5 Ways to Use Your Scrapbooking Scraps

Mar.25, 2009 by Genesis Davies
Scrapbooking

If you’re looking to scrapbook on a budget, that doesn’t mean you have to stick to plain, boring pages. Chances are you have a lot of little pieces of scrapbook paper kicking around . . . you know, all the little bits you trimmed but couldn’t bear to throw away?

By using those small pieces of paper, you’ll find that you can create wonderful pages without spending another dime on supplies (unless it is adhesives, since those do run out fairly quickly! Remember it’s important to use scrapbooking adhesives and glues that are acid-free, to avoid destroying your photos). Today’s post will give you a few ideas to get you started.

Quilt Patterns

There are a lot of cozy quilt patterns online and they aren’t just for fabric. In fact, recreating these neat designs is a lot of fun and far easier if you’re using paper. All you need to do is pick a simple geometric design and go for it. Use these quilt squares as backgrounds and accents for your cutest baby photos.

Quilt Pattern Scrapbooking

The great thing about this method is that you can make the designs as little as you want!

Stripes

I know you have a ton of long, narrow strips in your scrapbooking box. Every scrapbooker has more than enough of these leftovers from trimming the edges of pages. You can use them as basic stripes, or try doing something more creative, like a weave or plaid pattern. Here is an example to get you started.

Woven Stripes

Cutouts

Ok, so your letter cutouts and stickers are getting low . . . but you don’t really want to invest in more. That’s not a problem, as long as you have some scraps of paper left over!

I personally like to print out two or three alphabets that are visually appealing on the printer and use these as my base. You can reuse them as often as needed. All you do is use a craft knife to cut out the letters, making a sort of stencil. Then trace onto the backside of your paper scraps. Cut those out and voila! Your very own custom letter cutouts! It’s time consuming . . . but you’ll save a lot of money.

Cutout Letters and Shapes

There’s no need to stop with letters, go ahead and do some simple silhouettes, as well.

Bubbles

Nothing is cuter on a baby scrapbooking page than a lot of little bubbles. These are super easy to make and can be done in any size . . . though it helps if you have a stencil or circle cutter. Cookie cutters make good stencils. Match the bubble size to the size of the scrap and go wild.

Paper Bubbles

Mosaic

Still have tons of tiny bits and pieces left over? You can use them to create some mosaic style borders around your photos and pages. Just stick them on however you please. This might be something you do willy nilly, or you may wish to spend more time and create a specific style. Get creative!

Mosaic Frame with Paper Scraps

Just because you’re on a tight budget doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy scrapbooking your children’s photos. In fact, now is the perfect time to go ahead and do that, while they are still young. Just go ahead and use up all those scraps and you can get some very creative pages without spending any more money.