Thirfty Thursday--Paper Piecing

This Little Piggy

I've talked before about making your own embellishments to customize your cards or scrapbook projects, but another reason for making your own customized embellishments is to save money and make your paper crafting / scrapbooking budget last longer or to allocate it to your "must have" items. A few embellishments that I regularly make myself are paper piecings. With scrap / leftover pieces of paper, markers, chalk, and adhesive, you can make the most adorable accents that finish your projects perfectly. One example is this cute little pig. I made him for a "Down on the Farm" layout, and it was my favorite element of the layout with the exception of the photos.

I used pop dots, chalk, and markers to add more detail and dimension to my little piggy.

One of the nice things about paper piecing is that if you can find patterns EVERYWHERE! I started by searching through coloring books, and found that tracing paper was a great way to make a template. You can certainly find patterns for free online, or there are different vendors who sell their patters for your use. There are also many die cut machines and software that will me a single dimensional paper piecing die cut that may also serve your need very well.

I like chunky, dimensional looks, so I curled this little piggy's tail by winding the piece of paper around a marker.

I'm determined note to let my paper crafting addiction hurt my family budget, so this is just one way that I can save my money for my "must have" list.