If you’re like me, you have a tough time parting ways with pretty paper–no matter how small the piece is. I’ve definitely gotten better over the years by trying to hold true to my new rule of the “scrap” must be at least a 3″x 3″ piece before I save it. For this reason, today’s blog post by Close To My Heart definitely piqued my interest!
I’m guessing I’m not alone in this battle. So I’ve decided to share their post here just in case you missed it. Not only are the layouts beautiful, but the tips on how to achieve the looks are so easy to replicate. And who couldn’t use some great tips on using up our scraps, right?!?
Have you ever finished up a project and wondered to what to do with those tiny bits of leftover paper? Do you throw it out? Do you let it sit on your desk for months waiting for a purpose? Don’t forget, though, that scrapbooking has “scrap” in it for a very good reason! Today, we’re going to show you how to use those extra little scraps in a big way!
Using your leftover paper remnants not only allows you to create some truly unique projects, but it also helps clean up your crafting area. (Let’s be honest, with all the great holiday products in the November–December Catalog, it couldn’t hurt to make some extra room!) 😉
To create the striking background elements in these layouts, we used some leftover paper pieces from the Every Little Thing, Hawthorn, and Spooktacular paper packets. As we get ready to say goodbye to these great collections, we couldn’t resist using them one last time, and we love how they turned out!
In this first layout, we’ve taken scrap pieces of various sizes and dovetailed the ends to create a background element for the main photos and title. It’s a fairly simple layout other than the bright colors in these dovetailed pieces, so a few scraps can certainly go a long way!
Tip: If you only have small scrap pieces, you can still dovetail these and position them so they peek out on either side of your photo. That way, you still get the effect, even if you don’t have a ton of paper.
This effect can be achieved with many different sizes of scrap paper, and you can use them on much more than just a large main photo or title. Use this trick with smaller photos and to dress up your journaling boxes. There really is so much you can do with just a few small scraps!
In this second layout, we’ve taken a slightly different approach; while we kept a few of the dovetailed pieces we showed you in the previous example, we also trimmed some other remnant pieces into small diamond shapes for an entirely new look.
As we mentioned in the previous tip, you don’t ALWAYS have to have a large scrap piece to make it play a big role in the construction of your layout. If you don’t have a piece big enough to use as a background for a photo, you can use smaller strips to form a frame, while leaving the middle open. Once it’s covered by the photo, no one will be the wiser!
No matter how you use them, scrap pieces are a great way to add some truly unique flair to your layouts, cards, or papercrafts.
I love the tip about using strips of leftover paper to create the frame for your photos. I’ve never thought of that strategy before, but I have cut out the centers of my photo mats in order to save that extra paper I love so much (if it’s one I don’t have a lot of) that would just be covered and not enjoyed anyway!
I hope you enjoyed these tips as much as I have. If you have other tips you incorporate in your scrapbooking to use up those scraps, leave us a comment and let us know!