Table of Contents
A new year junk journal needs more than a blank notebook and good intentions. This kit gives you 36 printable pages built around one January: a midnight clock tower, a table set for a toast, a calendar waiting to be filled, and the quiet grey light of the first sunrise of the year. Glue them in as they are and the journal already feels finished before you write a single word.
Inside you get 25 full scene pages, 5 seamless background patterns for covers and fillers, and 6 lined writing pages for your own resolutions and notes. Print on a heavier matte paper, around 24 to 32 lb, so the colour sits well and the page does not curl. Set your printer to its best or photo quality, let the ink dry flat for a few minutes, then trim to your journal size before gluing anything in.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Countdown and Celebration Pages
Picture this one as the opening page of your journal, the moment the countdown ends and the whole year is still unwritten in front of you.
Tuck a real party detail onto this one: a scrap of the paper napkin from your own celebration, a saved cocktail stirrer, or a torn corner of a party invitation glued beside the glasses.
Write the date and who you raised a glass with underneath, even if it was just you and a quiet kitchen at midnight.
Pair this page with the Gold Stars and Streamers background later in the set: glue a strip of that pattern along the bottom edge here as a painted ribbon of celebration running under the scene.
The usual mistake with a small still life page like this one is leaving too much empty paper around the objects, which makes the scene feel unfinished once it is glued in.
Let the painted tabletop and its soft shadow run right to all four edges, so the hats and horns look gathered on a surface rather than floating in space.
Fireworks bloom over a dark river while a few small boats and a distant bridge sit quietly beneath them, the whole sky and water painted in deep layered colour.
Fresh Start Pages
This page suits anyone starting a brand new journal from page one, since an empty calendar wrapped and waiting is the clearest symbol of a fresh start you can glue into a book.
Place this sunrise directly after the Blank Calendar page in your layout, so the spread reads as one thought: an empty year on the left, the first morning of it rising on the right.
A narrow path curves through untouched snow toward a line of dark trees, with a single set of footprints just beginning near the bottom of the page.
What to write here: the date you started this journal, one word for how you want the year to feel, or a short line about why you picked this particular notebook.
Give this one the five minute version: print it, glue it straight onto a page with no extra decoration, and let the painted seed packets carry the whole spread on their own.
Jot a short numbered list of resolutions right onto the painted napkin here, or glue a strip of plain paper over it first if you want room to revise the list later in the year.
Winter Still Life Pages
Place the Gold Stars and Streamers background a few pages before this one, since the painted gold star in the box here echoes that pattern and ties the two spreads together.
A lit candle sits beside a short sprig of pine and a single pinecone, their shadows painted softly across a dark wooden surface that fills the rest of the page.
The usual mistake with a window page is painting the glass too clean and losing the winter feeling, so keep the frost thick along the edges and let the outside view stay soft and blurred.
Leave the centre pane a little clearer than the corners, as if someone wiped a small circle to look outside on a cold morning.
Glue a real cocoa packet label or a torn sugar sachet beside this mug if you want the page to smell faintly of the drink itself when you turn to it later in the year.
A pair of knitted mittens hangs drying near a small hearth, a folded scarf and a pair of worn boots resting on the floor beside the warm glow of the fire.
This page works well for a gift journal made for a grandmother or an older relative, since a snow globe on a quiet shelf carries a slower, more nostalgic kind of winter than a party scene does.
Reflection Pages
What to write here: an open letter addressed to the year itself, naming one hope, one worry, and one thing you refuse to carry over from the last twelve months.
A small empty photo frame rests on a shelf beside a pressed flower and a short stack of old letters, with space inside the frame left bare for you to glue in a photo later.
What question suits this page best: what do you want to remember feeling by the time next December arrives, and who do you hope to still be close to.
Tea stain the bottom edge of this page lightly before gluing it in, so the falling sand in the hourglass seems to bleed softly into the aged edge of the paper itself.
A half open door reveals a soft wash of golden light beyond it, a pair of boots and a coat left just inside, suggesting someone about to step out into the new year.
Write twelve tiny folded notes for the jar across the year, one for each month, then flip back to glue the real notes in around this painted jar once December arrives.
Steam rises gently from a coffee cup set beside an open notebook on a quiet morning, with a soft wash of early light filling the window behind the small scene.
Glue an actual ticket stub here if you have one from a trip this year, or a torn boarding pass corner, so this page becomes a small departure point in your own story.
Background Papers
Use this gold star pattern as a cover wrap, a border strip trimmed along a scene page, or a lining behind a cut out window on another sheet, always in the set’s muted midnight and gold palette.
Place this behind a photo of your own celebration, trim it into a small insert for the Champagne Toast Table page, or use it whole as a divider between the first and second month of the journal.
Good under a cold weather photo, as a cover lining for the whole journal, or trimmed into a frame around the Frosted Window Pane scene earlier in the set.
Use this striped clock pattern as a divider page between the celebration section and the reflection section, a strip along a page edge, or a simple lining for the journal’s inside cover.
Works well behind a cosy winter photo, as a lining for the back cover, or torn into strips to tuck along the edges of the Mittens and Hot Cocoa pages.
Lined Writing Pages
Use these lines for a short list of January goals, a one line summary of how the first week of the year actually went, or a small note to reread in June.
Write your single word for the year at the top, then use the lines below for why you chose it, what it will look like in practice, and one way to check in on it later.
Address this one directly to yourself in December: what you hope has happened by then, what you hope has quietly ended, and one thing you want to remember feeling in January.
Use these lines for a guest list from your celebration, a short menu of what you served, or who called you at midnight even though you could not see them in person.
List three small habits to build this year, one thing you want to stop doing, and a short note on who or what will help you keep the first habit going past February.
Save this as the very first lined page in the whole journal: the date, the weather outside, and one honest sentence about how it actually feels to begin again.
What to Do Next
Print the set, trim each page to fit your journal, and start gluing from the midnight clock tower forward so the year opens the way it should. For more themed pages to keep building your collection, browse the junk journaling handbook or the vintage junk journal ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for printing these new year junk journal pages?
A matte paper between 24 and 32 lb prints the washes well without curling or soaking through. Cardstock also works if your printer handles it, and gives the finished pages a sturdier feel once glued into a journal that gets handled often.
What printer settings give the best colour on these pages?
Choose your printer’s best or photo quality setting rather than draft or normal, since the soft washes in this set need more ink laid down evenly to avoid looking streaky. Letting each page dry flat for a few minutes before handling keeps the colour from smudging.
Do I need to trim the pages before gluing them in?
Most journals run smaller than a full printed sheet, so trim each page down to fit your book before gluing it in. Keep a small straight edge or trimmer nearby so the corners stay sharp and line up neatly against your journal’s existing pages.
Can I colour or add to these pages after printing?
Yes, a fine tip pen works well for adding dates, short notes or extra line work directly onto the printed scenes. Coloured pencils can deepen a shadow or warm up a highlight if you want to personalise a page beyond what is already painted.
How do I decide which pages to use first in my journal?
Start with a scene page like the clock tower or the blank calendar, since those set the tone for a fresh start. Mix in the background pages as dividers between sections and save a lined page for whenever you actually sit down to write.
Have any thoughts?
Share your reaction or leave a quick response — we’d love to hear what you think!
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