52: Other Uses for Your Scrapbook Stash

Over the past couple of weeks we have been busy getting organized to go back to school. I found that I had less time to scrapbook, but I still did a few crafty and organizational projects and used a lot of my scrapbooking supplies in other ways. Here are 5 ways I used them in the last two weeks.

1) Closet Dividers (pictured above) - To ease the pain of deciding what clothes the boys will wear each day, I decided to make some tabs to organize their school clothes each week. On Sunday nights we'll pick out 5 outfits for the week, hang them up and use the circles to identify and divide them up. I used my Circle Patterns and Creative Memories Custom Cutting System to cut out five circles that would fit over the boys closet rods and simply wrote the days of the week on each one. I used plain cardstock for these dividers, but chipboard or sheets of craft foam would work well too.

2) Teacher Gift - I altered some mini-composition books from the dollar store to add to a bunch of "Welcome Back Packs" for Grayson and Sam's teachers using some Enchanted Photo Mats and Journaling Cards. (See this post for more info)

3) Pencil Holder - I needed a holder for pens and pencils to go in a little wooden box that also holds paper scraps for phone messages in our kitchen command center, so I used a piece of patterned scrapbook paper that coordinated with my kitchen colors to cover an empty soup can! The can was the perfect size so I prettied it up with the paper. (I used to re-purpose this kind of stuff all the time...when did I stop? So easy...and cheap!)

4) To-Do and To-Buy Clipboards - I needed a more permanent place where I could keep an ongoing list of my scrapbook pages and projects, as well as a smaller list for supplies I need to replenish or purchase for a project. I dug out some bare clipboards I bought at the dollar store awhile back, glued some pretty pink scraps of paper down using white glue mixed with water (I don't buy Mod-Podge as this works just as well!) and then added some coordinating ribbons to finish them off. I plan on hanging the clipboards to the sides of my desk drawers under my scrap table for easy access, and I'll always know where my lists are!

5) Lunchbox notes - Since we live so close to the school, Grayson only takes his lunch occasionally. When he does, I like to tuck a little note - a joke or "love note" - into his lunchbag to remind him how much I love him, miss him and that I am thinking of him while he is at school. I often use my Creative Memories Tag Maker for notes like this, or dip into my collection of journal boxes - these ones are from the Cheerful Power Palette. A small punched shape or sticker is the perfect accent. (Bonus...Melissa from of my favorite Mom Blogs, "320 Sycamore", posted a downloadable list of 180 Lunchbox jokes! That's one for every day of the school year! Hmmm...maybe Grayson will have to take his lunch more often!)

This week, I hope you get inspired by something from your stash...find a piece of paper you love and cover a notebook, a frame or a can. Make a card for a friend. Whip up a bunch of those lunch notes. Make something pretty and practical for your desk. Let your supplies do double-duty for you!

Have a great day!