It’s Almost Christmas

Scrapbooking is a fun way to preserve the flavor of this year’s holiday season for years to come. Unfortunately, as any scrapbooker knows, it can be an expensive hobby. However, with a little ingenuity you can make beautiful and expressive scrapbook pages that don’t cost more than the holiday itself. The key is to find and use scrapbooking elements that you can create yourself.

Where to find ideas and inspiration: There are lots of places to find inspiration:

• Talk to fellow scrapbookers on or offline.
• Check out some design books or magazines from your local library.
• Visit your local craft shop with a small notebook to jot down ideas you might use. Resist the temptation to buy, buy, buy.
• Visit a local thrift shop to see if it sells any really cheap but neat Christmas cards, stickers, or tags.
• Look online but don’t get so overwhelmed that you never start working on your own scrapbook. One excellent source of free design ideas is About Scrapbooking’s Christmas and Winter Holiday Scrapbook Pages.

Locate free clip art and patterns: The first and most obvious way to do this is to print out clip art and other art work using your own color printer. Scrapbookers can also print out tags using a free downloadable font for added interest. Surf the Web to find die cut patterns and free clip art. Although this may take a little more time than buying ready made materials from a craft store, there is a a lot of great scrapbooking stuff that only cost a little paper and ink.

Find a simple but elegant solution: Another way that scrapbookers can save money this Christmas is by learning how to use calligraphic fonts. Cut outs, fancy tags, and stamps are all beautiful, but nothing can match the captivating beauty of simple black and white photos on a cobalt background with a caption handwritten in metallic gold or silver. Finding ways to expensive materials with style and personal flair is one of the keys to creating a beautiful and inexpensive holiday scrapbook — and a beautiful and inexpensive holiday season overall.

Use what you have on-hand: The last way to make beautiful scrapbooking pages without spending a fortune at the local craft store is to use the holiday materials you already have on hand. Interesting cut outs can be made from leftover wrapping paper and holiday cards. Pieces of cardboard box can be cut and glued beneath different effects to add more depth. Ribbon, beads, and other common holiday materials all can be used for unique scrapbooking elements that are representative of your holiday. Using pieces of the actual materials used in your holiday this year makes for a more personalized scrapbook page.

Regardless of your personal sense of style, with a little effort you can find inexpensive and fun holiday ideas for scrapbooking. It may be as simple as looking around your own home for elements that can be made into unique designs for your own holiday scrapbook.