Paper Crafts: Choosing Eco-Friendly Paper and Embellishments

Green Your Paper Crafts

Are scrap booking and other paper crafts your thing? Here are some recycled and reclaimed supplies for all of your paper projects!

Paper crafts are one of those areas where a lot of crafters like to dabble, even if paper crafting isn’t our main thing. If you’re running a crafts business, for example, maybe you’re making your own paper signs and tags. Or maybe you like to create custom paper decorations when you’re planning a party, but sewing is more your thing.

For these sorts of projects, reclaimed papers – like used wrapping paper or junk mail – are a great supply! For paper crafters that are into origami, reclaimed paper can work well, too. Magazine pages are a joy to fold, and junk mail makes good origami paper.

The trickiest area for using green paper products is with archival paper crafts, like scrap booking. Scrap bookers need paper and embellishments that are acid free, and that can be a little bit harder to track down.

Related: Wondering what happens to paper when we recycle it? The Inspired Economist has the skinny!

Whether you’re a part-time paper crafter or a serious scrap booker, don’t worry! We’ve compiled a list of recycled and reclaimed paper crafts supplies that’s got a little something for everyone!

Eco-Friendly Supplies for Paper Crafts

Vintage Paper

Search Etsy’s vintage and supplies sections to find hundreds of sources for vintage paper. One of my favorites for crafting and for origami is vintage wrapping paper. The only trouble here is that you can’t be sure that the paper is acid free, but you can use a CFC deacidification spray like this one from Bookkeeper.

Deacidification Spray

Remember that deacidification spray I mentioned above? It’s so handy, that I’m breaking it out, too, in case you missed it. It basically turns any paper into acid free paper! You can find other brands of spray like this, but the other ones I’ve seen may contain CFCs or HCFCs. This one is non-toxic! It’s not super eco-friendly, but from the research I did, it looks like the option with the smallest impact.

Green Stack Recycled Paper

This is beautiful acid-free cardstock printed on 70 percent recycled paper.

Leftover Paint Chips

Paint chips are a fun way to add a pop of color to your DIY home decor projects. Check out Jacquie’s post on how to use them in your scrap booking projects, too. One note about paint chips: if you snag paint chips from the hardware store specifically for crafting, you’re not upcyling. They’re only upcycled if they were used for another purpose first, like choosing a wall color.

Green Tea Origami Paper

Paper-folder, rejoice! This origami paper is super rad. It’s made with leaves left over from green tea production.

K and Company Remake Collection

Check out these chipboard letters printed on 100 percent post-consumer papers! K and Company has a whole line of recycled, acid-free scrap booking supplies. A search for “K and Company Remake Collection” on Google or Amazon will turn up a ton of beautiful options.

DIY Recycled Embellishments

You can make your own reclaimed embellishments for scrap booking, collage, or DIY paper home decor. Check out these great ideas to get you started.

Go Digital – https://craftingagreenworld.com/articles/digital-vs-paper-the-woes-of-scrapbooking/

Recycled Tissue Paper

This recycled tissue paper is made from 100 percent post consumer recycled materials, this tissue paper is acid free. Finally, you can make those lovely tissue paper poofs with no green guilt!

Recycled Kraft Paper and Chipboard

These are also acid free, and they’re made from 30 percent post consumer recycled paper.

Recycled Vellum

This pad has smooth and textured vellum that’s reycled and acid free.

Let’s hear it from the paper crafts enthusiasts out there! Do you have a favorite source for eco-friendly paper and embellishments? Tell us about it in the comments!

Image Credit: Paper Globe photo via Shutterstock

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