Altered Items for Your Scrap Desk

With so many crafts stores around, there are lots of great items that you can find to alter for your scrap desk. I browsed through my craft store and found several goodies that I thought would be fun to alter and use on my desk. Here is what I found:

• Wooden Gift Bag, Michael's, $1
• Wooden 9" Letter P, Michael's, $2.99
• Wooden 6" Clothes Pin, Oriental Trading, $3

Gather Your Supplies

Your first assignment is to go shopping and find some fun items to alter. Use your imagination. For instance, I decided to use the wooden gift bag as a pen holder. There are so many wonderful things you can find. Look around, and have fun. Then if you do not already have some specific scrapbook papers and products at home that you want to use for your projects, you will need to shop for that too. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Time to Create

Now that you have been shopping and have gathered your supplies, it is time to create. I chose to use the Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug line for all of my altered items so that they would match in my room. I loved working with these papers. They are heavy, the colors are wonderful, and they were just great to work with. I also chose to use lots of lumpy embellishments. They really add dimension and character to my projects. Here is how I altered the items I purchased.

Altered Letter ‘'P

I have always wanted my initial hanging in my scraproom. This 9" letter ‘P' was the perfect size for my wall. I decided not to paint it and left it white instead. I first traced the letter onto my patterned paper then cut it out. I inked the edges of my paper before adhering it to the wooden letter. Then I used lots of fun embellishments-flowers, buttons, chipboard, ribbon, and rhinestones. It was so easy and quick to make. This would also make a great gift for someone you know or love. Think of their favorite colors. Think of the décor in their home. I am sure they would be very excited to receive such a thoughtful and personalized gift.

Altered Note Clip

This clip works great for holding note paper. I am constantly looking for scrap paper when I am working at my desk. This clip has solved my problem. I can quickly find paper now when I need it to jot down an idea or a note. I keep Post-it notes in my clip or sometimes I cut up old computer paper into 3"x3" squares to use. I did decide to paint the clip first before decorating it. I love pink, and the Making Memories paint matched so well with the Cosmo Cricket papers. Again, I used lumpy embellishments to decorate my clip. These clips make great teacher gifts also. Teachers are always in need of scrap paper, and these are well-appreciated gifts.

Altered Pen Holder

I do not know about you, but I have the same problem with pens as I do with my scrap paper-I can never find one when I need one. So, this wooden gift bag makes the perfect pen holder. I also painted this before putting on my paper and embellishments. It can also hold scissors, glue sticks, a bone folder, ruler, or anything that you use often and need quickly. This would be a great place to keep it.

Now that you have some ideas of what to alter for your scrap desk, get out, shop, and alter!