In case this is the first time you have come across the term, scrapbook charms are very similar to charm bracelets. These are little pieces of metal cut, pressed and painted to look like miniature versions of everything, whether its scissors, minnie mouse or a ribbon, really they can be anything!

In the same way that tailors have a tray full of buttons, my scrapbook supplies have a tray full of different scrapbooking charms. Some of these I have brought in stores, while others I have actually taken from some of my old charm bracelets.

So why should you be using these charms in your scrapbook? Well, it really brings a scrapbook to life, it really shows that you care about the small details and contributes to the theme of the scrapbook.

Many times I have come across scrapbooks which are missing the finishing touches. The pages were beautiful and carefully decorated, but just felt a little dry and clinical. If the person had added some scrapbook charms in the right places, it really would have added a lot of character to the book and taken it from good to great!

Its hard to describe the feeling you get when you see an album that has some charms added in here and there. However, most scrappers I have talked to agreed that the charms really add a little touch of magic when included.

So now you can add a touch of magic to your next project with some scrapbook charms.

A scrapbook, after all, is a memory book of special times in your life-summarized into just a few pages of pictures, notes, and memorabilia. And because of people’s inquisitive nature-when they hear that you have a scrapbook they’ll almost always ask to see it.

One way to make sure that you’re scrapbook has extra wow factor is to embellish it’s page with little charms that represent different aspects of your personality.

What is a Charm

In scrapbooking terms a charm is simply a little item or trinket that is added to a layout page to highlight an event, a personality trait, a skill or a passion. Scrapbook charms are much like the charms you’d see on a charm bracelet however they also extend to items such as buttons and cuff links.

Lets look at an example of how a scrapbook charm could be used in a layout.

Say you have a 2 year old son, he really likes to play with trucks and you’ve created a scrapbook page with a few photo’s of him happily playing with his toy trucks. To add a charm to this layout page highlight his passion for trucks, you could visit your local haberdashery shop and pick a couple of inexpensive buttons such as a truck, wheel, or steering wheel button etc. You could then glue, stitch, or stick the button to the page and add a nice little quote such as “My Little trucker”.

You can also choose different kinds of charms for every scrapbook page depending on the mood or theme that it has. If you are creating a page that dwells on your love for sports, you should use charms that relate to these activities to help accentuate the main theme of the page.

On the other hand, if you devote a page for your outdoor activities, then you should use charms that represent these activities such as little fish for fishing, shells for the beach, or a carabina mountaineering.

Too Much of A Good Thing

Since charms are decorative and symbolic items, it is important that you do not overstuff your page with them. If you do, it would defeat the purpose of being a decoration as it could take away precious attention from the more significant items on the page-the photos.

Having too many charms in the scrapbook would also reduce its value as a symbol. Instead, it will be treated as a mere decoration without any other meaning other than a little bit of eye-candy.

Scrapbooking Eyelets

Eyelets are the new craze in scrapbooking. See what the fuss is all about.

About Eyelets

Eyelets are embellishments used for scrapbooking and other craft projects such as card making. Eyelets are generally made of aluminum or brass and come in two sizes and three types. The most common size for eyelets is 1/8″, although they also come in 3/16″. 3/16″ eyelets are larger than 1/8″ eyelets and generally cost more.

Types of eyelets include plain, top coat, and anodized. Plain eyelets are not painted so they are the color of the metal they are made out of. This type of eyelets is not very common. Eyelets also come with a top coat color. These eyelets are painted. The last type of eyelet is anodized. Anodized eyelets have a more metallic color than eyelets with a top coat.

Eyelets have a hole through the center that is used to attach them to your paper. Brads are often sold with eyelets. Brads differ because they do not have this characteristic hole. Instead, brads have two metal flaps on the back that can be bent to attach them to paper.

Where to Use Eyelets

Eyelets come in many shapes and colors. They can be used to attach items such as ribbons, paper, pictures, and tags to scrapbooking pages. Eyelets are a simple way to add to the color and theme of your scrapbooking pages.

Here are 15 ideas for using your eyelets.

1. Embellishments on a paper piecing picture such as buttons on a snowman or dots on a lady bug
2. Attach vellum paper
3. To hange tags or frames from
4. Create movable parts on your paper piecing
5. Create a page theme such as shells for a beach page or fish for a fishing trip page
6. Corners of picture mats
7. In the hole of a tag
8. As bullets for a list
9. Journaling accents
10. Eyes of animals such as owls
11. The center of flowers
12. Create your own bugs, butterflies,or bees from eyelet shapes
13. As the dot on an i or the center of a letter
14. To make a string of Christmas lights or as the ornaments on a christmas tree
15. The M&Ms in M&M cookies
16. String ribbon or craft fibbers through a line of eyelets

The list could go on and on. You can use eyelets to add dimension that will spice up any page.

How to Use Eyelets

It is time to roll up those sleeves and break out your handy tools. You will need a hammer, hole setter, and a resilient work surface such as a rubber craft mat to get started using eyelets.

1. Place your scrapbooking page face up on your work surface.
2. Put the hole setter on your page where you want to insert the eyelet.
3. Lightly tap the end of the hole setter a few times until a hole is created.
4. Place your eyelet upside down on your work surface and put your scrapbooking page over the eyelet so that the back of the eyelet sticks throught the hole you just created.
5. Place the setter with the flat end over the back of the eyelet and lightly tap the end of the setter with your hammer until the back of the eyelet begins to bend outward.
6. Hammer the back of the eyelet directly until the eyelet flattens down into place.
7. Turn your scrapbooking page over and be proud of your work.

Where to Buy Eyelets

You can purchase eyelets from me! My eBay Scrapbooking Store has hundreds of mixes of eyelets. Just look for my seller id: scrapsandcrafts

ScrapbookFinds.com has a search engine for finding scrapbooking eyelets, brads, and other supplies. Try it out.

Lisa Robbins is a businesswoman and an enthusiast for sports, family, and crafts. She is the creator and maintainer of ScrapsAndCrafts.com, a scrapbooking tutorial and wholesale scrapbooking supply website. She is also a contributor to ScrapbookFinds.com, a search tool for scrapbooking products

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