You've finished scrapbooking your most recent layout, but now you're left with as much paper from cutting photo mats, titles, journaling blocks and embellishments as you do on the layout. It's likely a mixture of solid cardstock, printed paper or vellum. You could trash it all, but here are some reasons why you should save "scraps” for your next scrapbooking project.

1.      Scraps can be used for borders, decorative squares, and large Sissix die cuts.

2.      They are great for all of your decorative punches.

3.      Perfect for cutting out the letters for a title.

4.      Small pieces of torn or confetti paper can be used to create accents on handmade greeting cards as well as scrapbook layouts.

5.      Kids love scrapbooking too! Let them start with a pile of your scraps.

6.      It can save time. Try cutting basic shapes out of the paper underneath the photo and save for mats. Save all the rounds or ovals in a bag and they are all set for matting for future projects.

7.      Save the die cut paper. They can make great frames.

8.      It saves you money!

There are a few different ways you can organize your scraps.  I recommend an according folder that is large enough to hold 12 x 12 paper, so that you don't need to cut your scraps down before filing them. Then color code your scraps in the separate file folders. It is a good idea to clean out your scrapbooking folders periodically and get rid of the smaller pieces of paper and hold on to just the larger ones.