Beads & Jewelry Making

Not only am I an avid scrap-booker, but I also love creating homemade crafts. I know first-hand that purchasing supplies from art supply retail stores can get very expensive. Therefore, I’ll give here a list of my tricks for saving money on supplies while creating unique and artistic items.

• There are a lot of ways you can eventually use that big pile of magazines that has been gathering beneath your bed. Cutting out letters of varying sizes and colors, and then using them to make phrases or quotes, is something I enjoy doing. Letters can be cut off the cover page, various advertisements and article titles. Mix them all together to establish a nice retro feel.

Another way to find good graphics to include in your collages or scrap books is to search in old magazines. For my scrapbook background pages, I like to look for graphics in the fashion magazines. They truly follow a theme and don’t have too much writing on them. The nice thing about it is that if the image has any writing on it you don’t want you can always put a decoration over it or another picture.

A good thing to do is to use an internet search to find ideas for your scrapbook. When starting a scrapbook you can search online for ideas and themes such as "It’s a Girl" or "Baby Girl" Not only did I find a lot of cute stuff, I also saved a ton of money!

Simply run a search through various search engines by using their image tools for any terms that have to do with the project that you are working on. 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. If it is for your own personal use it should not be an issue.

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. You can purchase stickers and various designs from supply stores but there are much cheaper ways.

3. Don’t worry if you don’t have any glue on hand you can always make some. Mix an equal amount of flour and water, depending on how much glue you need. Once you’ve reached the consistency of a paste, you can quit mixing it up.

This type of homemade glue should be used immediately after mixing, otherwise it will become moldy if left out. After it is used, it is good to left out to dry completely for paper projects.

You can always add glitter for a nice touch even if you do have glue and use it as paint to decorate stuff.

4. There are a lot of cool crafts out there which call for some type of modeling clay. You can make this stuff on your own in the kitchen with things that you most likely already have at home, as opposed to buying it in a store. Use 1 cup flour, a tablespoon oil, 2 tablespoons cream of tarter, 1/2 cup salt, and 1 cup water. Cook gently for around 3 minutes after mixing all the ingredients in a large pan. Let it cool, and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you plan to use it. Be sure the container is closed tightly or the clay will get hard!

Look Around! There are supplies all around you! Everything has a use, and you can make masks with scissors and crayons or markers or use a large pizza box for a collage, decorating it with dried, painted pieces of pasta you glue on.

Think openly about things around you. There are unlimited possibilities for crafts.

See below for a selection of great specials on new and used Beads & Jewelry Making: