Junk Journal Workshop in Winnipeg: Turn Receipts into Handmade Keepsakes

On a chilly afternoon in downtown Winnipeg, the Junk Journal Workshop offers a hands-on pause from the city's riverfront trails. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, this two-hour session with Dr. Vanessa Warne of Crafting Communities teaches participants to transform receipts, flyers, stamps and other paper ephemera into durable, artful journals. The class combines basic bookbinding, collage, and Victorian-era paper-craft techniques with modern scrap sensibilities, turning everyday trash into tactile memory-keepers. The space is simple—long communal tables, trays of found papers, vintage ephemera and a spread of adhesives, threads and decorative trims. Key features include demonstrations of simple pamphlet stitch and stab binding, page signatures made from flyers and envelopes, and techniques for stabilizing fragile paper with archival tape. Participants leave with a handmade small-format journal and the skills to continue assembling pages, pockets and tuck-ins at home. Unique to this workshop is Dr. Warne’s material-culture framing: she explains connections between contemporary junk journaling and Victorian practices for repurposing printed scraps, offering cultural context alongside craft. For travelers who’ve spent the morning walking the nearby river trails or exploring The Forks market, this workshop is a low-impact indoor option that still connects you to the city’s history of print and trade. It’s ideal for curious beginners and scrapbook veterans seeking a refresh—no prior bookbinding required. All materials are provided, though bringing a personal collection of tickets, receipts or stamps yields the most meaningful pages. Accessibility is straightforward: sessions last approximately two hours and are primarily seated, requiring only fine-motor dexterity. Class sizes are intentionally modest to allow close instruction. Expect to learn trimming, simple adhesives, thread handling and layout choices that make ephemera readable and durable. The workshop’s approach also models sustainable practices by encouraging reuse and minimizing waste—an easy complement to outdoor ethics of leave-no-trace. Whether you’re chasing northern lights photos, paddling the Red River, or pausing between hikes, this workshop converts small paper remnants into portable stories. It’s a creative pit stop in Winnipeg’s cultural landscape where history, craft and conservation meet at the tabletop—handmade pages that carry the city’s fragments home. Beyond instruction, the workshop functions as a communal exchange: travelers and locals swap stories about markets, canoe routes, and seasonal festivals while passing scissors and ink. The finished journals become compact records of a trip—supplement to photos that fits in a daypack and survives damp mornings better than a phone. For visitors who make space in their itinerary between urban trails and waterfront cafés, this class is a chance to slow, handle material history and learn portable craft that reduces paper waste. Small-group instruction and provided materials make it straightforward to walk in, sit down, and leave with a unique, handmade memento of Winnipeg’s print culture.