Art Supplies: Paint by Number

As a fan of creating homemade crafts and a devoted scrapbooker, I am all too aware of the expense of buying art supplies from stores at retail prices. This should give you some good ideas for ways to save on art supplies while still maintaining your creative edge.

• With a little imagination, you can find many ways to use that abundant collection of old magazines which are currently hidden beneath your bed. I like to make my own sayings and quotes by snipping various sized letters of the alphabet in different shades and putting them together. Check the front and back covers, as well as the ads and titles of articles. When you put all these together, you have a unique design with a retro look.

Cute pictures and designs to use in visual projects may be in old magazines. For my scrapbook background pages, I like to look for graphics in the fashion magazines. These universally possess strong themes, with hardly any (or no) writing. Cut out a figure from a magazine and use it to hide any writing that shows.

A really good idea when scrap-booking is to use Search Engines to find graphics. When I began to put together a scrapbook for my daughter, I searched the internet for phrases like "baby girl" to find appropriate graphics to include. I was able to locate so many great things, and I really saved as well.

If you take the time to do different searches on your search engine you can find some designs or ideas for your project. You can get plenty of ideas and materials to use if you print them out. Be careful! Some images may have copyrights on them, so I suggest only using these graphics for personal purposes. Till they are used within your crafts which are personal, that will not be a problem.

If you don’t have a printer, you can print them out at your local library or school if you attend for a couple cents a sheet. It’s still much cheaper than buying stickers and designs from art supply stores.

• Got Glue? It’s a little known fact that if you’ve got no glue, you can make some! Regardless of the amount of glue you need, mix equal parts flour and water to get the proper consistency. Mix it up until it turns into a pasty substance.

This type of glue should be used right after you make it, as it will go moldy if left out and unused. This must be left to dry totally after it is used; it is very good to use for any kind of paper project.

For a nice touch, add glitter to your glue and use it as paint for decorating items in your scrapbook.

D: There are a lot of cool crafts out there which call for some type of modeling clay. You can make things in your kitchen with what you already have on hand instead of buying it at the grocery store. You just need to use a cup of water, a couple of tablespoons of cream of tarter, one tablespoon of oil, and half a cup of salt. Cook all of the ingredients for approximately three minutes after mixing them together in a big pan. Let it cool, and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you plan to use it. Clay will dry out if you fail to seal the container tightly.

Be observant with your surroundings and you will find a vast assortment of materials. Masks can be made from paper plates using scissors and markers, a large wall collage can be made from a cut up pizza box or a decoration can be created from dry pasta that has been painted various colors.

You can find many crafting ideas around your house if you look with your imagination.

The following are some awesome deals on slightly used and new Art Supplies: Paint by Number: