Have you ever felt ‘personally victimised’ by fashion faux pas, questionable aesthetics, or the internet’s chaos? Think of the burn book as your private runway journal: part opinion, part obsession, with no editor but you. The internet may be forever, but the burn book is fleeting and a reminder that not everything needs an algorithm.
Step 1: Choose the Right Book
Think of your burn book as an accessory; half style statement, half insider’s secret. The book itself is your canvas, the place for those receipts, plots, and everything in between. A must have, the Midori MD Notebook A4 is the perfect choice. Stocked at Milligram, a Melbourne-based design destination – it proves that when it comes to style and substance, the limit does not exist. Think of it as the notebook equivalent of the perfect white shirt: essential, timeless, and undeniably chic. It’s the kind of one you’ll want to carry everywhere.
Milligram MD Notebook A4, $39.95. Shop here.
Step 2: Tools
Your burn book isn’t built in a day, it’s an archive of style and substance. Every layer is deliberate, handwritten notes colliding with collages of receipts, magazine tears, and sticky notes. The tools carry just as much weight as the words. Spotlight’s glue runner always delivers, with receipts and photos layering in the truth, every detail makes its statement. Kikki K remains the insider’s pick though, faux-posh, perfectly reliable and the only way to do it. Their Fineline Underline Markers draw with precision, Dual-Tip Markers highlight the moments you just can’t stop revisiting, and the Daily Jot Ballpoint pens keep it timeless. Together, they don’t just make a page; they style it. Putting your signature vision on full display. Treat your tools like statement heels, functional enough to work, stylish enough to brag about.
Step 3: Collage Culture
Consider your burn book as a visual love letter, every collage, every scrap, speaking the confessions you can’t quite put into words. Making out is less about text and more about the visuals that linger. Think of those ransom-note letters colliding with a DIY editorial spread. Rich and messy, the pages layer and spill into each other, alive with secrets, scraps, and stories that refuse to sit still. Think polaroids, instant prints, and the HP Sprocket: turning screenshots and party snaps into mini confessions, sitting alongside glossy magazine tears, whether from vintage issues of Vogue or a well-thumbed Cosmo. Even the stickers that arrive tucked inside online orders suddenly take on new life, their logos and slogans slipping seamlessly into the collage as if they were meant to be there all along. The effect is less scrapbook, more mood-board manifesto. A private editorial where your memories flirt with pop-culture moments you can’t stop thinking about.
HP Sprocket Smartphone Photo Printer, $159.84. Shop here.
Step 4: Sections to Include
A little structure, with a lot of style. Your curated burn book of obsessions, critiques, and confessions. Leading with ‘Feed Favourites,’ the creatives defining your style this year. Eva Meloche, Rachelle Sund, and Hope Marsh, whose feeds are pure Pinterest-worthy moodboards. From outfit edits to life and modelling inspo, they’re the ultimate guide for scrolling, styling, and living. Next, dive into ‘Outfits That Went Too Hard (or Just Not Hard Enough),’ a runway of highs and lows. ‘Not Hard Enough’? Think influencer Coachella fits, basic crochet and micro-trends that tried too hard to be original but fell flat. And here it is, on the next page, the highly anticipated ‘Crush List,’ a running tally of new screen heartthrobs and cultural obsessions. Malachi Barton earns his sport, Mason Thames rises as a breakout, and the choice still sparks conversation, Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? On these next spreads, explore the mess of ‘Receipts / Screenshots / Cancelled Takes,’ a curated space for hot takes, deleted posts, and texts you probably shouldn’t have sent. Chaos never looked so chic: page-tab stickers help you flip, sort, and organise without losing those style points. For a curated mix of chic and functional, I love the selections from Cotton On.
Cotton On Page Tab Stickers, $4.99. Shop here.
Step 6: Archive or Exhibit?
Either remaining that private archive under your bed or emerging as a digital micro-zine, shared and scanned into your feed, a portable scanner allows for the collection of fleeting cultural moments. Graffiti glimpsed on a street corner, a flyer salvaged from the train or a magazine spread worth saving. It’s not merely visual, it’s a personal reflection of you. Some of us (definitely me) leave a trace of Baccarat Rouge 540 on the pages, an unmistakable signature in scent. Others mix in fabric swatches, gingham, polka dots, textures that practically beg to be touched. From scent to texture to keepsakes, every element makes the burn book your statement piece: intimate, editorial, and completely reflective of the one who owns it.
Closing: The New Burn Book Ethos
Not about cruelty, yet about archiving your cultural POV. This is where your obsessions, critiques, and aesthetic instincts collide, creating something so distinctly yours. In a landscape where everything is designed to vanish in twenty-four hours, this is your forever archive, bound by your taste. By collecting, arranging, and marking the moments that matter to you, you can transform fleeting thoughts into a lasting record. Follow these steps, and you’re not just keeping a diary, you’re crafting the ultimate burn book, a fearless, tactile archive of taste, style, and cultural commentary that only you could have created.
Read more of our ‘How To’ articles here.
Banner image credit: Sofia Velasquez
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