Frugal Embellishments for Scrapbooking

By

magnoliasouth

You don' t need to be sure it's archival safe. Just spray it with Make it Acid Free by Krylon. Granted, you have to buy the can but then anything is game if you have it.

By Robin H, Plainedge, LI NY (Guest Post)

A great tip but be sure to treat the "free" lettering and artwork to be archival safe or you may find your "free" stuff has cost you your memories.

By Lisa (Guest Post)

I too like to recycle pictures from books and magazines as well as cards and other found objects. However, before putting anything on my pages I like to spray them with an archival mist that deacidifies the papers or objects.

By

JudyBoody

I'd advise getting one of the pens you use to check the acidity of paper before putting it in any scrapbook you want to keep longterm. You just put a mark on the back of the paper and if it turns a certain color, don't use the paper. It's available most places like Michael's and JoAnn's and scrapbooking stores.

By

shirleyamh

If you are careful not to embellish the photo's with your finds you should be fine. Remember to use acid free paper to mat your photos and use acid free paper for your page.
Other sources to find treasures are junk jewlry, broken watches,bottle caps, paper clips, staples, scrap fabric, twigs, buttons off of throw away clothing,etc. Have fun :)

Be careful because most of that stuff won't be acid free and may ruin your pictures.

By

Dedeswrkshop

Keep your eye open at garage sales for any greeting cards and wall paper.
I found some junked wall paper sample catalogs. I now have more supplies than I have room for!
Awesome and beautiful resource.
Wonder if the store would have just given them to me, and how many I have missed out on?