7 tips for scrapbooking on a budget

If you've been inside a craft store lately, you've probably noticed how expensive scrapbooking supplies are. I love to scrapbook, but I just can't justify paying tons of money on supplies. Here are a few tips that I use:

1. Shop Walmart or Target instead of craft stores. Or even dollar stores! Many times these stores will have cheap stickers and plain paper. Target usually has holiday themed scrapbooking paper and stickers in their dollar section (I got 5 sheets of Christmas themed paper there for $1!) Walmart puts their holidays supplies on sale often. During their after Christmas 50% off sale, I got a ton of 3D Christmas stickers for 25-50 cents.

2. Focus on the pictures. Keep it simple. Remember, the point of scrapbooks are to keep memories for yourself or your kids. I don't like to spend a lot of time on just one page putting tons of embellishments on there. Not only can this be expensive, but it puts emphasis on the paper not the pictures. (I do like to really embellish a few pages in each scrapbook, but every page does not have to be overdone).

3. Search online for ideas or subscribe to a scrapbooker's blog. Here are some sites that I use:

Shelly's Scrapbook Layouts

Erin's Scrappy Place

Scrapbook Sisters

4. Use holiday cards and post cards as embellishments. My mother-in-law loves to send cards for every occasion, and they are always really cute. Many times I will use these cards as embellishments. It's free! Walmart usually has really cute cards in their 48 cent card section and sometimes I will by those specifically for using in my scrapbook.

Jackson got this card for Valentine's Day. I haven't used it yet but I definitely will!

5. Use a color theme. Jackson's scrapbook is basically a baby book, so I bought two big pads of paper: one with pastel colored papers and one with baby themed papers. I use those for most of my pages instead of buying specialized papers for each layout. Using these basic papers together can make really pretty pages. In this two page layout, I used two baby sheets as a background

and then two colors of plain pastel paper to frame the pictures.

6. Use basic supplies. Of course there are tons of scrapbooking supplies out there that cost a ton, but you can use basic school supplies to get the job done just as well. You can use a ruler and exacto knife to make sure you're cutting straight, trim photos, and make photo frames. I use fine-tipped sharpies for most of my lettering. I also bought a big pack of labels that have all different sizes and colors for writing on the pages. Using your own handwriting gives it an even more personal touch.

7. Go to a scrapbooking party. There are a lot of people out there who work as distributors for scrapbooking, card making or stamp companies. They will usually have parties to show you their products. Sometimes these parties are free, usually they cost about $5, and they will let you make cards or layouts, especially around the holidays. This will give you a chance to get new ideas and to use a variety of stamps/stickers/papers that you may not have at home. Plus you can use whatever you make in your own scrapbook. I made the Happy Halloween part of this layout at a scrapbooking
party using stamps that I normally don't have.

If you ever go to a scrapbooking party, you can also ask the representative for old issues of their catalog, which will have a lot of layout ideas inside.



Do you have any scrapbooking tips to share??