Stash Busting

Underrated.  Overworked.  Overlooked.

The paperclip.

I realized today that I have a fair amount of clips in my stash - a topic I covered in a previous Stash Busting post, along with other metal items.  

Scrapbook companies put out their versions of embellished clips and a large variety of shaped clips, so they appear frequently in Apron Strings kits. You can thank the "Planner" craze for the plethora of clips being churned out these days.  However, I'm not covering the pre-embellished clips or how to use them.  This is more of a use your stash - create your own clips using regular paperclips.

Okay, I'm a huge planner fan, long before creating and embellishing was the "thing."  These coffee clips would be adorable in a planner, but they are inspiration for what else you can do.  Little diecuts - pre-made or ones you create, or those last, lonely layered stickers, enamel stickers or cabochons on the sheet.

Have tickets, small tags, postal stamps or stickers?  Layer them up like these travel clips and add to your layout or card.

Use patterned paper scraps, leftover mini brads, small enamel dots, cork, mini flowers or tiny wood veneer pieces to create these pennants to hang on your page.   Change up the bits and pieces to reflect the holiday, season or event you're working on.

Create your own flowers using scraps of patterned papers and add them to the tops of paperclips - check this post for simple ideas.  Or totally take the easy route and use pre-made flowers (you probably have a few in your stash.)  

These simple flags were created with washi tape, but you could use a length of ribbon or a couple ribbons, or several strands of baker's twine.

Nothing is easier than these washi tape pennants.

Whether you create your own butterflies or go with a pre-made version, they're super cute fluttering around your page.

Other last-of-the-package items you can use:  regular buttons, themed buttons, wood & enamel buttons, dots, flair, wood veneer pieces, or large jewels.  Really, it's just what you have.

Outside of the tape or ribbon ideas, either use two pop dots (one on the back of the item, which is stuck to the top of the clip and the other dot which is stuck to the pop dot on the item - sticky faces together sealing the paper clip between them), or use pop dots to adhere the item to the clip and then add a piece of one-sided tape over the back of the item and dot to keep them in place.  

Need more ideas, do a quick Pinterest Clip Search

Go.  Create.