DIY Scrapbook Paper - Kid Dyed Scrapbook Pages

Are you an avid scrapbooker who wants to share your passion with your children? Well, now you can combine your child's love of blowing bubbles with your love of scrapbooking. Instead of spending upwards of a dollar each per page of scrapbook paper, you can spend some time with your children and design your own scrapbook paper for pennies on the dollar.

The first step in any good crafting project is to gather your materials. For this project, you will need plain white cardstock (though glossy white cardstock works the best), bubbles, (or liquid glycerine and water for a slightly thicker mixture), and your favorite colored alcohol inks (I prefer Adirondack). Mix two or three drops of alcohol ink per ounce of bubble mix until you get the desired hue.

The key to not ruining your kitchen is to do this project outside or to liberally cover your kitchen with newspaper, and have a good isopropyl or rubbing alcohol of 93% or higher on hand to clean up the ink if the bubble blowing gets out of hand.

Now here comes the fun part. Have your children blow bubbles onto the card stock. The glycerin will dry, and the alcohol ink's color will stay. If you have a glossy cardstock, try using different colored inks in different containers of bubbles for a truly one of a kind scrapbook paper. The nice thing about alcohol inks is that each time they touch each other, they 'reactivate', and change designs, so you can blow bubbles to your heart's content until you get the exact look that you want.

To make your own wrapping paper (for smaller gifts), take a roll of craft paper and do the same thing. You do not want to blow too many bubbles, or else the paper will warp slightly, ruining the effect, and the look.

My wife recommends using holographic scrapbook paper to blow alcohol ink onto, but that defeats the purpose of making your own 'inexpensive' scrapbook paper, though she is right, it does look really cool.

This scrapbook paper works well for an Easter scrapbook (when using pastel colors) or for summer/pool party pictures.