More Cheats and Tips for your Scrapbooking Ideas and Solutions

I came across this article today from Scrap Booking Ideas and Solutions by MichelMaling, and I just had to share!

Cheap scrapbooking ideas and solutions guaranteed to save you money.

1. Use old nail clippers to remove shanks on decorative buttons instead of spending a fortune on a specialist tool.  Nail clippers work just as well and are a fraction of the price
2. Instead of using fixatives to fix glitter and chalk to your layouts, try cheap hairspray.  Just spray lightly over a glittered or powdered surface to stop it falling off.  It smells good too.
3. Clean badly stained rubber stamps with a mix of baking powder and a little hot water applied with a toothbrush.
4. Use make-up sponges made of compressed foam as stamp pads with a difference.  You can also adhere them to wooden blocks and stamp the ink onto the page that way.
5. If you don’t want to buy a light box, use a glass dish from your kitchen cupboard and a battery operated torch.
6. Use small containers such as the ones your tablets or film for your camera come in to store things like beads or sequins.
7. Try making your own glitter glue if you can’t find the right colour by mixing clear drying tacky glue and glitter.  You can create a pen with it by using a syringe.  Store the unfinished mixture in an airtight container, not the syringe.
8. Cheap eye shadow makes a great substitute for decorating chalk, and they sometimes have shimmer too.
9. Use Carpet tape as double-sided tape, as it is the cheapest you will find.  You will just need to cut it to size.
10. Store old ink pads upside down, and this allows the ink to penetrate the surface of the pad giving them a new lease on life.
11. Instead of buying expensive storage containers, use things like cutlery trays, biscuit tins and Tupperware.  Shoe boxes can also be covered and labelled for all your bits and bobs.
12. Keep all your old negatives, they make great embellishments.
13. Don’t throw your old jewellery away, as these bits also make great embellishments.   See the post further down on using your jewellery.
14. Never throw old buttons away, as these work wonders with scrapbooking.  Same with scraps of material.

With a little imagination, you will find dozens of alternatives for your scrapbooking tool kit, without having to break the bank at your local scrapbooking outlet.

Tweet this
Share this on Facebook

Give Boring Picture Frames a High-Style Makeover

Take old frames from boring to beautiful.

 By Blythe Copeland

DIY these elegant gemstone frames
Image Courtesy of www.rufflesandstuff.com

A simple frame can turn almost any found object into a one-of-a-kind piece of art, whether you're showing off your favorite wedding photo, grouping shots of your grandparents from their younger days, keeping a favorite piece of paper or fabric front and center, or highlighting old book covers and calendar shots. Give all your frames a fancy makeover with this tutorial for elegant gemstone makeovers from Ruffles and Stuff.
Here, the artist used inexpensive glass gems (which she found for $3 per bag) and frames from the dollar store as her raw materials, but scout your home before you start shopping: any flat frame, no matter the color pattern, will work. Paint the frames with chic color palates, like black, silver, or gold, and then hot glue the gems on—it's that simple.
The real finishing touches, though, are the embellishments; for these, search your sewing bag, craft room, jewelry box, and wrapping paper supplies for ribbons, brooches, fabric flowers, and other accessories that will take your leftover frames from thrift-store castoffs to focal points.


Tweet this
Share this on Facebook

Recycle your holiday trash

Are you cleaning up all the trash from the Holidays? Do you have wrapping paper all over the place? Check out this article from About.com for inspiring ideas to use up your Holiday trash!

Birthdays and holidays are a great source of materials that can be recycled into rubber stamping projects. These 'treasures' would otherwise be thrown away, so not only does recycling greeting cards such as Christmas cards and birthday cards, wrapping paper, gift bags and boxes etc provide an excellent source of materials, it is also very environmentally friendly!

Many different types of materials can be recycled into rubber stamping projects. Here are a few ideas:
Greeting Cards

Both the front and back of greeting cards such as birthday cards and Christmas cards are easy to recycle into rubber stamping projects.

* Embellishments - If the card has embellishments or other adornments attached to it then carefully peel these off for reuse. Often all that is required is a dab of glue to give them another lease of life.
* Back of the card - The back of a greeting card often contains a large plain space and this is perfect for stamping on. Images can be stamped onto this, cut out and attached to other rubber stamping projects.
* Front of the card – Use a paper punch to punch out shapes from the front of a card. This is a good way to make a lot of embellishments for cards in a wide variety of colors and textures. Both the front and back of the card can be used in other stamping projects by simply adhering a piece of paper to it to cover up a picture or writing.
* Tags – Greeting cards can be cut up to make gift tags. There are many templates that are ideal for using to create gift tags of all shapes and sizes.

Gift Wrap

Even the most tatty pieces of gift wrap can be used in rubber stamping projects! Discarded pieces of very worn gift wrap can be used as scrap paper. Gift wrap that is still in good condition can be cut or punched to make shapes to use as embellishments or added to a piece of plain cardstock to use as a backing paper for a projects.
Gift Tags

Gift tags are also suitable for recycling. Use a gift tag as a template to cut further tags from, attach paper to a tag to cover pictures or writing and stamp onto this or turn the tag into an 'altered art' project.
Gift Bags and Boxes

Gift bags and boxes are perfect for recycling. Simply add a few rubber stamped images or embellishments to give them a makeover. Rubber stamp a gift tag to complement this and this will give a pretty coordinated look.
Ribbons and Bows

Embellishments like bows and ribbons are perfect for recycling into rubber stamping projects. These can be added to projects as embellishments or simply reused when wrapping a gift or card.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

USE DIE CUTS AND PAPER PIECINGS TO MAKE HOLIDAY GIFT BAGS

Designs by Gabriella Hunter

Gabriella die-cut cute mini-tote gift bags from solid cardstock and then embellished them with holiday paper piecings.

Layer parts of your paper piecings with adhesive foam to add interest and depth to the design.

Download the free holiday-theme paper-piecing patterns.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

EMBELLISH PURCHASED GIFT BAGS WITH HOLIDAY MOTIFS

Designs by Jen Lessinger

Jen raided her scrap stash to make cute holiday-theme embellishments for these plain paper gift bags. She covered one with a patterned-paper rectangle and topped it with a holiday greeting. On the other, she arranged round epoxy stickers in a Christmas-tree shape.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

MAKE A GIFT BOX WITH HOLLY-LEAF CLOSURES

Designs by Gabriella Hunter

Gabriella cut the holly-leaf gift-box shape from solid cardstock and then embellished the top with a ribbon and button.

Customize the look of this tiny holiday gift box by cutting the pattern from heavyweight patterned papers or changing the shape of the closure. The pattern includes two closure types!

Download the free holly-leaf gift-box pattern.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

FOLD A HOLIDAY GIFT BAG FROM EMBOSSED PAPER

Designs by Gabriella Hunter

To make these tiny packages, Gabriella traced a gift-bag pattern onto heavyweight embossed paper and cardstock, threading ribbon through holes punched in the top of each bag to keep it closed.

Use punches or paper-piecing patterns to make festive tags for your handmade holiday bags.

Download the free gift-bag pattern.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

TOP GIFT BOXES WITH HOLIDAY-THEME PAPER PIECINGS

Designs by Helen Naylor

Helen created patterns for these adorable holiday-theme paper piecings and used the finished piecings to decorate petite boxes cut from matching colors of cardstock. Ribbon threaded holes punched in the tops of each box means they can double as ornaments.

Embellish paper piecings with buttons, brads, or pen detailing and attach them with adhesive foam to make them pop on your holiday packages.

Download the free holiday-theme paper-piecing patterns.

Download the free gift-box pattern.

More Ideas for wrapping your gifts with paper scraps

Looking for ways to bring a little papercrafting into your holiday gift giving? Tania Willis from get it scrapped has some fabulous ideas for you to check out here

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

FOLD A PYRAMID-SHAPE HOLIDAY GIFT BOX

Designs by Gabriella Hunter

Gabriella cut pyramid-shape boxes from heavyweight patterned paper and cardstock, scoring along the dashed lines in the pattern to make folding the sides easier. To hold the box shut, she cut out a star shape with a square hole in the center and slid it over the pyramid’s point.

Dress up the star closure on your gift boxes by stringing beads on colored wire and attaching the wire to the points of the star.

Download the free pyramid-shape box pattern.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

EMBELLISH HOLIDAY GIFT BOXES WITH GEMS AND PEARLS

Designs by Dee Foust

Dee randomly adhered sparkly embellishments such as gems, pearls, and stickers to wrapped presents for an easy holiday look.: For extra bling, Dee wrapped pearl trim around her box several times and bundled the trim together with a ribbon.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

CRAFT 3D STAR GIFT-BOX TOPPERS

Designs by Dee Foust

Dee created 3D star toppers from patterned paper to decorate gift boxes wrapped in matching holiday papers. She punched holes in the stars’ bottom points and threaded tinsel through the holes to tie them onto the package.

For a fun touch, attach glass beads and bells with colorful crafts wire, poke the wire through the star tips, and twist the ends.

Download the star pattern.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

EMBELLISH A SIX-PACK HOLDER TO CREATE A UNIQUE HOLIDAY GIFT PACKAGE

Design by Maggie Holmes

Maggie covered a plain six-pack holder with vibrant patterned papers, stickers, and crystal brads and then packed it with candy-filled jars adorned with mini tags for a festive Christmas gift.

Maggie purchased her ready-to-alter six-pack container, but you also could recycle one that once held soda bottles.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

EMBELLISH FABRIC HOLIDAY GIFT BAGS

Designs by Erikia Ghumm

Erikia dressed up simple fabric bags with iron-on transfers and stamps to create these cute Christmas gift pouches. Make your own fabric gift bag by folding and sewing the edges of a long rectangle of fabric. Create a pocket along the top edge to string a tie through.

See a detail of the red bag decorated with an iron-on transfer.

See a detail of the green bag dressed up with a metal-rim tag.

See a detail of the white bag embellished with stamps.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

WRAP ODD-SHAPE HOLIDAY GIFTS IN WINE CONTAINERS

Designs by Erica Hernandez

To turn these plain white paperboard wine containers into holiday gift boxes, Erica covered them with patterned papers and added chipboard letters and glittered snowflakes.

If you can’t find the perfect patterned paper for your wrapping project, print your own from digital elements.

Download free digital papers with colorful basic prints.

Download free digital papers with vibrant abstract prints.

Download free digital papers with vintage-theme prints.

Download free digital papers with festive prints.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

TURN A TAKEOUT BOX INTO A HOME FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS

Designs by Leah Fung

Leah dressed up plain takeout boxes with computer-printed labels, giving each one a scalloped edge before attaching them to the boxes with adhesive foam.

Hang chipboard snowflakes from ball chains threaded on ribbon to provide a final dash of festive holiday fun.

See a detail of the green box.

See a detail of the red box.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

DIE-CUT AND FOLD A HOLIDAY GIFT BOX

Candice die-cut these holiday gift boxes from heavy cardstock for durability and added patterned paper and accents for personalized style. The star-shape closures at the top hold the boxes together.

Rather than purchasing a specialized die, contact your local scrapbook store to see if they have a die-cutting system and dies available for customer use.

See a detail of a box with a glittery initial.

See a detail of a box with a custom name tag.

See a detail of a box covered in patterned paper.

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

LINE UP BUTTONS ON A GIFT BOX

Dress up a plain white gift box with a row of five buttons. Border the buttons with holiday-hue striped ribbons, and tie a bow around the box between the top two buttons.

Use your stash

The folks at Creatively Green have done it again with using your stash to create this great little chalkboard orny.

clipped from creatively-green.blogspot.com

Wrapping with scrapbook supplies

CRAFT A PILLOW-SHAPE BOX FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS

Design by Melissa Inman

Wrap soft items in a pillow-shape gift box made from heavyweight patterned paper or cardstock. Tie a bow around the box to help keep the sides folded in.

Download the box pattern.