Let’s do an exchange on tips to keep scrap booking cheap!

You can get some fantastic bits and pieces from recycling shops if you have one near you. We have one here in Sydney called Reverse Garbage - you can get a huge bag of things you can use for only a couple of bucks.

There are some really great ideas mentioned. Some of them I've used in the past, but many of them are new to me. My mother scrapbooks too, so we often will buy a huge block of 12x12 paper fron Costco and split the cost. This saves a lot of money. I use a lot of things that I find at the dollar store, of in the sale bins of book stores. While, I will sometimes cut up an old magazine, I keep it away from the pictures themselves as the paper isn't always acid free. When I buy pre-made letters I buy them in white so that I can simply colour them the shade I need for a layout - this saves on having the same font in multiple colours. Thank you all for the new ideas - I wish some of you lived closer so that we could have a scrapping party.

Instead of buying Stickers you can make your own! You can get sticky paper, print the stickers you want on it and cut them out. I really like the post it picture paper as well, you can usually get it fairly inexpensive, and you can print out your pictures, no glue etc required. I like to create things in photoshop, and I will make new and interesting background and print them out, or print on top of old paper bags to give it a different look.

There are some great ideas, that you shared, along with some of the other responses. I am always keeping an eye out for things around the house, that would either get thrown out or just put away somewhere. I have also gotten some really good deals on ebay, in the 'lots' section of scrapbooking. I normal get around 100 sheets really cheap, and then what I don't or won't use, I let my daughter go through, and then I share whatever we don't pick out with my other daughter, she lives in Texas, and what she doesn't use, she gives away to someone who will. I also use pictures and wording from those greeting cards you get from businesses. And I keep all my scrap pieces, for when I make my own greeting cards.

Wow what a bunch of wonderful ideas! I really don't have any to add....though I use my rubber stamps for both stamping and making my own quotes or stickers. That way the money I spend on stamps it twice invested. Thanks for all the ideas!

Great ideas. One other idea is old greeting cards they have really cute pictures on them. Thanks for the tips!

Thanks for the tips... I actually just finished making a scrapbook for my fiance and he absolutely loved it. Well, here are some of the things that I did: 1. Pasted memorabilia on the pages (like the tissue from Starbucks, movie tickets, chocolate wrappers etc.) 2. Used veggies and fruits (like a potato or radish) and made neat shapes from them then dipped em in food coloring/paint. 3. Pasted buttons and whatnots found around the house... They make nice designs. 4. I cut out intricate designs from art paper to make borders and frames. 5. I also used yarn and thread and made cute designs. For the front page of my scrapbook, I put a picture with of my fiance and I and then covered the whole thing with different colored beads in a pattern. It turned out rally nice.

There are some really great ideas here. I will add that for quotes instead of buying lots of rubber stamps or premade quotes, I do my own. After I find a quote I like, I will print it out on vellum, then sprinkle embrossing power and heat it up. That way it seals the ink on the vellum and looks extra nice. When I do tags and quote books, this make it so much easier.

I usually scrapbook for gifts, like if I want to do something sweet for my boyfriend, and I never ever ever buy any of the materials that I use, unless if you count movie ticket stubs haha. I just use an old book and tear out every few pages between, and glue 2 pages next to eachother to make a reinforced page for painting and gluing, etc. I use a lot of the materials you speak of, Christmas paper is always really fun to use while you are making a scrapbook. I also enjoy pressing flowers and then using them, perhaps paint a page, and use the paint as an adhesive for a flower or something. Magazines are also a lot of fun too, you can find some cool words and letters. Happy mylotting, and have fun scrap-booking!

Okay, well we all know it is expensive !!!but, there is a reason for the expense ... useing all the things you have nmentioned is all well and good but keep in mind if any of what you said you were useing .. ie .. old christmas wrapping paper , old flat rocks , & clothing ,, all that stuff is not acid free and litheium free, if something is going to touch a photograph in any way . it must be acid and lithium free, otherwise, eventually your photos and things surrounding the photo will start to change color , and then all the work you put into your book or pages is lost . not to mention the time you put into you work . The key to this scrapbooking hobby is to watch the sales and go to the conventions and know your prices .What I do is I set a limit and do not ever go over that particular limit at the given time ..It has taken me many many years to accumulate all of my tools and supplies and a great deal of shopping at the conventions and local stores, you just have to be patient and everything will eventually go to the sale table. Besides , how do you know what is the latest new hot items are if you are not shooping ?

Great ideas! I also like to use scrap yarn, button and ribbons as well as birthday cards sent by relatives to make the kids' birthday pages!