1. You don’t need to write a book when you journal (no pun intended). Short on time? Just include names and dates. How about adding a short, descriptive blurb, say “Swimming at Lake Candlewood”.

2. Matt your photos. You don’t need embellishments to fancy up your pages. Just add a brightly colored or color-coordinated mat behind your picture. But be careful, too much matting will cause your page to look too busy and overcrowded.

3. Use kits. Most kits come with everything you need to make a great album. They are usually theme-related.

4. Use Pre-designed albums. These completely fit the bill for those of you who just don’t have the time. Great for gift-giving.

5. Steal a layout idea from a friend (I’m sure she’d be honored) or online.

6. Save some time by having a “crop” session sitting in front of the TV one night, so when you go to scrapbook, it’s already done! TIP for cropping: cut out everything that isn’t pertinent (do you really need that stranger in the background?).

7. Organize your photos. This time have an “organize your photos” session in front of the TV. Organize them by date, season, event.

8. Stuck? Pick a color that POPS out of your photo and use that as the color theme for your layout.

9. Have all of your supplies at your fingertips. This way when you are ready to move forward, you will be prepared. No more “where did I put those darn scissors!”

10. Be organized (see #9)! Have a section of your home (office, corner of bedroom, closet…) dedicated to scrapbooking and organize so everything will be easy to find. Label your drawers, use shoe boxes for your smaller supplies, you get the picture.

11. Use patterned paper as a background for your layout. This takes all the guesswork out of how you are going to design your page. Glue down some photos and you’re done!

12. Use a punch to add a little pizzazz. It’s as fast as, well, punching a hole! You can also add some style to the corners of your photos this way.

13. Cut apart a patterned piece of paper, say a flower, and use as a die cut on your page.

14. Take scrapbook paper and a paper trimmer and cut out angles. Adhere these to your scrapbook page for a quick design.

15. Tear some scrapbook paper to give your layout dimension. You can use your hands or purchase some inexpensive tear edgers to help with this job.

16. Good old fashioned stickers add great depth and creativity to your pages.

17. Adhere your photos to your page on a tilt for an interesting look.

18. You don’t need to title all your pages. A little journaling may be all you need.

19. Oops! You’ve messed up your journaling…we’ve all been there. Quick fix: cut out a square of paper to cover your mistake and voila –you just got another chance!

20. Use as little supplies as you can, this way you won’t be overwhelmed (album, paper, stickers, pens, adhesives, scissors and of course, photographs, are really all you need to get started)!

21. Have too much paraphernalia from your big family vacation? Add a clear pocket to the back inside cover of your album and store them there. Just make sure it’s acid free.

22. Use thick foam adhesives to stick down your photos to add dimension.

23. Just choose 1-3 photos to fit on a page. Too many equals too crowded. Store the rest of the pictures in an acid free photo box.

24. Lay your page out prior to starting. Decide how it’s going to look and if you can’t get it into an album right away, file what you’re going to use into a folder or a page planner.

25. Don’t stress. Your layouts don’t need to be elaborate. The important thing is that your photos are safely put into an acid free scrapbook.

26. Too many photos for one event? Weed through them and get rid of blurry, redundant and distracting pictures. It can be stressful thinking you have to use ALL the photos you took when you don’t.

27. Use die cuts. There are some really great die cut machines out there like the Cricut and Epic 6. Die cuts will really dress without the stress!

28. Use a tag to journal. It will add some fun to your layout and alleviate the stress of how to title your page.

29. Use a simple layout plan for your album. By this we mean use the same layout over and over again, make it different by changing the color scheme on each page. Think how quickly your album will get done!

30. Use stencils and color them in with chalk, pencil or marker. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not. Just lay down the stencil (on paper or directly on your page) and draw it on! Now you’ve got a beautiful hand-made element added to your layout that looks like you put a lot of time into.

31. Get help! Recruit the help of your daughter or even your husband. Not only are you spending quality time with your loved ones, but you’re adding a different style to your album.

32. Memorabilia add great decoration to your layouts. Tickets to a Rolling Stones concert and a photo or two is all you need!

33. You don’t have the time or will to scrapbook Your Life? Pick the important events like getting married, having a baby and your child’s First Communion. It’s ok!

34. Low on inspiration? Join a scrapbooking forum to get ideas from other scrappers!

35. Rub-Ons are easy to use and look great. All you need is a popsicle stick to rub them down and you’re good to go!

36. Books, books, books! Go to the library or visit your local bookstore for books on scrapbooking or quotes. I love the books on quotes, they are great for titles!

37. Decorate your pages with borders. You can use sticker borders or make a quick border with some paper. You can either tear the edges or use a border template and cut it out.

38. Spend an hour while watching Desperate Housewives making borders. Cut paper into strips, make the edges scalloped, wavy, zigzag by using a border template, or you can hand-tear the edges. Add some stickers for pizazz. Now you’re ready to go next time you scrap.

39. Don’t have any stencils or templates on hand? Look around…use cool shaped items found in your home to use as stencils!

40. Don’t know what adhesive to use? I know…the options are endless. Whatever you decide, just stick with adhesives that are specifically made for scrapbooking and don’t use glue that isn’t acid free. I personally love the tape runner. It’s EASY to apply and a little goes a long way!

41. Use decorative edged scissors for some extra fun! Cut around a photo, paper and matting.

42. Join a scrapbooking club or start your own! Host a crop and scrap. Share each other’s ideas and tools. You wouldn’t believe how much you can get done in this type of setting!

43. Layer paper for added dimension. Why just have a single matt under your photo when you can double or triple it. Combine solids with patterned paper for an extra thrill!

44. It’s overwhelming just thinking about all you can do with a layout or what you should do. Start with a focal point and accessorize from there.

45. Set goals for yourself. Set a certain amount of time each week to get some scrapbooking done and do it (you know, like working out but only more fun)!!! It doesn’t have to be a huge chunk of time. Perhaps an hour or two here and there. Eventually you will get caught up.

46. Use ribbon to give your pages some oomph. Add a bow or border your layout with it. It’s as easy as gluing it down.

47. I can’t stress this enough…don’t over think what you’re going to do! Believe me, I was one who would sit for an hour thinking I had to make the best layout ever. What a waste of time, not to mention the frustration that goes along with it. Just stick with a plan and go for it.

48. Embellishments do add some pizazz. If you like the way embellishments look, by all means, use them! They look difficult and some are, but if you stick to basic embellishments, like buttons or brads, then they can be a quick fix for a page dilemma.

49. Don’t scrap everything. If you have photographs that you love, but don’t have the room or energy, organize them in an acid-free photo box.

50. Keep a small notepad with you. When you get inspired or have a great idea, jot it down! It’ll be extremely helpful to you when you sit to do some scrapbooking.

51. Take a deep breath and don’t stress. Scrapbooking is supposed to be fun so don’t let it raise your blood pressure. Don’t take it too seriously, just get your photos down any way you can!

52. When all else fails, hire a company that will actually do your scrapbooking for you. It may be expensive, but at least it’ll get done!

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One way to make your scrapbooks unique is to make your own embellishments. Sure, craft stores have hundreds if not thousands of embellishments that you can buy. But if you want your scrapbooks to truly reflect you and your family, why not make your own.

Or better yet, why not cheat and see what you may already have at your disposal. With scrapbooking you can be as creative as you like. There are no hard and fast rules about what to use or how to use it. And not everyone can afford to continually buy new embellishment supplies.

One of the most popular do-it-yourself embellishments is memorabilia. These can be ticket stubs, playbooks, programs, pamphlets, brochures, or any assortment of mementoes or souvenirs that one would usually bring back from somewhere special. Birthday cards, gift cards or even floral cards could be used. Also, keep an eye out in the local newspaper for school events or achievements, your own children could be stars.

Try to get as organized as possible with all of the memorabilia that you’ll be collecting so you can find things when you want to use them. Possibly separate items into labeled envelopes or small baskets for each event or period of time. Make sure you let everyone in the family know what types of things you are collecting so they can help out.

For more informal and day-to-day photos look for items around the house. Wine bottle corks can be cut into slices, colored post-it notes with special words on them, fridge magnets you no longer want on the fridge, a deceased cat’s collar, “student of the week” certificates, used stamps, this list could go on and on. Basically, you could use almost anything that would sit flat enough on a page (as long as the glue held).

When creating your pages lay everything you want to use down on the page before gluing it so you get a good idea of how the final page will look. You could also add captions, dates and even Smilies with colored pens.

When you pair these items up with your own photos they make wonderful keepsakes. But if you lay them out on a scrapbook page and make them into an event, they make memories.

There are thousands of different types of embellishments available for scrapbooking. But before you start shopping for scrapbook embellishments you should decide on a theme for your scrapbook, then choose the photos that you will use as the basis for each page. Use this theme and photos to help choose the embellishments you will use. Just be sure to use some common sense when choosing your supplies at your local craft or department store so you don’t go overboard.

Perhaps you have done other types of crafts and already have a stash of craft materials available to you around the house. You could use some of these items for embellishments. Buttons, lace, drawing paper and photograph mats are fine for use in your scrapbook, especially if the material is acid-free. You could have a hoard of items at home and not even know it, so make sure you check all of your drawers and cupboards. If you are an expert in calligraphy, you may be able to do your own lettering on each page. If you are doing a scrapbook about babies and have a baby yourself, maybe you have some small baby items that you can use on a scrapbook page.

So you’ve decided on a theme for your scrapbook and you’ve found a couple of treasures in drawers around the house to use as embellishments or mats on your scrapbook pages, but you still want to add more detail and novelties. Head to the scrapbooking department of your local craft store to buy more scrapbooking materials if need be, but remember to keep check of how much you are spending as it is still much cheaper to make your own embellishments.

When you reach the scrapbooking section of your local store you will find a plethora of different types and colors of paper from which to choose. Choose paper that will complement the pictures you have chosen for the basis of your album pages. Remember not to choose paper that will detract from the subject of your page. Once you have chosen the right paper, choose embellishments that will coordinate with the paper and photographs you have chosen, and any other embellishments you found or made at home.

There are both flat and 3D embellishments available for your scrapbooking use. These embellishments come in a huge variety of themes to choose from. If you already have the photos and paper chosen, you will have automatically narrowed down the color choices of the types of stickers and other embellishments you can choose. Choose embellishments for a page or two at a time if choosing for an entire album seems overwhelming.

And most importantly, take your time. Yes that’s right, take your time. There is no rush to buy every single item on the shelves, as over time you will end up with huge collections of items without even realizing it. So take it slow, take it steady and take it easy, but remember to have fun!

Visit Cheap & Easy Scrapbooking for more tips on scrapbooking on a tight budget.