a flower or leaf by placing it in a heavy book for a few days—paper towel or wax paper keeps things tidy.
Glue or tape it into your journal, or tuck it into a tiny envelope or windowed pouch.
Label it with a date + place, like:
“Found on the trail to the lake, 6/18”
“From the bouquet on our picnic table”
Add a note about the moment, even just a sentence.
Surround it with soft watercolor, a poem, or dried grass for extra texture.
Nature’s souvenirs are the best kind—quiet, simple, full of feeling.
7. Make a Summer Bucket List (and Check It Off)
Lists aren’t just for productivity—they’re little declarations of hope. This one’s about what you wanted to do, what you did, and what you’re saving for later.
Also - for my Type A gals - stop feeling bad if you don’t get to it all.
Write your list by hand, with doodles, dates, or little checkboxes.
Include the big and small stuff:
“Swim in the ocean before breakfast”
“Try a new farmer’s market”
“Finish that one book I keep starting”
Mark what you actually did, with checkmarks, stickers, or gold stars.
Circle the ones you didn’t do—and write a note about why. It’s still part of the story.
Decorate with tiny icons: sandals, ice cream cones, fireworks, a half-packed suitcase.
Your bucket list doesn’t have to be complete to be important. It’s the intention that counts.
8. Write a Postcard to Yourself
Imagine you’re writing to future you—from this exact summer moment. Think - 1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now. Try this:
Use a real postcard from somewhere you visited (or wanted to), or make your own from cardstock.
Write like you're away on vacation, even if you're just sitting in your backyard:
“Dear me, I hope you never forget how the grass felt on your ankles today.”
“You were brave this week. You danced at a wedding and didn’t even care who saw.”
Keep it short + sweet, like you would if space were limited.
Mail it to yourself first, or tape it directly into your journal like a secret treasure.
Add a fake stamp or doodled postmark for charm.
Tiny, magical time capsule. So so cute.
9. Envelope of Secrets
Some memories aren’t for the main page. Tuck them away in a pocket, just for you.
Add a mini envelope to your page (store-bought, handmade, or folded from scrapbook paper).
Fill it with:
Tiny notes to yourself
Keepsakes from your bestie or your love
Miniature fortunes or song lyrics
A folded-up journal entry you’re not ready to read again
That one photo that’s too special to leave out, but too tender to explain
Write “DO NOT OPEN (yet)” or “For future me” on the outside, if you want to lean into the mystery.
Decorate it subtly—a wax seal, some washi tape, or a pressed flower - okkkkkk mystery gal!
10. Watercolor Your Mood
I used to watercolor all the time. It was one of the most fun ways to create because there was an element of not knowing what was going to happen that was simply FUN! No rules. No perfection. Just color and feeling.
Pick a color (or three) that match how your day felt:
Golden yellow = joy
Dusty blue = mellow
Neon orange = chaotic energy
Murky green = a little weird, but kind of interesting
Swirl them together on the page, letting the shapes and blends tell the story. Start with a pencil outline if you feel so inclined.
Add notes if you want, like:
“This was the day I laughed until I snorted.”
“I cried in the car, then got ice cream. This is that.”
Use watercolor paper or thick pages, or layer in tissue paper for a dreamy effect.
Even if you don’t “paint,” this is just feelings in color. No art degree required.
Sometimes your mood needs to live somewhere other than your head.
11. The “Found on the Ground” Page
Uhhhhhh yuh - this one is a double whammy. Good for the environment, good for your junk journal. You just became the trash man. See a cool piece of trash? Make it yours. Leaflets, confetti, cool packaging, stickers from fruit—if it crossed your path, it’s fair game.
12. Collect Words
Summer has its own language—bright, weird, fleeting. Don’t let it get lost in time.
Try this:
Write down overheard snippets: from beachside diners, hiking trails, crowded markets, or late-night porch chats. (Bonus points for the funny, the poetic, or the wildly out of context.) I love making lists of funny shiz my friends say.
Snag phrases from menus: “lime-zested aioli,” “sunset spritz,” or that one menu item that sounds like a band name. Sometimes a good menu item description is simply poetic.
Note local slang or accents: regional sayings, funny mispronunciations, or words that only make sense if you were there.
Collect signs and packaging: snap pics or cut out things like “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem,” popsicle wrappers, sunscreen instructions, hand-written roadside ads.
Make a word collage: layer cut-out letters, handwritten notes, or even a chaotic little word cloud.
Highlight favorites, like:
“Salt-crusted”
“Y’all ready?”
“Back in five-ish”
“Frozen custard & fireworks”
Add a little reflection (optional): What do these words feel like? What do they remind you of? What’s the “summer phrase” you’d put on a T-shirt right now?
This spread is like a mixtape made of language. A dive into language arts, one might say.
13. Tiny Polaroid Grid
Another easy one you can get creative with: photos. Fill a page with small instant photos or printed mini versions of your phone pics. Leave space for scribbled captions. Here are some ways I love to get creative with this:
Cut-out shapes like hearts and stars
Make collages on your phone before printing
Print out regular-sized prints in 4x6 and 5x7 and cut along the subject border to place in-between square images
14. Day in the Life
Pick one day and document everything from start to finish—what you wore, what you ate, where your feet took you.
How to set it up:
Timestamp Your Day - Either take a page out of your planner (or an old one you don’t use anymore) and follow the chronological time stamps of the day, or create your own grid using the dot grid or a ruler.
Rule of Thirds - Divide your page into Morning, Afternoon, and Night and put in the highlights from each major section.
15. Matchbook (esque) Memories
There’s something about the texture aspect of junk journaling that is so freeing. That’s why I’m obsessed with a kraft-paper journal - it’s nice and sturdy for those big textured items. Stay somewhere quirky? Add the matchbook, coaster, or hotel room key card. The physical bits hit differently. You could even devote a whole page to a collection of each. Here are some ideas:
Coasters
Matchbooks
Hotel Room Keys
Chopsticks
Fun Disposable Straws or Spoons
And again - if the fact that it won’t sit perfectly flat scares you - it shouldn’t. It’s a book of junk. There are no rules.
16. “Things I Learned” Page
Maybe it’s deep, maybe it’s “never trust a GPS near a canyon”—either way, write it down.
Fun title ideas to help get you started:
Tips For My Future Self
Wisdoms
Things I Learned
This Might Be Useful Later
Hot Takes & Cold Truths
Notes From the Road (Literal or Otherwise)
Mental Post-Its (bonus points if you make this page entirely out of post-its)
If I Forget, Remind Me
Truths, Half-Truths, and GPS Lies (or whatever other myth you BUSTED!)
What I Know (Today)
The Manual I’m Writing as I Go
This is one of those writing-heavy pages where it might be fun to cut out scraps of words from magazines, newspapers, or use fun colored pens or markers.
17. Mini Museum
Dude. This is hands-down one of my favorite pages even though it is not one of the cutest. I have this cute little envelope from the museum I went to and inside I popped in some post-cards and art cutouts from the brochure of the museum. You can make yours like mine, and store it in an envelope, or, you can make each little piece its’ own unique frame. There are no mini museum junk journal rules. But - if yours turns out really cute - please send it to me on Instagram so I can enjoy it, too (:
18. Vision Board
I’ve been super into Pinterest’s collage mode lately and a vision board IRL is just a better version of that. Your summer junk journal is the perfect place to dream a little—no pressure, just possibility. Use this spread to collect visual inspiration for the you you're becoming or the life you're leaning into.
Try this:
Cut out magazine clippings that spark something: a color palette, a phrase, a place. No logic needed—just trust the pull.
Print out photos or polaroids that represent how you want summer to feel—not just look.
Add small doodles or sketches of your dream vacation, a houseplant you want to keep alive, or a version of you wearing something bold and joyful.
Include texture: A swatch of fabric, a candy wrapper, or part of a postcard—anything that makes the page more tactile and layered.
Write one dreamy little sentence, like:
“This is the version of me that wakes up with the sun and writes poems in the sand.”
“Slow mornings. Big sunglasses. A suitcase always half-packed.”
“More color, more courage, more quiet confidence.”
Let this spread be a playful portal into your next chapter—no rules, just resonance.
If you need an extra place to start, here are some fav collage pins from my boards:
19. Summer Scent Sample
One of my favorite ways to remember a vacation is to wear a certain perfume when I visit a certain place. Scents are memory keepers—one whiff and you’re right back in a moment you didn’t even know you remembered. Try this in your junk journal:
Add a scent strip from your selected destination's summer perfume or even a magazine ad that smells like vacation.
Tape in a sunscreen label from that brand you always take to the beach—instant nostalgia.
Include dried herbs or flowers like:
Lavender (calming, classic summer garden)
Mint (cool and fresh)
Rosemary (woodsy and beachy)
Tuck in a tiny envelope or sachet with a bit of something fragrant: sand-sprinkled rose petals, pine needles from a hike, or even a dryer sheet that smells like summer linens.
Write a quick scent memory, like:
“This smells like the road trip to Big Sur—windows down, hair tangled.”
“That coconut lotion reminds me of staying out way too long in the sun.”
“Citronella candles and grilled corn—every summer evening on the porch.”
These scent pieces turn your journal into a sensory scrapbook—one that smells like sunshine, salt, and freedom.
20. QR Code Roulette
Alright - this one is a bit avant grade - so stay with me. If you to an attraction or restaurant that has a piece of paper with a QR code, take it home, cut it out, and paste it onto a page in your junk journal (unlabeled). Do this every time you go somewhere cool. Then, when you’re stuck at home, bored. Scan a QR code. Relive some memories. Maybe even make some plans to go back.
Bonus Tip: Keep a Summer Scrap Pouch
Wherever you go, keep a pouch, envelope, or even a folded paper bag on hand for collecting the magic as it happens. That way, when you sit down to journal, you’re surrounded by a little paper constellation of your summer memories.
Wanna Get Exclusive Spread Ideas?
I’m launching The Little Object Files May of 2025!
The Little Object Files is a dreamy 5-page digital PDF download, lovingly curated around May’s monthly theme (think Summer Picnic Vibes)—designed to spark inspiration and joy around junk journaling. Perfect for junk journalers of all experience levels—whether you’re a seasoned sticker-layerer or just discovering the joy of tiny scissors. Inside:
2 Exclusive Spread Ideas (you won’t find them on my blog)
1 Page of Journal Prompts
A 1-Page Monthly Themed Junk Journaling Scavenger Hunt
Either 1 Page of Tips & Tricks or 1 Page of Printable Collage Items
Get on the waitlist to be notified:
My Junk Journal Must-Haves List
P.S. If you want to shop my amazon list of items I bought for my junk journal, it is here.
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Get messy. Junk journal on - and remember - no rules.
XOXO ~ jam
