Glue book: fill a cheap notebook with the day's paper
A glue book is a cheap notebook filled with whatever paper a day leaves behind: receipts, labels, wrappers, tickets and notes. Little decoration, a page a day, under ten minutes.
Start with 40 pages free. No card needed.
It is the quickest kind of paper journal. Nothing is planned, cut to shape or bought for it, and the book gets fat and wavy as it fills.
People keep one for a year, a trip or a hard month. Read back later, a receipt and a bus ticket say a lot about a day.
See also: what a smash book is, a scrapbook journal with photos and writing, how to preserve newspaper clippings.
Make a digital scrapbook
Add your photos and keepsakes in tbf scrapbook, then arrange them on the pages. Make a digital scrapbook online.
| Scrap | Stick it with | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Till receipt | Glue stick | Thermal print fades; photograph it if the words matter |
| Fruit sticker or label | Its own glue | Peel slowly so it keeps its shape |
| Sweet wrapper | Tape at the corners | Flatten it under a heavy book overnight first |
| Ticket | Glue stick | Write who you went with along one edge |
| Leaf or flower | Clear tape over the top | Press it dry for a week first |
| Note or list | Washi tape along the top | It lifts so the back can still be read |
Use the cheapest notebook you can find
A school exercise book or a kraft notebook is right. A beautiful book makes people careful, and a glue book needs to be careless.
One page, one day
Date the top corner and stick in what is in your pockets. On a day with no paper, write one line about what you did instead.
When the pockets are empty
Some days leave no paper. These fill a page without a trip to the shops.
- The label from tonight's dinner.
- A torn corner of a newspaper headline.
- A doodle of the view from where you sat.
- Words you overheard, written down.
- A phone photo printed small.
Steps
Buy the book
An exercise book or kraft notebook, A5 or smaller.
Keep an envelope in your bag
Drop the day's paper in it as you go.
Empty it at night
Stick everything on the next page and write the date.
Look back each month
Flick through on the first of the month and write one line on the inside cover.
Questions
What is a glue book?
A notebook filled with everyday scraps, stuck in with little or no decoration. It is quicker and messier than a junk journal.
What glue is best for a glue book?
A glue stick for paper and tape for anything shiny or thick. Wet glue makes thin pages wrinkle.
Glue book or junk journal?
A glue book is bought and filled fast. A junk journal is usually handmade and decorated.