Beads, Pearls & Charms: Pendants

The cost of purchasing art supplies from retail outlets can be prohibitive for avid scrapbookers and crafters. You can still stand out and use your imagination while following these tips to save money.

• There are so many ways you can finally get some use out of that huge magazine stack that’s been collecting under your bed. One of my favorite pastimes is making sayings or quotations by cutting out letters of many different sizes and hues. You can cut out letters from the cover page, different ads, and article titles.

You can also look through old magazines for cute pictures and graphic designs to incorporate into collages, scrapbooks, or any other visual project. Another good idea is to use for backgrounds in a scrapbook is pages from a fashion spread magazine. They have just a little bit of writing on them, or none at all, and you can count on them to be very thematic. Cut out a figure from a magazine and use it to hide any writing that shows.

• A real good idea is to use search engines to find graphics when scrap-booking. When starting a scrapbook you can search online for ideas and themes such as "It’s a Girl" or "Baby Girl" By using alternative sources, I found a good many appropriate things and saved money as well.

Using a search engine’s images page can help you find terms that you need for a project that you are working on. You can get plenty of ideas and materials to use if you print them out. Because some graphics may be copyrighted, it’s a good idea to use anything that you find for personal purposes only. If it is for your own personal use it should not be an issue.

Your local library can be a good, low cost way to print these out if you don’t have a printer of your own at home. You can purchase stickers and various designs from supply stores but there are much cheaper ways.

C: 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. Once you’ve reached the consistency of a paste, you can quit mixing it up.

This type of glue will go moldy if let out and unused and so you should be used right after you make it. This item is very well suited for paper projects; remember to leave it out to dry completely after use.

You can always add glitter to glue and then apply it like paint to decorate things.

Many cool crafts call for some type of modeling clay; don’t be afraid to make your own at home! You can make things in your kitchen with what you already have on hand instead of buying it at the grocery store. 1 cup flour, a tablespoon oil, 2 tablespoons cream of tarter, 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup water are used. Mix all the ingredients in a large pan and cook gently for around 3 minutes. Until you plan to use it, let it cool in the airtight container in the refrigerator. 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. You can showcase your creativity by making masks out of paper plates, embellishing them with markers and cutting eye holes with scissors. Perhaps you could transform an old pizza box, opened up, into a collage for your wall, decorating it with dyed dry pasta shapes which have been glued on.

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

Here are the collection of cool discounts on slightly used and new Beads, Pearls & Charms: Pendants: