Pre-made scrapbooks can be a life saver to the scrapbooker who is overwhelmed by a lack of time or creativity. You want a scrapbook and you want it NOW.
You might think that pre-made scrapbooks are expensive, but if you don’t have a huge investment in unused paper and supplies, they’re really quite reasonable. Compare the price of a pre-made book to one you have to put together yourself. You’ll need a binder, lots of paper and embellishments. You’ll also need special tools depending on the look you’re going for—cutters, distressing tools, hole punches and more.
Let’s break it down, with the following random example from Archivers (two locations in West County):
1 plain 12x12 album with 10 page protectors: $10
1 pack of 12x12 assorted cardstock: $12
1 pack of journaling cards: $3.00
1 pack of die-cut shapes: $4.00
1 set of alphabet stickers: $4.00
Total: $41 (without the cost of new tools)
This is the very basic consumable supplies needed for a scrapbook—and you’ll probably want more!
What’s the cost of a pre-made scrapbook?
At Archivers, the cost of a 12x12 “Forever Yours” scrapbook kit is $25, with supplies to create 10 pages front and back and a simliar “One Hour” scrapbook kit is $30 (and you still have to assemble the pages).
Walmart has 12z12 sets for $16.
At Target, a 9x11 pre-made just add photos scrapbook is $17.
The pre-made book is less expensive than buying all the supplies individually and ready to roll. Books that require assembly come with examples to follow, or may have easy to use pre-printed photos mats on the page.
You can use these pre-made books as a way to either try scrapbooking on for size, a way to get a scrapbook done quickly, or as creative training wheels. You can use your pre-made scrapbook as a blue print to create your own “from scratch” scrapbook by recreating the pages with new paper and embellishments in different colors or themes.
Of course, there are disadvantages to the pre-made books. They lock you into the designer’s style, which may not quite suit your own tastes. You have to follow their format for number and size of photos and are limited to how many pages the book contains.
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