Today I am sharing a Back-to-School-themed scrapbook layout that showcases one of our fun family traditions. And being part of the Xyron Makers Team allows me to show you how YOU too can create fun and beautiful scrapbook pages using the Xyron Creative Station Lite and the Xyron Mega Runner. It’s easy!
Instead of outlining step-by-step instructions of how I made the layout, I want to instead share more about our tradition. If you would like to watch the process video and see exactly how I made this page, you can do so HERE:
Before I continue, I want to send special thank you’s to Xyron, Craft O’Clock, and Creek Bank Creations. This post has been sponsored by Xyron. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The paper has been sponsored by Craft O’Clock. The alphabet dies, tab dies and large photo-fold-out have been sponsored by Creek Bank Creations. Thank you to these three wonderful companies for including me as a creative member of your teams!
Now, about our family tradition!
It is no doubt that getting your kids exited about going back to school takes some creativity. And as the kids get older, their back-to-school needs change, as well. Exchange the crayons and safety scissors for protractors, graph paper and super-strong backpacks. And scrap the idea of dragging the kids through the store to “pick out their own supplies”. That’s just a nightmare.
So in our house, I do something unique to get my boys excited about getting ready for school, and to help me stretch my budget throughout the year. All year long, I buy on-sale school supplies that I know the kids will need – paper, certain folders, composition books, pencil cases, etc. I store everything in a big storage tub as I buy it. THEN, when their school supply lists become available, I pick up the few remaining items I didn’t already have.
The fun part comes when we set the day for “Sale-A-Bration”, the silly name we call our tradition. I set up folding tables all over the living room (or sometimes we do it in the garage), so it looks like a “store”. I put all the school supplies out on the tables, and even try to lay out the supplies in little categories. If I bought a few back-to-school outfits for them ahead of time, I hang those up like it’s a “clothing” section of the store.
The kids get their school supply lists together and I put on a big hat and some funny coat or scarf or something. When the “store is open”, I call the kids and I talk in a silly voice the whole time, pretending to be the owner of the store that’s having the “Sale-A-Bration”. It’s quite ridiculous. And it makes my teenage sons smile as they walk around the tables, “shopping” for their school supplies. They still get to pick out what they want, but they don’t have to trudge through a store. Then the kids sit on the floor with their new stuff and take things out of the packaging, write their names on folders, and fill up their new pencil cases.
I take a LOT of pictures on “Sale-A-Bration” day, too. So when I made my layout, I used the Large Photo Fold-Out by Creek Bank Creations. It actually comes with page protectors for each flap. And even with the whole thing all folded up and stacked, it still fit right through my Xyron Creative Station Lite. Then, you can simply stick the whole thing down like a big, folded up sticker. And it’s a much stronger hold than a traditional tape runner.
The “Childhood Crayons” Paper Collection by Craft O’Clock is PERFECT for this layout. It’s a nice, heavyweight double-sided patterned cardstock paper, and you can also pick up some coordinating quotes and extras to cut, as well. I absolutely love this paper. I also wanted to use the paper to create my title letters, so I first ran a half-sheet of the yellow through my Xyron Creative Station Lite, and then die cut letters using the Outline Alphabet Set from Creek Bank Creations. I could have cut the letters first and THEN run the letters through the Xyron. It would have ended up the same.
I used my Xyron Mega Runner with the 1/4″ refill to adhere the patterned paper strips and also the large background square. Nothing better than a tape runner with a pop-in refill cartridge. No tape to thread, ever.
I LOVE the way this scrapbook layout turned out! It was EXACTLY the way I saw it in my head. I love how the photos tell the story of our family back-to-school tradition!
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