It’s easy to spend a lot in a scrapbook store! There are so many fun and innovative products to try out, so many cute and adorable page embellishments! But they come with a big price tag.
On one of my scrapbook message boards, there was a recent challenge to create some “pages for pennies” layouts.
The rules were as follows:
- Pages had to cost under $2.00 total.
- Layouts needed to be two pages.
- You could only use your basic tools, no advanced tools.
- You had to use more than one photo.
- No size requirements (whatever size you wanted).
I found the entire thing to be quite the challenge, however I did it. I was able to make five two-page layouts (that’s 10 pages), for under $10.00 total!
Here’s how I did it.
Paper – I already had cardstock in the colors I wanted. I also raided my stash of patterned paper and was able to come up with enough to complete all the layouts. I stretched the patterned paper by cutting and trimming it to use in different ways on each layout. When purchasing patterned paper look for versatile papers – in other words, look for papers that can be used on more than one layout. Never use patterned paper as your background, cardstock is cheaper and you can use the patterned paper in different ways on each layout. It extends the piece of paper longer.
Title/Journaling – I created my titles on the computer. For inexpensive titles you can use your computer to create a fun and fabulous title or just use a pen and your own handwriting. Journaling can be done the same way. There are tons of free fonts out there, and you can change them for each layout!
Embellishments – I tried to keep my embellishments to a minimum. I only used metals and other things that I had picked up at locations OTHER than the scrapbook store where they tend to be pricier. For instance I used a metal hinge on one, which I picked up for .30 at the hardware store. The cheapest embellishments are the ones you can buy in bulk too. I used ribbon that I purchased by the yard instead of whole spools. It can be more cost effective to purchase a whole spool, but be sure it’s something you’ll use on more layouts.
Layout Technique – I kept it simple again. I just used some paper tearing and inked around the edges of my papers. That was all I did. But there are other very basic techniques you can use that won’t cost a fortune to play with. Remember your long lost dust covered punches? How about that paper crimper? You can add dimension to your pages by trying some old tools on your new layouts!
Have any great tips to help us shave pennies off our purchases and use what we have??
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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