10 Ideas for Frugal Scrapbooks
Scrapbooking has become such a popular hobby that scrapbooking papers, stickers, albums and embellishments can be found everywhere – even at the grocery store! And every single one costs money.
Sadly, it seems we’ve gotten away from the purpose of scrapbooking, which is to preserve our photos and memories, and turned our focus instead toward making elaborate works of art to be admired. And that’s okay… if you can afford it.
But the cost of scrapbooking can intimidate a beginner and even cause some frugal moms to shy away from this enjoyable hobby altogether. That doesn’t have to be the case. Creating simple, less costly scrapbooks is just as rewarding and will be treasured just as well by your families and loved ones as will extravagant works of art that cost hundreds of dollars.
Rather than look at scrapbooking as an elaborate craft you can’t afford,, try some of these frugal ideas to create lovely, cherished scrapbooks at a fraction of the cost of what you’ve been led to believe they would cost.
1. Opt for 8 1/2″ x 11″ inch pages rather than 12″ x 12″. The reason? Paper, sheet protectors and albums are all cheaper than the larger size. You can even use a three-ring binder if you choose for the least expensive album option.
2. Buy supplies on sale or at the dollar store. You can find great deals on clearance items in craft and scrapbook stores. Hobby Lobby, for one, often marks down their entire stock of stickers, papers or punches by 40 percent or more. And the dollar stores always have packages of embellishments for $1 each.
3. Use your printer to create titles and graphics, then attach them to your pages with photo squares or a glue stick. The options and possibilities are unlimited!
4. Borrow punches and other tools rather than buying them. While every scrapbooker would probably love a computerized cutting system, or a dozen large, pricey punches, frugal scrappers know they can’t afford them. Buy one or two tools you’ll use often then swap with friends who have something different.
5. Barter for supplies and tools. Find a Creative Memories representative or someone who has a lot of scrapbooking supplies on hand, and make a trade. You can swap something other than scrapbooking supplies to get what you want and come out with less clutter and some real goodies for your scrapbooking projects.
6. Learn a variety of techniques such as paper tearing, dying, stitching your pages, etc. that will give you many different looks without additional cost.
7. Use what you have on hand. While you want to be careful that nothing that isn’t acid or lignin free touches your photos, many experts teach that it’s okay to use almost anything around the border or outside edge of your pages. Look for hardware findings, buttons, fabric or lace scraps, ribbon, feathers, etc.
8. Save the remnants. Even the smallest scraps of paper can be used to create punchies, mosaics, or colorful geometric designs. Keep a shoe box filled with leftovers and get in the habit of checking there first before cutting a new sheet of paper. You’ll be surprised how far your paper will go if you’re conservative.
9. Use on-hand items for organizing. Instead of spending your money on organizational systems, use tins, baskets, totes, etc. that you already have to separate and store supplies. Save your money for the more important part of scrapbooking – the paper!
10. Find layout ideas online or at the library rather than in purchased magazines. Scrapbooking magazines are expensive. And you really don’t need them to find great ideas. Search online for “frugal scrapbooking” and you’ll find tons of great layouts that you would pay steeply for if you bought a scrapbook magazine. You can also find books at the library that contain layouts and ideas. Again, save your money for supplies and use the ideas you can find elsewhere free.
These are only a few of the many ways to scrapbook your memories without spending a lot of money. Use your imagination and creativity to come up with many more of your own.
Organize your Scrapbooking Supplies
When you are a scrapbooker you know how important it is to have your supplies organized so you have easy access to them. This is save you time and it will prevent you from purchasing duplicate items.
Organizing your scrapbooking supplies is a must no matter what stage you are at with your scrapbooking. If you are new to it, you may have very few supplies, but you should still organize them. You never know how much you will get into it until that time comes. As long as you don’t plan on doing it one time and never doing it again, you should really consider this plan.
If your collection is real small, you may be able to get away with a small expandable file folder. If you go to your stationery store you may find a small plastic expandable file folder that’s approximately 9 x 4. These will have two or more dividers and this may be just enough room for you to put all your stickers, stencils, and pictures.
If you are really into scrapbooking, you will need more storage space. There are a couple of ways to do this and you will need to decide what will work for you, your space, and your supplies.
One way is to take hanging file folders and hang them in a file cabinet. Then group all your stickers, stencils, and pictures into themes and place each theme in a hanging file folder. Now if you have too many, you may need to do more sorting so you can have small groups in each file folder. Put them in alphabetical order and label them in such a way that you will know what they are.
Another way is to use file folders and a magazine holder that sits on a counter. Group your supplies by theme and place them in a file folder. If you have a lot, place them in multiple file folders and place all of those in one holder. Make sure you label the outside of the holder because the nice part that is for the label is what will be showing. The folders will not be visible from the front.
A 3-ring binder with clear sheet protectors would work well too. You can place all your supplies for each them in one pocket or 3-ring binder if you have multiples. You may need to get a 3 inch binder if you have a lot of supplies.
Now throughout this article we have talked about supplies such as stickers, stencils, and photos, but we haven’t talked about the tools or actual books.
If you are really into scrapbooking you probably have all the different scissors, stamps, and punches which amounts to a lot for sure. You can store these in plastic boxes and place them in your file cabinet or you can place them on top of the file cabinet. Label the outside of the box so you will know at the first glance which box you will need for what you are working on.
The books you have can be stored in a book shelf or on the top of the file cabinet. Of course, this depends on the volume you have. If you have enough room in your file cabinet, you can always store them in there. That way you won’t have to worry about the light ruining the color or the sheets.
Now these are just a few of the many ways you can organize your scrapbooking supplies. You can also check out the scrapbook supply websites online and purchase organizational items that they recommend. No matter how you do it, once you’re organized you will be able to spend more time creating your scrapbooks and less time hunting for what you need.
