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Gifts From The Scrapper: Put your supplies to work!By: Brandie ValenzuelaTribute Album: If you have someone who is very special in your life, you may wish to create a tribute album in which family and friends of that person all contribute their own thoughts and sentiments. To learn more about creating a tribute album, read my article "How to Create a Tribute Album". (please link this article title to my article of the same name) Calendars: Creating a calendar for a gift has been made easy with products such as Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Calendar or Making Memories Calendar Kit (check you local scrapbook supply store) -- just about everything is included in these kits. If you have software on your computer which allows to print up calendar pages, you can make one easily yourself! Be sure to top each month with photograph and include important dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Birthday/Anniversary Chart: Along the same idea of a calendar, but more simple, is a birthday and anniversary chart. The chart is one piece of paper that lists each month of the year. Near each month, you simply list the date that someone's birthday or anniversary and list their name. You can create your own chart, or you can download a free chart here: http://www.loveathome.com/anniversary.htm Be sure to print it out on acid-free cardstock or paper and color in the images with your chalks, pencils, or markers. Frame it and you have a great gift for a wedding, a reunion, or for anyone starting out on their own. Create a love tree: Find a branch outside that has several smaller branches coming off of it and place the branch standing up in a pot of soil, or even a coffee can filled with dirt would work. Cut out an assortment of hearts from different colored cardstock and string each one with ribbon. Then have each member of your family write the things that they love on the hearts (one "love" per heart) and hang them on the tree. You can name just about anything you love: a beloved pet, grandma, sunsets, or even ice cream! If you want to create this tree as a gift for someone, write things on the hearts that you love about that person or couple. Recipe Book: This idea is perfect for a newlywed couple or for anyone who can use a collection of those great family recipes! You can either print out the recipes from your computer or handwrite them onto recipe cards and then adhere them onto the paper. While including the recipe is the only thing you have to include, you can make it even better by including a photograph of the person's who recipe it is or including the story of why this is a popular recipe in your family. Be sure to enclose each page of the recipe book in a sheet protector and place in an album or three ring binder. Bathtub Fun: If you have an assortment of templates, put them to use for a child's bathtime fun! Buy some colorful foam craft sheets (available at most craft stores) and trace your templates onto them. Cut out the shapes and now you have a simple, inexpensive gift for a little one -- when they take a bath the foam shapes will "stick" to the walls of bathtub. Decorated Poetry: This is a versatile gift that can be made for a variety of occassions: a new baby, a wedding or anniversary, graduation, you name it! Choose a poem or song lyrics that you love and that fit the occasion. Using your computer and printer, print out the words onto a piece of acid-free cardstock or paper. Treat the printed words as you would a photo -- mat and embellish it and then frame. Gift Certificates of your time: Make gift certificates that say things like: "Good for one scrapping session - with my supplies!" "Good for lunch and a scrapping session" or even "Good for one scrapbooking lesson." Not only is this an inexpensive gift, but it will motivate you to work on your own scrapbooks! Family Tree: There are many ways to create a family tree. One of the most simple ways is by using a fan chart. Download a free family tree chart here http://www.marthastewart.com/images/pdf/family_tree.pdf and print it out onto acid-free cardstock. Using an archival quality pen, fill in the details. Decoupage Anything: If you are anything like me, then you have lots of great scrapbook paper scraps! Put your scraps to work by decoupaging wooden boxes, trays, buckets, and more. Take a trip to your local craft store and you will be sure to find wonderful items that are ready for your scraps and some glue! Love Pills: Here's something I did for my husband several years ago. Take an empty pain reliever or prescription bottle and soak it in hot water to remove the label. After you remove the label, design your own label on paper, with something like the following: "Love Pills" - take one as needed. Then take strips of cardstock and write down the things you are willing to do for your loved one. Some ideas are: foot massage, back massage, your favorite pie, your favorite cookies, you choose the movie we see, etc... Take each strip and wad it into a little ball and place them in the bottle. Another version of this gift is to create "love coupons" with your paper. Handmade Cards: Everyone can use greeting cards. I personally think that you can never have enough cards -- I use them for birthdays, holidays, thank you's, congratuations, and to just drop a note to someone I am thinking of. A wonderful gift to give someone is an assortment of handmade cards that are ready for them to use. I used to think that I had to have a huge assortment of rubber stamps to make great cards -- not true! By using your scrapbook supplies, you can create greeting cards easily. Look at cards as mini scrapbook layout without a photo and you will have no problems creating beautiful cards. About the Author: Brandie is a wife and homeschooling mom to three children, who also works fulltime from her home designing custom scrapbook albums. To view Brandie’s scrapbook layouts and find out more about having your own custom scrapbook album created, visit: http://brandievdesigns.4t.com
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