From Scraps to Treasure

Scraps. We all have them. Those odd little bits left over from layouts, mini albums, and other special projects.

What to do with them? If you're anything like me, it's a CRIME to even think about throwing them away.

I've compiled a list of things to do with the leftovers :

• If you have children, you know they love to use your "stuff". Make a special craft box just for them and fill it periodically with your leftovers.  Don't have kids? Give them to a niece, nephew (boys are crafty, too!), coworker, or neighbor.
• Bag them up and donate them to a preschool/daycare/church. They do a lot of art projects on a very limited budget. You could even take it one step further and make some die cuts out of your scrap paper.
• Have a crafty friend? Swap scraps!
• Scrapbook.com hosts a monthly layout challenge where you create a layout using ONLY your scraps. It's a great way to make a dent in your pile and kind of forces you to think outside the box.
• Banners are so popular on layouts. Use your scraps to make a few to have on hand.
• Make your own flowers. Yes, premade flowers are divine, but they are also expensive. You can find a bajillion tutorials online, so what are you waiting for?
• Make your own gift tags, cupcake toppers, greetings cards.

Wait. Did someone say greeting card? That's exactly what I did. I've been doing some Christmas projects lately and noticed my holiday scrap stash was reaching epic proportions. So I took a few pieces of random patterned paper, solid cardstock, pearls, paper alphas, ribbon, and my ever-present dollar store leaves & flowers and made a card.

I did use one "new" item for this card - the doodle twine from doodlebug design.

 Oh, it is FABULOUS. And, yes, I'll take one in every color.

So, what do you do with your scraps?