1. Use any and all materials you have on hand in the house first
2. Buy seasonal embellishments during “off time” of the season you are working in. (i.e. buy Christmas embellishments a week or more after Christmas, etc.)
3. Seek page layout ideas from the internet, as opposed to buying high priced scrapbook ideas books at the book store.
4. Swap tools and embellishments with your friends and family who are not using them now.
5. Only buy your supplies when they are on sale.
6. Don’t overstock yourself on embellishments in advance…you may be building up inventory that you may never use again.
7. Build a “scraps” collection of unused or “extra” scraps of paper of unused materials. You can always make use of these scraps later.
8. If you use stamps, contact your scrapbooking “buddies” and trade use of your stamps for theirs and swap them back.
9. When getting photos reproduced, don’t over order duplicates thinking you are going to use all of them. Plan in advance and only order the photo prints you are going to actually use.
10. If you are going to use a lot of a particular embellishment, get your scrapbooking buddies to chip in money to buy them and share the embellishments with them.
11. Contact your scrapbook buddies and ask them if they have any embellishments or materials that they don’t intend on using and ask for them.
12. Always be on the lookout for discount coupons at art stores like Michaels. You never know when you will have need for them in a moment’s notice!
13. “Shop” the internet for scrapbook supplies….quite often they are cheaper than you could buy at a local store.

These are just some ideas to make a scrapbook on the cheap. There is always creative ways to make scrapbooks. The main expense on any scrapbook project is going to be the binder. Don’t sacrifice on that….you want the binder to last for a very long time. As always, use acid free paper for mounting photos.

To start out, seniors have so much life experience that it is no problem trying to find topics of interest or the people in their lives that they can dedicate a scrapbook too.

The only thing that may be a challenge is the budget. We went over that with an earlier post regarding scrapbooking on a budget. There are plenty of knick knacks around the house and of course tons of pictures in boxes and and everywhere at relatives houses and such. The first thing a senior should do is pick an obvious topic for the scrapbook. Do you know what we are thinking at the top of the list?? Grandkids!!

There is no end to how many pictures there have been taken with the grandkids, especially from the time of birth at the hospital. What senior does not have pictures of the grand children from at least their first several birthdays. So, gather the pictures first. Next, comes the theme of the scrapbook. It could be the "growing years" or the "next astronaut." or the "future rock star." If these young ones show any aptitude for any musical talents or dancing, or "brains" answering each city name in Africa, the themes are endless.

Once set on a theme, you should get embellishments and other scraps to complement the theme. Going to a scrapbook store near you could give you so many more ideas of the page design, embellishments, and other material items. I would suggest not to plan for a very large scrapbook because it could get so bulky that it will be uncomfortable to lug it around.

If a senior has never done a scrapbook before, it is wise to buy a beginning book in scrapbooking. Make sure it has a lot of pictures. The less words the better! We want the seniors to have fun while learning.