Cheap crafting

Crafting can get expensive.  So, I try to find as many ways as possible to save money.  Here are a couple of ways I have found recently.

I've been playing around with making homemade glimmer mist.  I watched several You Tube videos about it.  So, I made a green and copper colored one but I didn't have any spray bottles.  My Aunt went through her cupboards and found a bunch of things she didn't want including two bottles of body spray.  I don't use body spray or any other perfume because it gives me headaches.  So, I took the bottles and tossed the perfume.

I made two colors of homemade semi-sparkly paint today.



I sprayed some scrap paper, lace, and flowers with both colors.  I think they turned out nice. I could have made half as much as I did but oh well.  I'll have plenty for experimenting.  The flowers were white.

My husband and I were married on May 20, 2000.  I saved my bouquet.  It was displayed in our living room for a long time but it has been in our closet for the last several years.  My husband doesn't love the idea, but I have decided to take it apart and use the flowers and pearl strands for different projects.  It's just taking up space in the closet.  What am I going to do with the thing if I don't craft with it?  It's falling apart anyway.

So, here it is with only a couple of flowers missing so far.

Crafts and books

Hi everyone!

As you may know, I like to go to Goodwill.  I don't shop much beyond Walmart and Goodwill.  I barely ever leave the town in which I live.  Sometimes it feel like I never leave my house!  Anyway, I got to go shopping today!

We got a flyer in the mail a couple of days ago from the Salvation Army.  I have never been to a Salvation Army store before.  So, my Aunt Sandy and I decided to go.  Everything marked with a certain color after 5:00 pm on Saturday is $0.49.  We didn't find anything we wanted with yellow tags but we did find some other good stuff.  One thing that you crafters might be interested in were a couple of Cricut machines!  They were $100.  They had three tables of merchandise that looked to be from other stores but with damaged boxes etc.  The Cricut Expressions boxes were slightly damaged but other than that they looked great.  I didn't have $100 to spend unfortunately.  Too bad those didn't have yellow stickers! :)

We also went to Michael's and Big Lots.  I haven't been to Big Lots since I was in High School. So, it's been at least 15 years.  They had great deals on several things.  I haven't been to Michaels in 3 or 4 months.  Alot of their $1 items were 1/2 off.

So this is what I bought in all three stores:



Salvation Army:
Set of three nesting boxes - $1.00

Michael's
Two boxes for altering - $0.50 each
Six sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper - $0.14 each
Flower Rhinestones - $0.50

Big Lots
Books:
China Obscura (2004) $0.25
The Legacy Guide (Capturing the Facts, Memories and Meaning of Your Life) (2006) - $0.25
Dan Eldon, The Art of Life (2001) - $0.25
Vagina Warriors (2005) - $0.25

I know, I'm a big spender.  I need to hold back a little! LOL.

The China Obscura book might be good for taking apart.  The pictures would be nice on an altered box.  I think I might feel bad ripping the pages out though.

Lace!!

Hello everyone!

There is a store in my town that I have been to countless times in my life but I haven't been there in a while.  It's a hardware store mostly but they carry all sorts of other things too.  My husband goes there anytime he needs something for a home improvement project etc.  So, he had explored the store.  He never told me about the back corner where they have an "as is" and used item section!!  They had several huge spools of lace for $3 to $4!  They also have a large stack of remnant fabrics.  If I had more money to spend I would have bought tons of lace and fabric yesterday.  We were there looking for cribbage board pegs.  They have everything else in the world, but no cribbage board pegs.

Anyway, this is the lace that I bought for $3.50!  My rough estimate is about 50 yards.  I started counting it but stopped at 17 yards.  I guess I have a short attention span. :)  I wasn't even 1/2 way through the spool.



The green lace in the pic is a piece that I cut off the spool and colored with my homemade glimmer mist.  I have only made one color so far because I don't have any small spray bottles yet.   The green and copper color is mixed in a baby food jar.  I have to dip whatever I want to color.  Once I have spray bottles I will experiment with more colors.  I might also try some fabric dye one of these days.

My husband asked what I was going to do with all of that lace. I told him I would probably never use it all.  He just shook his head. :)  I told him that I will probably sell some, give some, and use some.  If I ever use the whole spool I'll use it for an altered spool project.

The other lace they had at the store was cream, pink, and multi-colored.  They had tons of great stuff in the cluttered back corner of the store.  I love sifting through piles of stuff to find hidden treasures!  Ohhhh!...I think I need help.  I'm addicted to treasure hunting!

Thrift store craft supplies

Hi everyone!

Sometimes people buy craft supplies because they get a good deal but then never use those supplies.  I try really hard not to do that.

This is my latest Goodwill craft haul:


The bag of flowers was $2.99.  There are three sizes of flowers.  Some have leaves attached but most do not.  I like the color but I decided to try my hand at changing the color of one of them.  I made a homemade version of glimmer mist.  There are several recipes for homemade glimmer mist on You Tube.  The ribbons was $0.99.  I have gotten ribbon cheaper at Goodwill but I really like this pattern so I decided to buy it.  It is a brand new roll of wired ribbon that originally sold for $4.99 at Kmart. The last thing is a brand new package of replacement pants pockets.  I don't know the original price but the package label looks pretty old.  I paid $0.99.  My husband is always complaining that his pants pockets have ripped out.  It can't hurt to give these a try.


I found lots of videos on You Tube about making ribbon and fabric flowers.  I made this flower and hot glued the beads to the center.


This is the before and after of the flower I "painted" with my homemade glimmer mist.  I used a heat gun to dry it.  The flower melted and curled up a little.  I like how it turned out.  It looks really nice with the G45 steampunk debutante paper.

Some of the flowers will be used in RAKs and at least one swap.

Crochet bound mini album

Hi!

As you know I've been making crochet boxes with thrifted greeting cards.  I even made a little purse.  Well, I decided to combine my love of scrapbooking and crochet.  This is what I made:

All of the paper is from the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante collection (the only collection I own because it's expensive!).

I cut the paper to the sizes I need for pages and pockets.  Then I punched holes and single crocheted all around all of the pieces.  Then I crocheted all of the pages together on the left side to form the binding.


The charm hanging on the side came from my husband's workshop.  He had a bucket of old hardware.  I picked out the most interesting pieces.  I super glued the black beads to it and then hung it from the book with a piece of chain.  You might recognize the chain from one of my recent haul posts.






The silver thing sticking out next to the roses is a broken sewing needle threader.


These pocket pages are not done yet.  Neither is the next set of pages so I won't even show those.
I'm a little stuck on this project.  I will finish it though.

The crochet on this is not difficult but it is time consuming.  If you decide to do a project like this, think about the strength of the paper you are using.  You might need to double it up.

I'm a lucky girl!

This crochet thread was given to me today!


I went to Goodwill today.  The doll head and hands were $0.99.  The yarn was $3.99 for all of it.  The three Mary Engelbreit boxes were $0.59 each!  The boxes are brand new.

Canning lid magnets

I obviously did not invent this project. I actually learned it at friends house probably 8 years ago.

This is a fun and easy recycling project.  In my family we can alot during the late summer and fall.  So, I collect all of the canning lids after using our home canned food.  I have a box of lids to craft with.


Front. The sky is the limit. You could glue just about anything to the front of a canning lid.


Back.  I bought a roll of magnet a long time ago.  I just cut pieces off the roll and hot glue the magnet to the back of the lid.

My favorite glue for these magnets is Aleene's tacky glue and hot glue.