How to Make Holiday Gifts from Leftover Scrapbook Supplies

Need to get holiday gifts? Look no farther than your scrapbook stash. Your supplies—scrapbook paper, ribbon, chipboard, stickers—can be used to create gorgeous and personal gifts. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a single cent, and you can use up all the leftover supplies that are gathering dust in your cabinets.

Read this article for ideas on holiday gifts, plus tips on presentation to add to the ‘wow’ factor.

1. Photo ornaments

Grab a bunch of patterned paper and cardstock Use a large circle punch or circle cutter to cut them into (you guessed it) circles. Then, add your friend’s or relative’s photos. YOu can stick the photo directly on the cardstock, or cut out a square in the middle, creating an instant frame. Punch a hole and add a strip of ribbon. Voila, a paper Christmas ornament! You can also add chipboard, flowers or stickers in the corners.

For extra oomph, you can print the photo on vellum. The Christmas lights will shine through the photo, creating a soft and dreamy effect. (This works really well on black and white photos.) Other variations are pasting photos on photo cubes, chipboard, or printing them on fabric and sewing them on felt.

For presentation, make several Christmas paper ornaments from coordinating paper and ribbons. On some ornaments, put photos; on others, use leftover chipboard letters or embossing ink and stamps to make family monograms. Decorate the box with leftover paper scraps—or paint it in a matching color—and then tie with coordinating ribbon.

2. Nursery ornament

Do you have a friend who’s just had a baby? Buy a small, white frame or shadowbox. Then, raid your scrapbook stash for paper that matches the color and theme of her nursery. Cut the paper to fit inside the frame, and add a chipboard letter (the first one of the baby’s name). Attach coordinating leftover ribbon to hang the frame.

Or, take it to the next level: get one of those frames that can hold several photos. Fill some with leftover patterned paper, stickers and quotes; leave others for the baby’s photos.

3. Santa’s Mailbox.

This is a great gift for a friend or relative who has a lot of kids. Get an old lunch box or wooden box. This will be ‘Santa’s Mailbox.’ You can decorate it with holiday-themed paper, or travel-themed paper.

Then, prepare ‘Letters to Santa.’ There are two ways to do this. One is to design it on Microsoft Word: type ‘Dear Santa’ in a font you like, print it out, and cut the paper to size. Or, you can stamp it. You can also make it look like postcards, sticking leftover patterned paper on one side of the card stock, and then adding travel elements: ‘air mail’ or ‘north pole express.’ The kids can now write their letters to Santa, which mom will cherish for years!

For extra special presentation, bake cookies and prepare pre-made cocoa mix. Place these—and the Santa Mailbox—in a basket. Voila, a Santa Kit! Everyone can enjoy the cookies and cocoa while they write their letters.

4. Pocketful of Christmas Memories

Find several coordinating pieces of leftover cardstock and patterned paper and cut them into
tags.

Then, write or print journaling boxes. Topics include ‘Favorite Christmas song,’ ‘Favorite Christmas Recipe,’ ‘Favorite Christmas movie.’ Add whatever you think is appropriate to your friend or relative. Does she have a new baby? You can put ‘Baby’s first Christmas Photo’ or ‘Baby’s first Christmas gift.’ Is she the type who goes all out with Christmas décor? Encourage her to take photos of her handiwork with journaling tags like ‘Table Centerpiece’ or ‘Christmas Tree Theme.’

5. Messages of Love

All you need to make this craft is leftover patterned paper and a few extra phonecalls. Make a mini album entitled ‘I Love you, (name of recipient).’ Then call up his or her family and friends and ask for a message or Christmas wish. Ask them to email you their photo. You know what to do next: print out what they say in journaling tags, add their photo, and you have created possibly the best Christmas gift anyone could ever receive: knowing that they are appreciated and loved.

These makes a great gift for teachers too (just ask your kids’ classmates or your co-parents for messages), co-workers or grandparents (all the grandkids can hand-write their messages).

You may also enjoy trying these other money saving tips for crafts: ideas for using leftover supplies, and 12 ways to scrapbook on a budget.

Photo from luckystarlane.com