Scrapbook on a Budget: Inexpensive Supplies without Sacrificing Quality

Scrapbooking as a hobby has taken off in the past few years, but as anyone who's started gathering scrapbooking supplies will tell you, it gets expensive fast. Here are a few ways to cut the costs, because if you can afford to scrapbook, you will!

Buy Paper Packs

Open stock paper (the stuff you buy by the sheet) usually runs at least 20 cents per page even on sale, but bulk paper packs of stacks can help expand your paper collection for as little 2 cents a sheet for solid colors. Also scrap paper packs give you lots of little pieces for mats.

Use Solid Colored Paper

Solid paper not only costs less, it lets your pictures be the star of your pages. It is a photo album after all! Mixing complimentary or contrasting shades into stripes, blocks and mats along with one patterned paper also makes the expensive stuff shine

Shop With Projects in Mind

Don't buy embellishments and stickers unless you know the project you will use them on then store them together. The one thing worse then a gorgeous sticker sitting in a drawer unused is finding it after you're done with the page you bought it for.

Shop the Sales

Michael's and Joann's regularly put some or all of there scrapbooking supplies on sale for as much as 50% off , so keep an eye on newspaper and online adds and shop when prices drop (still keeping your projects in mind!) Also, check out the scrapbooking sections of stores like Target and Walmart for clearance items. Know what you use regularly (metallic brads, adhesives, certain colors) and stock up when they're cheap.

Don't waste paper

If you have a paper cutter, cut out the center of papers you're using as mats for photos. The smaller pieces can be used to mat embellishments. Plan out your cuts before you make them and save scraps for use on other pages. In fact, using the same paper on multiple pages can help give your book unity.

Use What You Have

Do you really need to buy a new pack of brads for every page? Take a look at what you have before you shop. Try this, start planning pages using what you have and see how far you can get. If you have a bit of a collection, you might be surprised at how far you can get.

Have Fun!

Scrapbooking can be wonderfully relaxing, so don't worry about the times when you just have to splurge and take joy in preserving your memories. Happy scrapping!