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No-Stress Scrapbooking

My local Wal-Mart has drastically reduced prices on select pre-made scrapbooks. Most of them feature autumnal colors, though there are a few which include pastel shades. The low prices make them hard for me to resist; however, judging by how many are left on the shelves I would venture to guess that other crafters don’t share the same sentiment.

If you are an avid scrapper with years of experience under your belt, then you probably don’t purchase many pre-made scrapbooks. The memory albums are traditionally reserved for beginners and others who don’t have a ton of time to spend crafting elaborate layouts.

Pre-made scrapbooks come fully decorated, so the only job you have to complete is adding photos in the appropriate spots and filling in the journaling blocks. This, of course, makes displaying your favorite photos a snap. What’s more, you don’t have to drain your bank account purchasing pounds of paper and mountains of embellishments to create a single album.

Conversely, pre-made scrapbooks can be an unattractive alternative, especially for creative crafters. After all, with all of the decorating already done for you, there are few options to customize your scrapbook, save for adding personal photos. Fortunately, there are ways you can add some unique touches without compromising the look of the album.

One easy way to modify a pre-made scrapbook is to use some of the photo spaces as extra journaling blocks. Or, you could use some of the photo squares to house added embellishments, such as die cuts, rub-ons, stickers and stamps. Other options include flocking some of the embellishments that come with the pre-made album or lightly sanding a few of your photos to give them a distressed look. In addition, if you have a lot of scraps leftover from other art projects you could incorporate them into your pre-made scrapbook. For instance, extra ribbon or yarn could be used to create page borders or tabs for different sections in your memory book.

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This entry was posted in Frugal Scrapbooking by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.