Thrifty Scrapbooking Ideas

Thrifty Scrapbooking Ideas


There are lots of products out there to aid us in our scrapping pursuits. There are stickers, metal pet tags, commercial 3D embellishments, patterned paper and vellum quote books, decorative scissors, much more. If you can imagine it, it probably is out there!

The problem with most commercial scrapbooking embellishments is price. It is not uncommon to pay $1-5 for just a couple of embellishments. Especially with these economic times, it can be difficult to justify spending that much. We can still enjoy scrapbooking while not spending much or any money! There are simple ways to embellish your pages for pennies on the dollar! Here are just a few.



Rubber Stamping
Pull out those rubber stamps! You know, the cute one with the paw print you bought a while ago. That chicken you couldn't live without. What about that butterfly one that was too cute to resist? Dust them off and start decorating. The possibilities are endless. You can take a plain background page and stamp, stamp, stamp your way to a festive background. Use a little embossing powder on cardstock and you have instant custom embossed paper. Or stamp your image on scrap paper and cut out, adhere to the page with a pop dot for a fun dimensional embellishment! Create borders with stamped images. Create picture frames with stamping an image into a square and cutting it out. Ink, Paper, Scissors and a good stamp or three will leave you with endless possibilities.

Paper Piecing
Ah, my favorite. Paper piecing is one of the most inexpensive ways to add a lot of wow for pennies. Find a pattern that you like, or create your own, cut and assemble. Many times you can create a paper piecing with scrap paper! Add embellishments to your paper piecing such as ribbon, gems, glitter, pen lining, inking, or fiber for that extra flair. Again, most of the time you only need a small amount of the embellishment, so you can use a scrap!

Acrylic Paint
Most of us have bottles of craft paint around the house. Mostly gathering dust since our current obsession is scrapbooking. Pull out those paints and get stroking! Create dazzling custom colored pages with just a few brush strokes. If you take the time to learn Donna Dewberrys One Stroke Painting Technique, it will make your creations even more brilliant with much less time (or talent!) required! When your paper has dried, you can die cut it, cut it into frames, use as background paper, cut into strips and use as a boarder and anything else your imagination can come up with.

Found Items
Open your eyes and look around your world. Onion bags can be used as mesh or net; a fake credit card that come in the mail can be altered for amazing embellishments; hinges from old jewelry boxes or the hardware store can make books or hidden journaling on your page; The possibilities are endless.



Scrapbooking is only limited by your creativity. Just about anything can be put into a scrapbook or be used in a way never intended by its original creator. You just need a little creativity, patience and an open eye to the world around you.

Happy Scrapping!

Kim
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