Needle Arts & Crafts: Needlepoint

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. To save on supplies and still be super unique and creative, here I have compiled all of the ways I’ve found.

A: You probably have a pile of magazines accumulating somewhere in the house, and now there are lots of ways you can make some use of them. Try creating your favorite quotations from assorted sizes and colors of letters you have cut out: one of my favorite tricks! To get a cool retro look just cut out letters from different ads, articles and the cover and mix them together.

You can also look through old magazines for cute pictures and graphic designs to incorporate into collages, scrapbooks, or any other visual project. For my scrapbook background pages, I like to look for graphics in the fashion magazines. 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.

2. Use Search Engines to find Graphics: This is a really good idea when scrap-booking. 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. By doing a little searching and looking around I was able to find materials to use and saved a lot.

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’ll find plenty of results which you can print out and use in your projects. Be careful! Some images may have copyrights on them, so I suggest only using these graphics for personal purposes. As long as you use them for your individual crafts, this shouldn’t be an issue.

If you attend for a couple cents a sheet, you can print them out at your local library or school if you don’t have a printer. Buying stickers and designs from art supply stores is costlier.

3. Got Glue? It’s a little known fact that if you’ve got no glue, you can make some! Once you figure out how much glue you will need, mix together one part flour to one part water. Combine the ingredients until it is a paste consistency.

This type of glue should be used right after you make it, as it will go moldy if left out and unused. It is nice for paper projects but you should leave it out so it can dry totally following its use.

You can always add glitter to your paint or glue for an added touch.

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. 1 cup flour, a tablespoon oil, 2 tablespoons cream of tarter, 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup water are used. Saute the combined ingredients in a large pan for a few minutes. Until you plan to use it, let it cool in the airtight container in the refrigerator. The clay will dry up. So make sure the container is air tight.

E: Look Around! There are supplies all around you! 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.

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

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