To make recycled paper from your scrapbook scraps

A blender

Water

Scissors

Scrapbook paper scraps

Paper towels

Aluminum foil

First, this is not regular thin recycled paper used for stationary, your consistency will be thicker and the end product will have more ridges and texture. It is an aesthetic paper for design purposes only.

Separate your scrapbook scraps into color schemes, i.e. reds, blues, yellows, greens, etc.

Shred your papers with a regular paper shredder, scissors, or tear them.

Place them in a blender about half full; add up to one cup of water for an oatmeal consistency. Using chop, or blend, use your blender, adding water when necessary, to reach a consistency of thick oatmeal.

Tear off a sheet of aluminum foil, pull out a handful of the mulch, squeeze excess water, and place on aluminum foil sheet. Spread evenly, approximately ¼ inch in width, you do not need to be precise, the outcome will be even better if there is some variance to the paper width and texture. Be careful not to get too thin, or have holes in your paper.

Blot excess water from the mulch with paper towels, and let dry. Drying time is approximately 2 days depending on humidity. You will want to make several different pages in different colors before you begin your projects.

Take a piece of cardstock, preferably a neutral tone. Fold your cardstock in half to create your card.

Tear pieces of your home made paper into different shapes, not defined shapes. Make sure you tear instead of cut, this allows fibers to extend out, giving your project a more primitive feel.

Using a hot glue gun, arrange 3 or more of the different colored shapes, overlapping a bit to the cardstock.

Apply some pressed flowers, leaves, twigs, or dried flowers to your design. Be careful not to overload your project with the flowers etc., it will make your design to complicated. This is a primitive design that will be different every time.

Add an envelope, large enough to accommodate your card, you can find them in the stationary, craft and card making sections of Ebay, or at a craft store.

Take five of your cards, add 5 envelopes in back, and tie with raffia or a satin ribbon and you have a gift set.

Use your scrapbook scraps; paper, ribbons, pictures etc. to create exciting gifts that are useful and memorable.

Use different pieces of scrapbook scraps – cut, tear, punch etc. Don’t make the pieces to big or too small, but do a variation of sizes (1 inch up to 3 inches) to create a design. Make sure you have plenty of scraps to begin with, or your modgepodge will dry too quickly to accommodate your project. You will also need:

A scrapbook, photo album, journal, any size.

A one half inch or one inch foam brush

One jar of Modgepodge

Accents: Flat-bottomed jewels, pictures, punches, and ribbons – anything your heart desires.

Glue gun.

Apply a thin layer of Modgepodge with the foam brush to one quarter of your project (scrapbook, journal, etc.).

Quickly, before the Modgepodge sets, apply your scraps so that they over lap one another, do not leave spaces between your pieces.

Apply Modgepodge to another section of your project, continuing as stated above, remembering to overlap your pieces.

Continue this process until your project is covered.

Let dry at least 24 hours.

Now apply different accents, such as a family photo in the center, ribbons around the edges, small sea shells, small gems, pressed or dried flowers – whatever you want to add to make your project your own. As you apply your accents, put a small dab of hot glue on the back of your accent. Continue until you have your design. Apply a thin layer of Modgepodge to the whole project. Cover all of it, including the background scrapbook scraps.

Let dry about 48 hours.

You will have a wonderful, easily made and inexpensive gift that you have made from scraps you would have thrown away.