More Ways to Use Scraps!

(Don't forget to check out Heather's post on scraps and get inspired by this new post by Cathy on a different way to use scraps -Pam)

After I get done working on a project, my craft table will be covered with the leftover "scraps". If you are like me, you probably already keep your scraps for future projects. I keep my scraps in a drawer sorted by color. I try to remember to go to my scrap drawer first, to save me from cutting a brand new sheet of paper when I only need a smaller piece. My scrap drawer had gotten so full that I set a rule, I would only keep scraps if they were the size of the palm of my hand or larger. This cut down on the volume of scraps. Scraps are really handy to use as photo mats, journaling strips and are great for card making too.

How would you like to turn those scraps back into paper? You can! Today I'm going to show you how to make your own paper using scraps. This is really simple and quite fun. All you need for this are a bunch of scraps and a sheet of plain cardstock and some adhesive. The scraps can be plain or printed papers and cardstock, vellum, mesh, embossed or flocked papers, tissue paper, mulberry papers, whatever scraps you've got. You can use papers that coordinate by colors or patterns.



For my example, I'm using some scraps that I had after making some Easter cards. I noticed that the colors and patterns looked really nice together and I wanted to use them for an Easter layout.


Next you get to rip those scraps into smaller scraps! I made mine about .5 to 1 inch in size. Go ahead and have fun with this, rip to your hearts content! Make the pieces different shapes and sizes. If you are scrapping with your kids, this is a really fun task for them to help with.



I then ran my torn pieces through my Xyron to apply adhesive. You could also use a glue stick. You then start applying the pieces to your plain cardstock sheet. I used an 8.5x11 sheet. Depending on how many scraps you are using and how much paper you are creating, you can use a smaller or larger sheet. Just be certain that the edges of your pieces are glued well. You can overlap them slightly, you can leave some of the bare cardstock showing through if you like as well. Allow the scrap pieces to over-hang the edge of your plain cardstock. You can trim this later. You can see in my picture below the scraps overhanging the paper edge as I was applying them.



I started from the center of the paper and worked out from there. Continue applying your scrap pieces until you fill up the cardstock or have enough new paper to use for your project. Now you can stamp on your paper, emboss it, cut it, use it for your project as you would any paper. I used punches and dies to cut my paper into flowers and the butterfly that I used on my layout.



Here is a close up view of the flowers.



Happy scrapping!