If there's one thing I have a ton of around my scrapbooking room, it's leftover pieces of scrapbooking paper. From brightly colored patterned paper to basic cardstock, each and every scrapbook layout I create generates at least a few little leftovers.
Most scrapbookers are thrifty types, and the thought of tossing, or even recycling, all those little jewels is enough to make us break out in a sweat. Never fear! Here are five creative ideas for using leftover scrapbooking paper of all sizes:
1. Decoupage. When I was in grade school, we were treated to a mix of tissue paper and Elmer's glue and told to cover everything from old wine bottles to votive candle holders. I can't say the results were particularly appealing, but it did keep us busy! Now, you can take the same approach with your leftover patterned paper and cardstock, combining them with a craft glue like Aleene's or ModPodge. I've had great success with covering wooden items, like frames, as well as notebook covers, pencils, and more.
2. Paper Dolls. I have yet to meet the little girl who doesn't love paper dolls! My tiny paper stash is heaven for my six-year-old, who loves to create outfits for her paper families. You can cut a doll shape from a neutral color, and provide her stacks of scraps to cut hats, dresses, scarves, shoes, and anything her little fashionista heart desires. You can even create paper dolls to add to your scrapbook pages, too.
3. Small Notebooks. I love cutting up equal-sized sheets of a variety of papers and binding them with my Bind-It-All or with binder rings into small notebooks, journals, or scrapbooks. These make terrific gifts, or you can just position one next to the telephone to catch all those names and numbers that tend to drift off into oblivion.
4. Punches. Stars, arrows, hearts, and flowers are great additions to almost any theme scrapbook layout. I often pre-punch shapes in a variety of sizes to have on hand, and then store them in an envelope for future use. Note: This is a great task for little hands that want to "help" you scrapbook! They can feel useful and do something productive for you at the same time.
5. Reverse Applique. In sewing, an applique is a patch of fabric that is attached to the surface of the main item being embellished. A reverse applique is where the surface of the main item is cut, and the embellishing material is sewn underneath, as a backing. The same technique can be used in scrapbooking; you can punch or cut out an area of your main page, and back the negative shape with patterned paper or a contrasting color of cardstock. This simple process can give a lot of depth and dimension to your page, without adding a lot of bulk.
For more creative ideas for cheap scrapbooking supplies, visit Lain Ehmann's blog at http://www.layoutaday.com. Through scrapbooking videos, tutorials, projects and inspiration, Lain helps her readers make their scrapbooking fun, fast and fabulous!
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