How to Do Scrapbooking for Free

Scrapbooking is not a new hobby, but it has certainly become more popular in recent times. Scrapbooking supplies fill craft stores and they can be quite expensive. You don't need to spend a lot of money creating a nice scrapbook, however. Here are some ways to get scrapbooking supplies for free.

Magazines are one of the best places to find clipart for your scrapbook. Most images in magazines are photographs, but you can find a lot of very nice illustrations as well. Cut out nice ones that you would like to use with a pair of scissors.

You can make the most beautiful scrapbook using dried and pressed leaves and flowers. Lay the items you want to press between two sheets of paper and lay one or two phone books on top. Leave it for two weeks. Check to see if the plants are dry at that time. If they are not, set them out in the open to dry for a day or two before using them.

Never underestimate the value of a simple hole punch. You can punch small colored dots from junk mail and other items printed on colored paper. Use the dots to make pictures or to create frames around the photos. You can also punch dots from aluminum foil or metallic ribbon for embellishments.

Recycle greeting cards into scrapbook supplies. Many of them have a frame drawn around the edge which you can cut out and glue down over a photo. The illustrations and text inside can also be cut out and used.

It's called "scrapbooking" for a reason. Long before scrapbooking supplies were mass-produced and sold, people used saved scrap items for decoration. Keep lace trim scraps, pieces of ribbon, buttons, used stamps, patterned paper, gift cards, photo doubles, and other excess bits for use in your scrapbook.

If you have little or no money, you can even make the scrapbook itself. For nice thick pages, use board cut from cereal boxes and food packaging. For thin pages, use sheets of heavy duty typing paper. Old books also make excellent bases for scrapbooking. Be sure to remove some of the pages so that the book will have room for all of the scraps. You can leave the cover as-is or cover it using a piece of scrap fabric. Sketchbooks also make nice scrapbooks.

Holidays and birthdays are an excellent time for collecting scrapbooking supplies. Save everything from ribbon and wrapping paper to Mylar balloons and cards. You will be able to reuse them later for gift wrapping, even if you do not use them for scrapbooking.

Libraries, garage sales, and thrift stores are excellent places to find old books and magazines with pictures. Vintage children's books are my favorite. Libraries have sales now and then, but sometimes they get rid of their old books and magazines by giving them away for free. Our local library has an excellent selection of vintage picture books that are 6 for $1.

Other items that make great supplies are tissue boxes, fabric swatches, paint swatches, and wallpaper samples. Wallpaper samples have the added bonus of having their own glue. You can also use scraps of contact paper for scrapbooking. As long as you are creative and keep an open mind, the sky is the limit.