I believe in thinking outside the box, and also using what you have. Many times, when we order digital photos from a place like shutterfly.com or Target, or whatever source we might use, we get a tiny printout of thumbnail images that are included in the order. Have you ever thought of scrapbooking these? Well, I have, and I did!
It seems like such a waste to me to have these little images. I usually just throw them away, and don’t give it a second thought, but recently on a layout, I decided that it might be fun to use them. So, I started by cutting out all of the images that belonged to this certain vacation trip that I was scrapbooking. It just so happened that I was scrapbooking a family trip to San Francisco. When we go on vacation, we often take way too many pictures and many times, I order the digital prints, but just don’t feel like scrapbooking all of them. So, you might set some aside thinking, I don’t need to scrapbook EVERY photo, but if you scrapbook the thumbnails, it is a fun way to get additional “photos” on the page. In my layout, I chose 2 pictures that I loved, and used the full-sized images of those. Then, at the bottom, I made a little old-fashioned filmstrip and added all of my thumbnails to it. It was perfect. It gave me my whole trip on one page, without taking up a lot of space.
Another idea for using a thumbnail image is once you have already scrapped the full-sized photo, take the thumbnail and use it as a “tab” on the larger image. This may seem like you’re duplicating, but it’s a fun way to see the picture twice.
Try taking all the thumbnail photos and make a table of contents for your scrapbook. You could put a thumbnail on the page and then write who is in the picture next to it, and even include a page number that corresponds with that page of your scrapbook. Then, place all of these thumbnails at the beginning of your scrapbook!
Last, you could use all the thumbnails and cluster them together on one part of your page. Turn some of the thumbnails and face them a different direction from the others. This will draw the eye to this spot. It will be a creative way to document that special event and use extra photos.
Frame a large photo with your thumbnail images! How fun would this be on a page? I believe in waste not, want not. So using your thumbnails is a great way to have a little extra fun and think outside the box and to keep from wasting that photo paper they were printed on!
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